CHILD-ABUSE AND NEGLECT - USEFULNESS OF THE ANIMAL DATA

This article reviews and critically discusses the relevance of animal data to research on child abuse and neglect. Although parental investm ent theory can be useful in investigating the adaptiveness, if any, of child and neglect, the evolutionary approach also has some limitation s. The most suitable animal models for investigating the psychosocial process underlying child abuse and neglect are probably found among th e non human primates. Whereas the heuristic value of social deprivatio n paradigms may be limited, recent studies suggest that the spontaneou s occurrence of infant maltreatment in monkeys may be the closest appr oximation to child maltreatment provided by nonhuman animals. The inve stigation of adaptive and maladaptive processes in the parenting behav ior of socially living nonhuman primates can inform research on child abuse and neglect and allow investigators to conduct studies that woul d be difficult or impossible in humans.