Understanding Abusive Parents

4 Pages 973 Words

STUDY OF FAMILY INTERACTION LEAD TO NEW UNDERSTANDING OF ABUSIVE
PARENTS

Researchers at the University of Toronto have taken
important steps toward producing a profile of an abusive parent.
Prof. Gary Walters and doctoral student Lynn Oldershaw of the
Department of Psychology have developed a system to characterize
parents who physically abuse their children. This could
ultimately allow social service professionals to identify
parents in child abuse.

Over the last five years, Walters and Oldershaw, in
collaboration with Darlene Hall of the West End Creche, have
examined over 100 mothers and their three to six-year-old
children who have been physically abused. In the laboratory, the
mother and child spend 30 minutes in structured activities such
as playing, eating and cleaning-up. The family interaction is
video-taped and later analyzed.

The researchers have developed a system which allows them
to record the effectiveness of parenting skills. They are
particularly interested in disciplinary strategies because abuse
most commonly occurs when the parent wants the child to comply.
"It's a question of trying to determine which type of parent
produces which type of child or which type of child elicits
which type of parental behaviour," explains Oldershaw.

As a result of their work, Walters and Oldershaw have
identified distinct categories of abusive parents and their
children. 'Harsh/intrusive' mothers are excessively harsh and
constantly badger their child to behave. Despite the fact that
these mothers humiliate and disapprove of their child, there are
times when they hug, kiss or speak to them warmly. This type of
mothering produces an aggressive, disobedient chi...