TY - JOUR PY - 1996// TI - The abused child as parent JO - Child abuse and neglect A1 - Gara, M. A. A1 - Rosenberg, S. A1 - Herzog, E. P. SP - 797 EP - 807 VL - 20 IS - 9 N2 - Free-response memories and current descriptions of self, parents, babies, and significant others generated by 55 mothers who were physically abused as children were compared with memories and descriptions by 46 mothers who were not physically abused. The two groups of mothers were matched for age of baby, race, and socioeconomic status. It was found that clusters of negative attributes pervaded the memories and perceptions that abused mothers had of others, particularly parents. Moreover, the degree of negative elaboration (i.e., the number of negative clusters attributed to others) discriminated the abused and control groups almost perfectly. It was also found for both groups that the more elaborated the positive view of self and others, the more secure the attachment of infant to mother. In addition, patterns of identification and description were dramatically different between the two groups: Unlike the comparison mothers, abused mothers tended to disidentify with their own mothers and to be inconsistent in their characterization of them.
Language: en
LA - en SN - 0145-2134 UR - http://dx.doi.org/ ID - ref1 ER -