EVALUATING A COMMUNITY INTERVENTION TO REDUCE THE RISK OF CHILD-ABUSE- METHODOLOGICAL STRATEGIES IN CONDUCTING NEIGHBORHOOD SURVEYS

Building on the ecological approach to child abuse, the National Cente r on Child Abuse and Neglect is supporting a number of community-based prevention initiatives. One such program, based in Boston, is designe d to build a caring community in which families can be empowered to br eak patterns of abusive and neglectful behavior. Independent evaluatio n is central to the program. A multi-level strategy has been designed, incorporating information from census and other databases, from rando m household surveys, and from families participating directly in servi ces provided. This paper reports on the second level of the evaluation , designed to assess community social support, attitudes about parenti ng, perceptions of the neighborhood, and ways in which these may relat e to child abuse. Perceptions of the extent of danger and disorganizat ion in the neighborhood were significantly related to a sense of attac hment to the community, and to disciplinary strategies. Parents who pe rceived more danger were stricter. They also tended to be born locally rather than being immigrants. Place of birth was associated with vari ation in parenting styles, suggesting that patterns of in- and out-mig ration are important variables in planning and executing a community b ased child abuse prevention program.