Community-Level Approaches to Child Maltreatment Prevention

Often the focus of the field of child maltreatment has concentrated on identifying and intervening on risk and protective factors at the individual and family levels; however, since the 1970s, the important roles that communities play in both exacerbating and preventing child maltreatment have recei...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Trauma, violence & abuse violence & abuse, 2016-10, Vol.17 (4), p.387-397
Main Authors: Molnar, Beth E., Beatriz, Elizabeth D., Beardslee, William R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abuse
Caregiver burden
Caregivers
Child
Child abuse & neglect
Child Abuse - prevention & control
Child welfare
Child, Preschool
Children
Communities
Community action
Community Health Services - methods
Developmental stages
Evidence-based practice
Humans
Infant
Needs
Prevention
Program Evaluation
Risk Factors
Social work
Stress
Sustainability
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Summary:Often the focus of the field of child maltreatment has concentrated on identifying and intervening on risk and protective factors at the individual and family levels; however, since the 1970s, the important roles that communities play in both exacerbating and preventing child maltreatment have received attention as well. This article outlines the development of this area of scientific inquiry, describes the theoretical frameworks utilized by existing programs, and describes several community-level programs aimed at preventing child maltreatment that show promise as scalable strategies to enhance individual and family strengths and reduce caregiver stress. Challenges inherent in community-level programming in increasingly diverse environments and in building/maintaining political will for sustainability of evidence-based efforts are discussed as well. A multilevel, holistic approach that takes into account developmental changes and needs of individuals as well as their environments is likely to bring about more sustainable change in protecting children from abuse and neglect than efforts focused solely on individuals.
ISSN:1524-8380
1552-8324
DOI:10.1177/1524838016658879