The Intergenerational Transmission of Abuse and Neglect

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degree of continuity of abuse and neglect from one generation to another vary from study to study. This may be due to the research design – retrospective or prospective- employed. The retrospective evidence is based on clinical and social work samples that have shown abusive tendencies and have priorly been subject to abuse themselves. But in so doing, the retrospective studies are omitting those who have had an adverse childhood and are now functioning well in parenthood hence giving seemingly strong statistical proof in support of the thesis. On the contrary, prospective studies may give more precise data but are very expensive and take long to complete as it involves finding links leading to abusive behaviour across generations. (Quinton and Rutter, 1988).

Langeland and Dijkstra (1995) also point out that almost all studies on the transmission of inter-generational links of abuse have been done on mothers as the elementary study subjects based on the assumption that mothers are the primary care-takers and child abuse and neglect is a product of improper child-rearing on the mother’s part while very few studies focus on abusive fathers or both parents simultaneously. Langeland and Dijkstra (1995) question the verifiability of the outcomes of such single-sided studies and suggest that both parents and a broader family context must be studied to a get a clear comprehension of the workings at the familial level and explore the possibility of abused children becoming abusive parents.

It seems that the “empirical evidence for the notion that abuse breeds abuse is methodologically problematic” (Widom, 1989: p 8) and the studies conducted are flawed. The techniques employed to collect data, the research design – retrospective and prospective, the sample chosen together with the vastly varying definitions of history of abuse have rendered the outcome of these studies to be highly debatable.

In conclusion, one may claim that being abused and maltreated as a child may put one at a risk of continuing the cycle and becoming an abusive parent in future but there are many factors that diminish the likelihood of repeating and many other factors that may cause the behaviour apart from one’s past experience such as poverty, stress and isolation. The possibility of multiple determinants, the role of social support in reducing the likelihood of re-occurrence and the many flaws existing in the researches conducted wane the ineffectual acceptance of the hypothesis of transmission of abuse across generations. The theory is incoherent considering the many counter arguments and lack of proper evidence to support the claim. Time has come for science to delve deeper to explore the situation and find direct links as to whether the argument may still hold true and with the assistance of government schemes and social work agencies, single out high risk abusive families and employ protective measures, social support and psychological treatment to break the vicious cycle of abuse.

REFERENCES

Kaufman, J. & Zigler, E. (1987). Do abused children become abusive parents? New Haven: Yale University.

Langeland, W. & Dijkstra, S. (1995). Breaking the Intergenerational Transmission of Child Abuse: Beyond the Mother- Child Relationship in Child Abuse Review, Vol. 4, p 4 – 13.

Quinton, D. & Rutter, M. (1988). Introductory Chapter and Conclusion Chapter in Parenting Breakdown: the making and breaking of inter-generational links. p 1- 19, 201-223. Aldershot, England: Avebury.

Widom, C. S. (1989). Does violence beget violence? A critical examination of the literature. p 6 – 24.

Website:

http://www.nursefamilypartnership.org/resources/files/PDF retrieved on April 17th, 2006

ADDITIONAL READING

McCord, J. (1983). A forty year old perspective on effects of child abuse and neglect. Vol. 7. p 265 – 270. USA: Pergamon Press Ltd.