Abstract
The study of child abuse and child homicide has been based on the often implicit assumption that there is a continuum of violence ranging from mild physical punishment to severe abuse and homicide. Empirical data supporting this assumption are sparse. Existing data can be shown, however, to support an assumption that there are distinct forms of violence, not a continuum. This paper reviews these data and discusses their implications for the study of violence, abuse, and homicide in terms of substantive and methodological explanations. In addition, the implications of the assumption that violence consists of distinct behaviors as opposed to a continuum are discussed in light of sociobiological and evolutionary explanations of child abuse and child homicide.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Association For Protecting Children 1989Highlights of Official Child Neglect and Abuse Reporting, 1987. Denver: American Humane Association.
Bachrach, C. A. 1983 Children in Families: Characteristics of Biological, Step-, and Adopted Children.Journal of Marriage and the Family 45:171–179.
Burgdorf, K. 1980Recognition and Reporting of Child Maltreatment. Rockville, Maryland: Westat.
Burgess, R. L., and J. Garbarino 1983 Doing What Comes Naturally? An Evolutionary Perspective on Child Abuse. InThe Dark Side of the Families: Current Family Violence Research, D. Finkelhor, R. Gelles, M. Straus, and G. Hotaling eds. Pp. 88–101. Beverly Hills, California: Sage.
Carr, A. 1978Reported Child Maltreatment in Florida: The Operation of Public Child Protective Service Systems. Report submitted to the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families, National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, Kingston, Rhode Island.
Daly, M., and M. Wilson 1980 Discriminative Parental Solicitude: A Biosocial Perspective.Journal of Marriage and the Family 42:277–288.
1981 Child Maltreatment from a Sociobiological Perspective.New Directions for Child Development 11:93–112.
1985 Child Abuse and Other Risks of Not Living with Both Parents.Ethology and Sociobiology 6:197–210.
1987 Children as Homicide Victims. InChild Abuse and Neglect: Biosocial Dimensions, R. J. Gelles and J. B. Lancaster, eds. Pp. 201–214. Hawthorne, New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
1988 Evolutionary Social Psychology and Family Homicide.Science 242:519–524.
Gelles, R. J. 1975 The Social Construction of Child Abuse.American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 43:363–371.
1985 Family Violence.Annual Review of Sociology 11:347–367.
1987Family Violence, second ed. Newbury Park, California: Sage Publications.
1989 Child Abuse and Violence in Single Parent Families: Parent-absence and Economic Deprivation.American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 59:492–501.
Gelles, R. J., and M. Straus 1979 Determinants of Violence in the Family: Toward a Theoretical Integration. InContemporary Theories About the Family, vol. 1, W. R. Burr, R. Hill, F. I. Nye, and I. L. Reiss, eds. Pp. 549–581. New York: Free Press.
Gelles, R. J., and A. Edfeldt 1986 Violence Towards Children in the United States and Sweden.Child Abuse and Neglect: The International Journal 10:501–510.
Gelles, R. J., and J. W. Harrop 1991 The Risk of Abusive Violence Among Children with Non-Genetic Caretakers.Family Relations, in press.
Gil, D. 1970Violence Against Children: Physical Child Abuse in the United States. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Giles-Sims, J., and D. Finkelhor 1984 Child Abuse in Stepfamilies.Family Relations 33:407–413.
Glick, P. 1989 Remarried Families, Stepfamilies, and Stepchildren: A Brief Demographic Profile.Family Relations 38:24–27.
Greven, P., Jr. 1991Spare the Child: The Religious Roots of Punishment and the Psychological Impact of Physical Abuse. New York: Alfred Knopf.
Hampton, R. L., R. J. Gelles, and J. W. Harrop 1989 Is Violence in Black Families Increasing? A Comparison of 1975 and 1985 National Survey Rates.Journal of Marriage and the Family 51:969–980.
Malkin, C. M., and M. E. Lamb 1989 Child Maltreatment: A Test of Sociobiology Theory. Unpublished manuscript in author’s possession.
Milner, J. S., K. R. Roberston, and D. L. Rogers 1990 Childhood History of Abuse and Adult Child Abuse Potential.Journal of Family Violence 5:15–34.
Mitchel, L. 1989 Report on Fatalities from NCPCA.Protecting Children 6:3–5.
National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect 1988Study Findings: Study of National Incidence and Prevalence of Child Abuse and Neglect: 1988. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Pittman, D., and W. Handy 1964 Patterns in Criminal Aggravated Assault.Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 55:462–470.
Pokorny, A. D. 1965 Human Violence: A Comparison of Homicide, Aggravated Assault, Suicide, and Attempted Suicide.Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 56:488–497.
Straus, M. A. 1979 Measuring Intrafamily Conflict and Violence: The Conflict Tactics (CT) Scales.Journal of Marriage and the Family 41:75–88.
1983 Ordinary Violence, Child Abuse, and Wife Beating: What Do They Have in Common? InThe Dark Side of Families: Current Family Violence Research, D. Finkelhor, R. J. Gelles, G. T. Hotaling, and M. A. Straus, eds. Pp. 213–234. Newbury Park, California: Sage Publications.
1987 State and Regional Differences in U.S. Infant Homicide Rates in Relation to Sociocultural Characteristics of the States.Behavioral Sciences and the Law 5:61–75.
Straus, M. A., and R. J. Gelles 1986 Societal Change and Family Violence from 1975 to 1985 as Revealed by Two National Surveys.Journal of Marriage and the Family 48:465–479.
Straus, M. A., R. J. Gelles, and S. K. Steinmetz 1980Behind Closed Doors: Violence in the American Family. Garden City, New York: Anchor Press.
Wilson, M., M. Daly, and S. Weghorst 1980 Household Composition and Risk of Child Abuse and Neglect.Journal of Biosocial Science 12:333–340.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This paper was written under the auspices of the Family Violence Research Program at the University of Rhode Island. A complete list of books and articles is available upon request.
Richard J. Gelles is Professor of Sociology and Anthropology and the Director of the Family Violence Research Program at the University of Rhode Island. He is the author or coauthor of 14 books and more than 90 articles and chapters on family violence. His most recent books areIntimate Violence, published in 1988 by Simon and Schuster;Physical Violence in American Families: Risk Factors and Adaptations in 8,145 Families, published by Transaction Books in 1990; andIntimate Violence in Families, published in 1990 by Sage Publications.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gelles, R.J. Physical violence, child abuse, and child homicide. Human Nature 2, 59–72 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02692181
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02692181