ETIOLOGY OF CHILD MALTREATMENT - A DEVELOPMENTAL ECOLOGICAL ANALYSIS

This article applies a developmental-ecological perspective to the que stion of the etiology of physical child abuse and neglect by organizin g the paper around a variety of ''contexts of maltreatment.'' The role s of parent and child characteristics and processes are considered ('' developmental context''), including an examination of intergenerationa l transmission. The ''immediate interactional context'' of maltreatmen t, which focuses on the parenting and parent-child interactional proce sses associated with abuse and neglect, is analyzed. Finally, the ''br oader context'' is discussed with 3 specific subsections dealing with the community, cultural, and evolutionary contexts of child maltreatme nt. implications for intervention are considered and future research d irections are outlined.