Book Review: Child Abuse: a Much Abused and Neglected Area
| Author | Debra L. Hoffman,Craig T. Twentyman |
| DOI | 10.1177/009385487900600309 |
| Date | 01 September 1979 |
| Published date | 01 September 1979 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
299
CHILD
ABUSE:
A
MUCH
ABUSED
AND
NEGLECTED
AREA
CHILD
ABUSE,
By
R.
S.Kempe
and
C.
H.
Kempe.
Cambridge:
Harvard
University
Press,
1978.
Pp.
136.
$7.95.
The
Kempes
begin
this
book
with
an
interesting
discussion
of
the
history
of
child
abuse.
One
quickly
realizes
two
facts:
first,
that
sanc-
tions
have been
brought
against
abusive
and
neglectful
parents
only
very
recently,
and
second,
that
the
number
of
reported
cases
in
the
United
States
has
increased
dramatically
in
the
past
several
years.
In
many
ways,
the
introduction
sets
the
tone
for
the
rest
of
this
book.
While
statistics
are
used,
the
approach
is
mainly
personal.
In
essence,
Child
Abuse
is
a
statement
derived
from
the
authors’
considerable
experiences
about
the
personality
characteristics
of
abusive
and
neglectful
parents.
It
is
also
a
statement
about
what
can
be
done
to
help
these
families.
Throughout
the
book
the
Kempes
employ
an
anecdotal
style
for
presentation
of
their
material.
Although
this
style
may
lead
the
reader
to
believe
that
many
of
the
personality
characteristics
and
common
etio-
logical
factors
presented
have been
well
documented
and
enjoy
con-
siderable
empirical
support,
this
is
not
always
the
case.
Rather,
this
book
represents
a
summarized
expression
of
experiences
of
two
leading
authorities
on
child
abuse
and
neglect.
If
the
reader
is
looking
for
a
lively
presentation
of
ideas
or
hypotheses
to
consider
for
experimental
testing
regarding
the
causes
of
child
abuse
and
neglect,
this
book
will
be
well
worth
the
money.
If,
however,
the
reader
is
looking
for
an
empirically
oriented
source
book
rather
than
a
clinical
primer,
this
book
will
be
somewhat
disappointing.
For
example,
in
the
discussion
of
certain
&dquo;common&dquo;
etiological
factors
in
abusers,
the
authors
distinguish
four
groups
of
parents.
The
first
group
consists
of
those
who
perceive
their
children
irrationally,
especially
those
whose
expectations
are
too
high
for
the
child’s
age.
Second
are
those
who
receive
the
impact
of
a
new
baby
as
devastating.
Third
are
those
parents
who
have
difficulty
surviving
from
one
daily
crisis
to
the
next.
Last
are
parents
who
exhibit
a
constellation
of
predis-
posing
factors,
including
socioeconomic
factors,
emotional
instability,
or
chronic
mental
or
physical
illness.
How
these
factors
were
derived
is
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