The British Journal of Psychiatry December 1975 [antikvár]

Brit.J. Psychiat. (1975), i7> 5'3-25 Interpersonal Relationships and Child-Rearing Practices in 214 Parents of Battered Children By SELWYN M. SMITH and RUTH HANSON Summary. The self-reported child-rearing practices of 214 parents of battered babies were characterized in a few but not all respects by demanding behaviour which exceeded that to be expected in relation to their social class and age. Inconsistency in child management was noted in the comparison between lack of demonstrativeness and emotional over-involvement, and between physical punishment and a tendency to be lax in the supervision of the child, and was reminiscent of parents of delinquents. Unhappiness and hostility in relationships with members of their families of origin, with unsupporting partners and with people in generál were other important features. Generally, identified perpetrators were characterized by features significant for the sample as a whole. Introduction Baby batterers have been regarded as exhibiting a specific pattern of child-rearing, characterized by demands for premature high performance and a disregard for the child's limited abilities (1, 14, 17, 36). Such parents, being deprived of mothering in childhood (9, 24), and having had harsh childhood experiences (36), consider punishment a proper disciplinary measure (38, 41) and look to the child for satisfaction of their own emotional needs; such characteristics being independent of age and social class (36). By way of contrast, punitiveness and non-permissiveness are more common among working class than middle class parents (25, 28, 32), and intolerance in child-rearing is prevalent among very young parents (4). Previous studies have not considered the issue that somé child-rearing practices may be typical of low social class populations and not particularly characteristic of baby batterers. Nor has the relatíve importance of various background factors been adequately assessed. This paper examines a wide variety of childrearing methods, background factors and personality characteristics among 214 parents of battered children and the role of social class. These variables are alsó examined for those parents who confessed to battering and differences with the remainder of the sample are highlighted. SuBJECTS AND MeTHODS Over two years 134 battered infants and children aged under 5 years and their parents were studied in detail. Fifty-three children who were admitted to hospitál as emergencies other than on account of accident or trauma provided a control group. The distribution of mother's age, area of origin, and consultants referring were the same in both groups. Up-to-date relevant norms were thus obtained on child-rearing, personal relationships and social circumstances and on the various tests of personality, attitűdé and intelligence, any of which may have been átfeded by anxiety due to the child's admission to hospitál. The only closer match in this respect would have been a sample of 'accident' cases, but these might well have included non-accidental injuries. A further control on matters most likely to be distorted by fear of 'being found out' was provided by the distinction within the index sample between the 44 per cent of cases where a parent admitted and the 56 per cent where both denied responsibility for the child's la