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Community Interventions for Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect: Lessons for Expansion

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Neighborhoods, Communities and Child Maltreatment

Part of the book series: Child Maltreatment ((MALT,volume 15))

Abstract

Historically, prevention and intervention in the field of child abuse and neglect focused on the individual and family level, identifying risk factors and providing direct treatment (Mikton and Butchart, Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 87, 353–361, 2009). Interventions at the community level, in contrast, were designed to cope with broader, diverse health and welfare issues (Corsaro and McGarrell, Journal of Urban Health, 87, 851–864, 2010; Lu et al., BMC Public Health, 12, 413, 2012; Sampson, Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 46, S53–S64, 2003). Beginning in the 1970s, research began reporting findings of the negative impact on child well-being of structural community variables such as low socioeconomic class and population turnover, and the positive impact of constructive community aspects such as social involvement and social capital (Freisthler and Maguire-Jack, Child Maltreatment, 20, 268–277, 2015; Sampson et al., Annual Review of Sociology, 28, 443–478, 2002). Negative community forces were also found to influence well-intentioned parents. Community programs instituted have demonstrated the potential for improving the lives of individuals, strengthening families, and decreasing tension between parents and residents and service providers (Sampson et al., Annual Review of Sociology, 28, 443–478, 2002). In comparison to individual and developmental focused intervention, a holistic approach that also accounts for environmental and community factors is, therefore, expected to bring about more sustainable change in child protection. Community development can become a locus of support for parental functioning; hence, public funds would be more effective if invested in community intervention strategies (Daro and Dodge, The Future of Children/Center for the Future of Children, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, 19, 67, 2009).

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  1. Department of Social Work, Tel-Hai Academic College, Upper Galilee, Israel

    Daphna Gross-Manos & Ayala Cohen

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  1. Daphna Gross-Manos
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  1. School of Social Work, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Kathryn Maguire-Jack

  2. The Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Carmit Katz

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Gross-Manos, D., Cohen, A. (2022). Community Interventions for Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect: Lessons for Expansion. In: Maguire-Jack, K., Katz, C. (eds) Neighborhoods, Communities and Child Maltreatment. Child Maltreatment, vol 15. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-93096-7_9

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