ABUSIVE FAMILY-INTERACTION - A REVIEW

The socia-interactional approach to child maltreatment has stressed th e interactional nature of the processes involved in the abusive family . Consequently, the parent-child relationship has been studied through observational strategies which provide a fine-grained analysis of the stream of social exchanges that take place in the child socialization concert. This particular area of research has provided empirical find ings which contribute to recognizing the phenomenon of child maltreatm ent as a product of a dysfunctional parental-child relationship relate d to incompetent parenting. A comprehensive perspective on the advance s in the interactional context of child abuse and neglect is presented through a selected review of abusive family interaction literature. T wo major sections paralleling two important questions of theoretical a nd clinical utility are presented The first question addresses the ext ent to which hypothesized behavioral differences, in amount and conten t and/or quality, identify parental and child behavior in maltreating households. The second looks at the theory-driven search for interacti ve patterns by which the ever-flowing stream of behavior crystalizes i nto maltreating parental practices. These issues are preceded by some metodological considerations of the observational studies. Findings I- elated to coercion theory and to inconsistent socialization are also p resented and discussed. A theoretical effort is made to integrate the findings from the research conducted in the field in order to provide a basis for future direction. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All right s reserved.