Citation

Fein LG. Child. Youth Serv. Rev. 1979; 1(1): 31-53.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1979, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/0190-7409(79)90069-0

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Study of a sample of child abuse/neglect families where a child fatality has occurred suggests several indicators for identifying potential child fatalities. In contrast to families where child abuse is not followed by a child fatality, child abuse cases where a fatality does occur are characterized by abuse of more than one child in the family, a more chaotic family constellation, the mother as perpetrator of the abuse, and high levels of both human and milieu stress. The study also identifies gaps in services to sample families and suggests changes.