Researchers have identified four common co-occurring parental risk factors--substance abuse, mental illness, domestic violence, and child conduct problems--that lead to child maltreatment. The extent to which maltreatment prevention programs must directly address these risk factors to improve responsiveness to parenting programs or can directly…

Examines definitions of child abuse and neglect and discusses the controversies surrounding these definitions, which provide the legal justification of government interventions. The article also presents statistics about the extent of child maltreatment, reviews research on families prone to abuse or neglect, and summarizes information about the…