Citation

Molnar BE, Buka SL, Brennan RT, Holton JK, Earls F. Child Maltreat. 2003; 8(2): 84-97.

Affiliation

Department of Maternal and Child Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA. bmolnar@post.harvard.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12735711

Abstract

The majority of children in the United States experience parent-to-child physical aggression (PCPA), a disciplinary strategy out of favor with many experts. Several decades of research have documented a link between community characteristics and severe child maltreatment. None have taken a multilevel approach to study whether neighborhoods affect the amount of corporal punishment and/or physical abuse used by individual families. Data for this article come from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods and were analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling. An interval scale of PCPA was developed. Values obtained show that several neighborhood characteristics were associated with PCPA. Immigrant concentration remained significant after controlling for family composition. A cross-level interaction was found between neighborhood social networks and Hispanic race/ethnicity. The article's conclusion is that neighborhood characteristics may influence the amount of PCPA used by families. Neighborhood intervention strategies hold promise.

Language: en