https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(08)61706-7.pdf

Burden and consequences of child maltreatment in high-income countries

Family processes affecting the socioemotional functioning of children living in poor families and families experiencing economic decline are reviewed. Black children are of primary interest in the article because they experience disproportionate shares of the burden of poverty and economic loss and are at substantially higher risk than white children of experiencing attendant socioemotional problems. It is argued that (a) poverty and economic loss diminish the capacity for supportive, consistent, and involved parenting and render parents more vulnerable to the debilitating effects of negative life events, (b) a major mediator of the link between economic hardship and parenting behavior is psychological distress deriving from an excess of negative life events, undesirable chronic conditions, and the absence and disruption of marital bonds, (c) economic hardship adversely affects children's socioemotional functioning in part through its impact on the parent's behavior toward the child, and (d) father-child relations under conditions of economic hardship depend on the quality of relations between the mother and father. The extent to which psychological distress is a source of race differences in parenting behavior is considered. Finally, attention is given to the mechanisms by which parents' social networks reduce emotional strain, lessen the tendency toward punitive, coercive, and inconsistent parenting behavior, and, in turn, foster positive socioemotional development in economically deprived children.

The Impact of Economic Hardship on Black Families and Children: Psychological Distress, Parenting, and Socioemotional Development

The concept of "reproductive strategy" drawn from the field of behavioral ecology is applied to the study of childhood experience and interpersonal development in order to develop an evolutionary theory of socialization. The theory is presented in terms of 2 divergent development pathways considered to promote reproductive success in the contexts in which they have arisen. One is characterized, in childhood, by a stressful rearing environment and the development of insecure attachments to parents and subsequent behavior problems; in adolescence by early pubertal development and precocious sexuality; and, in adulthood, by unstable pair bonds and limited investment in child rearing, whereas the other is characterized by the opposite. The relation between this theory and prevailing theories of socialization, specifically, attachment, social-learning, and discrete-emotions theory, is considered and research consistent with our evolutionary theory is reviewed. Finally, directions for future research are discussed.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/1131166.pdf

Childhood Experience, Interpersonal Development, and Reproductive Strategy: An Evolutionary Theory of Socialization.

Despite widespread belief that violence begets violence, methodological problems substantially restrict knowledge of the long-term consequences of childhood victimization. Empirical evidence for this cycle of violence has been examined. Findings from a cohort study show that being abused or neglected as a child increases one's risk for delinquency, adult criminal behavior, and violent criminal behavior. However, the majority of abused and neglected children do not become delinquent, criminal, or violent. Caveats in interpreting these findings and their implications are discussed in this article.

/pdf/the-cycle-of-violence-2a30u0ajca.pdf

The cycle of violence

The focus of this article is on the interface between research on resilience—a construct representing positive adaptation despite adversity —and the applications of this work to the development of interventions and social policies. Salient defining features of research on resilience are delineated, as are various advantages, limitations, and precautions linked with the application of the resilience framework to developing interventions. For future applied efforts within this tradition, a series of guiding principles are presented along with exemplars of existing programs based on the resilience paradigm. The article concludes with discussions of directions for future work in this area, with emphases on an enhanced interface between science and practice, and a broadened scope of resilience-based interventions in terms of the types of populations, and the types of adjustment domains, that are encompassed.

/pdf/the-construct-of-resilience-implications-for-interventions-ou7yvuht3k.pdf

The construct of resilience: Implications for interventions and social policies

The interaction of individual and environmental characteristics over time in children from maltreating families is examined in order to explore the origins, scope, and stability of resilience in children from abusive and neglectful home environments. Response to supportive influences in the extended family and wider community, as well as determination to be different from abusive parents, is emphasized as crucial to resilient behavior and is illustrated by a case study.

Resilient early school-age children from maltreating homes: Outcomes in late adolescence.

Circumstances surrounding the occurrence of child maltreatment

The relationship between early maltreatment and teenage parenthood

A 16-year longitudinal study followed preschool maltreated and nonmaltreated children to identify their involvement in assaultive behavior as adolescents. Severity of physical discipline, negative quality of the mother's interaction with the child, and the experience of sexual abuse were related to adolescent assaultive behavior.

Ellen C. Herrenkohl

Papers

Resilient early school-age children from maltreating homes: Outcomes in late adolescence.

Circumstances surrounding the occurrence of child maltreatment

The relationship between early maltreatment and teenage parenthood

PRESCHOOL ANTECEDENTS OF ADOLESCENT ASSAULTIVE BEHAVIOR: A Longitudinal Study

Some antecedents and developmental consequences of child maltreatment