Abstract
This paper reviews some of the issues in child abuse such as problems of definition, characteristics of abuser and abused, and etiology. It emphasizes that child abuse can start at any age. A developmental approach is suggested in order to understand the relationship between the child's stage of development and its idiosyncratic potential for stimulating aggression on the part of the parent. This approach offers a broad framework in which phase specific stressors, characteristics of the child, the abuse prone personality of the abuser, as well as the family system and external stress factors, can be considered together and upon which intervention strategies can be planned.
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Lynn Ohrenstein is Administrative Supervisor at the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services, a doctoral candidate at Yeshiva University, and in private practice.
This is an expanded version of a paper delivered November 4, 1982 by the author at an interdivisional meeting at the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services devoted to Issues on Domestic Violence.
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Ohrenstein, L. Developmental issues in child abuse: Implications for intervention. Child Adolesc Soc Work J 1, 49–62 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00844570
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00844570