This paper examines the arbitrary distinctions between intentional and unintentional child injuries, noting that a careful review of the literature of both child abuse and unintentional child injury revealed similarities among the risk factors associated with the two outcomes. A single, multifactor model of injury etiology, the ecologic model, is described, providing a framework for systematically comparing risk factors for abuse with those for unintentional injuries. The etiology of childhood injury is examined in an ecological context, making possible a unified approach to prevention of many kinds of intentional and unintentional child injuries. While the model is described as useful in bringing together research on child abuse and research on unintentional child injuries, it is noted that the social responses to abuse on the one hand and to unintentional injuries on the other remain very different. Individual, familial, social, and cultural factors in childhood injury are identified and the role of social support and social networks is explored. Because the ecological model postulates that life events, chronic stressors, and perceived stress immediately precede an injury event, whether intentional or unintentional, stress and life events are considered in the context of their universality in both types of injury. Implications for prevention and treatment are discussed, and a list of 109 references is appended. (Author/NB)