Hello Benfranklin,
Thank you for your question.
In order to research your question I first went to The National
Academies Press (NAP) which was created by the National Academies to
publish the reports issued by the National Academy of Sciences, the
National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the
National Research Council. NAP publishes over 200 books a year
capturing the most authoritative views on important issues in science
and health policy.
http://www.nap.edu/
I located the publication Violence in Families: Assessing Prevention
and Treatment Programs (1998)
http://books.nap.edu/books/0309054966/html/index.html
The following relevant excerpts deal with personality characteristics
of child abusers and are taken from Chapter 2 - Family Violence and
Family Violence Interventions
“Researchers have searched for personality characteristics or
psychiatric disorders to explain the behavior of family violence
perpetrators. Only a small percentage of parents involved in child
maltreatment are diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder (Steele and
Pollock, 1974).”
==============================================================
Personality Characteristics associated with child maltreatment:
==============================================================
- Low self-esteem
- External locus of control
- Poor impulse control
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Antisocial behavior
“Although a consistent profile of parental psychopathology or a
significant level of parental mental disturbance has not been
supported (Melnick and Hurley, 1969; Polansky et al., 1981, 1992;
Spinetta and Rigler, 1972), a set of personality characteristics
associated with child maltreatment has emerged with sufficient
frequency to warrant attention. These characteristics include low
self-esteem, external locus of control, poor impulse control,
depression, anxiety, and antisocial behavior (National Research
Council, 1993a).”
The National Academies Press (NAP)
http://books.nap.edu/books/0309054966/html/45.html#pagetop
“… no characteristic profile of a child abuser, batterer, or elder
abuser has emerged. It appears that no single factor can explain
family violence. Rather it seems most likely that the complex
interaction of personal history, personality traits, and demographic
factors with social and environmental influences leads to violence in
the family. Understanding better the particular factors that are
relevant in a given family, and the sequence in which they emerge, may
be important for choosing the most appropriate intervention.”
“For child abuse, the age of the mother at the birth of the abused
child has been found to be related to rates of physical abuse, with
younger mothers exhibiting higher rates of abuse (Kinard and Klerman,
1980; Connelly and Straus, 1992).”
The National Academies Press (NAP)
http://www.nap.edu/books/0309054966/html/41.html
“Although women have been regarded as more likely to be offenders when
the child victim is young (under 3 years of age) because of their
traditional roles as primary caregivers for infants and toddlers,
recent research suggests that extremely stressed or enraged male
adults (including birth fathers, stepfathers, and boyfriends) are more
often the cause of physical abuse fatalities involving an infant or
small child (Levine et al., 1994; U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse
and Neglect, 1995).”
The National Academies Press (NAP)
http://books.nap.edu/books/0309054966/html/42.html#pagetop
“Severe violence toward children is more likely in poor families who
have fewer economic and social resources to help with child care
responsibilities, especially among those who are least able to cope
with the material hardships of poverty (Gelles and Straus, 1988).” The
National Academies Press (NAP)
http://books.nap.edu/books/0309054966/html/43.html#pagetop
==================================================
The book Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect (1993) also provides
various details.
http://books.nap.edu/books/0309048893/html/index.html
From Chapter 4 – Etiology of Child Maltreatment
Physical Abuse
“Early psychiatric studies stimulated a search for parental
characteristics and a personality profile of abusing parents (Milner
and Chilamkurti, 1991).Recent prospective studies (e.g., Pianta et
al., 1989) have identified a set of parental personality attributes
associated with child maltreatment that have emerged with sufficient
frequency to warrant attention. These attributes are low self-esteem,
external locus of control, poor impulse control, negative affectivity
(including depression and anxiety), and antisocial behavior (including
aggression and substance abuse) (for reviews, see Baumrind, 1992;
Belsky, 1992; Cicchetti and Lynch, in press). Central in these
attributes is a triad of highly correlated personality
characteristics, involving depression, anxiety, and antisocial
behavior.”
Reference: Milner and Chilamkurti, "Physical Child Abuse Perpetrator
Characteristics: A Review of the Literature," Journal of Interpersonal
Violence 6 (September 1991): 360–361
National Academies Press: Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect
http://www.nap.edu/books/0309048893/html/111.html
“Depression, anxiety, and antisocial behavior are associated with
disrupted social relations, social isolation, unavailability or lack
of utilization of social supports, and an inability to cope with
stress (Crittenden, 1985; Wolfe, 1985).”
“Disruptions in social relations are also found in studies of
maltreating parents who are described as insular, alienated, unhappy
and dissatisfied in relationships with friends, neighbors, spouses,
and children. This pervasive discontent and lack of skill in social
relations can be exacerbated by additional stressors (Belsky, 1980;
Cicchetti and Lynch, in press; Garbarino, 1977).”
National Academies Press: Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect
http://books.nap.edu/books/0309048893/html/112.html#pagetop
“Cognitive factors in adults who maltreat children, including negative
attitudes and attributions about their children's behavior and
inaccurate knowledge and expectations about child development, also
play a contributing role in child maltreatment, especially neglect
(Holden et al., 1992; Zuravin, 1987).”
“Attitudes held before the birth of the child, such as negative
maternal attitude toward an unwanted or unplanned pregnancy, have also
been associated with later maltreatment (Altmeier et al., 1982;
Brunquell et al., 1981; Egeland and Brunquell, 1979; Murphy et al.,
1985; Zuravin, 1987).”
“. . . The tendency of physical abusers to impart negative attributes
to others, including their own children and interpersonal
relationships, is associated both with differences in abusive parents'
expectations and attributions about children's behavior and with
psychophysiological hyperresponsiveness to stimuli. In comparison to
nonabusive parents, abusive parents show greater physiological
reactivity as well as irritation and annoyance in response to
children's positive and negative affective states and behavior
(Casanova et al., 1992).”
National Academies Press: Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect
http://books.nap.edu/books/0309048893/html/115.html#pagetop
==================================================
Understanding and Preventing Violence, Volume 1 (1993)
http://www.nap.edu/books/0309054761/html/index.html
On page 367:
“Physical child abusers have been found to have low self-esteem, a
negative self-concept, feelings of inadequacy and inferiority, and an
external locus of control (Milner, 1986, 1990).
“They also have psychopathological personality characteristics, higher
trait anxiety and trait anger scores, higher neuroticism scores, and
elevations on psychopathic, mania, paranoia, and schizophrenia scales
of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Index (Milner, 1986).”
National Academies Press: Understanding and Preventing Violence
www.nap.edu/books/0309054761/html/367.html
On page 368:
“Physical child abusers also tend to have parents who lack warmth, are
rejecting and hostile, and use reinforcement in unpredictable ways
(Milner, 1990) and are less likely to report having had a caring
adult/friend in their childhood (Milner et al., 1990).”
National Academies Press: Understanding and Preventing Violence
http://books.nap.edu/books/0309054761/html/368.html#page_bottom
Milner, J.S.
The Child Abuse Potential Inventory
http://www.parinc.com/product.cfm?ProductID=620
==================================================
Karen Dougherty MS author of the Psych-Net Mental Health website
http://www.psych-net.org/me.html gives the following profile of the
child abuser:
- Was probably abused as a child
- Has poor impulse control
- May become aroused while hitting child
- May be self-righteous or "always right"
- May misinterpret scripture to rationalize abuse
- Is more interested in inflicting his/her anger onto child, than
helping the child learn a life lesson, (i.e. abusive-punishment
instead of discipline)
- Has no empathy for the child (cannot put themselves in the emotional
place of the child)
- Sees child as a possession/object and is self righteous about it.
- Has unrealistic expectations of the child - especially age
inappropriate expectations, (i.e. believes it is OK to leave
8-year-old alone at home)
Source: Psych-Net Mental Health
http://www.psych-net.org/abuse.html#C4
============================================
Risk of Maltreatment of Children Living With Stepparents
Daly, M. and Wilson, M. (1987)
“In Richard J. Gelles and Jane B. Lancaster, Child Abuse and Neglect:
Biosocial Dimensions (New York: Aldine de Gruyter, 1987), pp. 215-232.
Preschoolers in Hamilton, Ontario, living with one biological and one
stepparent in 1983 were 40 times more likely to be victims of child
abuse as like-aged children living with two biological parents.
Children two years and younger are seventy to a hundred times more
likely to be killed at the hands of stepparents than at the hands of
biological parents”
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services in their
reports of Child Abuse, Neglect, & Dependency (1997/98) ranked child
abuse perpetrators by relationship to victim. The adoptive female
parent ranked 0.31%.
Child Abuse Perpetrators — Ranked
Relationship to Victim Percent
Biological Parent Female 63.92
Biological Parent Male 20.27
Step Parent Male 4.09
Other Caretaker Male 2.71
Grandparent Female 1.91
Other Relative Female 1.16
Daycare facility/plan Female 1.14
Other Relative Male 1.05
Other Caretaker Female 0.66
Grandparent Male 0.66
Step Parent Female 0.59
Adoptive Parent Male 0.31
Adoptive Parent Female 0.31
Step Grand Parent Male 0.28
Foster Parent Female 0.28
Institution Male 0.26
Foster Parent Male 0.12
Institution Female 0.12
Daycare facility/plan Male 0.10
Step Grand Parent Female 0.04
http://www.fathersforlife.org/Sodhi/cancan1.htm#CAN_Ham_Ont
============================================
From Sahil Child Sexual Abuse (CSA):
Parents Anonymous, Inc., the self help organization for abusing
parents, has identified a number of characteristics of parents who may
be at "high risk" to abuse. These indicators, especially when coupled
with clues from a child's comments, behavior and/or appearance, can be
very useful.
“Some of these indicators are:
- Parents who do not seem sensitive to their child's basic needs for
food, shelter or clothing;
- Parents who seem indifferent to, deny, are unaware of or seem
annoyed by injury, illness or developmental delays in their children;
- Parents who seem preoccupied with the fear that their children will
grow up to be delinquents unless they are severely punished in
childhood;
- Parents who tell you how "nervous" their child makes them;
- Parents who scapegoat one child as being different or bad;
- Parents whose anger about their child's behavior seems to be out of
proportion to the situation;
- Parents who are socially isolated and have little time away from
their children;
- Parents whose expectations of their children or of themselves as
parents are unrealistic;
- Parents who express fear that they may harm their child;
-Parents who are uncomfortable relating to their child in your
presence;
- Parents whose self-esteem seems very low.”
Sahil: Child Sexual Abuse (CSA)
http://www.sahil.org/csa/wiabu.htm
============================================
According to Dr. Donna Persaud, assistant professor of pediatrics at
UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, "People who physically abuse
infants and children most typically care for them but have patterns of
violent reactions when stressed or annoyed. She says it is important
to remember that neglect accounts for a significant proportion of
child-abuse cases. Children who are perpetually unsupervised or
abandoned suffer greatly in the long run because they may lose
considerable potential to become healthy, productive citizens,"
Source: The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
http://www.swmed.edu/home_pages/news/apr98tip.htm
============================================
The Nature of Child Maltreatment
A Report to Congress on Substance Abuse and Child Protection
April 1999
Characteristics of Persons Who Maltreat Children:
“It is also hard to classify the personality characteristics of
abusers. Attempts to identify such characteristics have produced
inconsistent and contradictory results, largely because many factors
interact to produce the occurrence of child maltreatment (English,
1995).”
“Maladaptive parenting can arise in a variety of ways, especially when
a parent's behavioral characteristics or personal history, such as
excessive anger, anxiety, impulsivity, depression, background of
abuse, or poor coping skills, are exacerbated by such stresses as
marital conflict, social isolation, unemployment, substance abuse, the
disability of a child, lack of community support systems, and other
violence in the environment.”
“In general, several studies have found that abusive parents are more
psychologically disturbed than non-abusive parents, though true
psychosis is seen in only the most violent and abusive parents
(English, 1995).”
According to NCANDS data (1996):
- 77 percent of perpetrators of child maltreatment are parents
- 11 percent are relatives of the victim
- over 80 percent of all perpetrators are under age 40
- two-thirds are female
“An estimated three-quarters of neglect and medical neglect cases are
associated with female perpetrators, while almost three-quarters of
sexual abuse cases are associated with males.”
“The most consistent finding in the child abuse literature is that
maltreating parents often report having been physically, sexually, or
emotionally abused or neglected as children. Steele (1980) found that
the presence of additional circumstances interacting with a prior
history of abuse can increase the likelihood of abusive behavior,
e.g., situational crisis, lack of social support, and a perception of
the child as "unsatisfactory." However, it is incorrect to draw the
conclusion that maltreated children all grow up to become maltreating
parents.”
“Certain children are more physically and emotionally vulnerable than
others to maltreatment. The child's age and physical, mental,
emotional, and social development can greatly increase or decrease the
likelihood of maltreatment, depending on the interactions of these
characteristics with parental factors previously discussed. Younger
children, due to their small size and development, are particularly
vulnerable to certain forms of maltreatment. In addition, the child's
behavior, such as chronic crying or unresponsiveness, can increase the
likelihood of maltreatment, particularly if the parents have
impulsivity problems and cannot empathize with the child. Children
with disabilities are also at higher risk for abuse and neglect
(National Research Council, 1993).”
The Nature of Child Maltreatment 1999
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/subabuse99/chap3.htm
============================================
St. Pius X Parish Community -Safe Environment Program To Reduce The
Risk Of Child Abuse
PROFILE OF A CHILD ABUSER
Page 20 - male
Page 21 - female
http://spxdallas.org/SEP/SPX%20Safe%20Environment%20Program%20-%20english.pdf
===================================================
The publication Child Maltreatment 2001 made available by the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services - Administration for Children
& Families provides information related to the characteristics of the
perpetrators of child maltreatment.
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/publications/cm01/index.htm
Chapter 4 - Perpetrators
Characteristics of Perpetrators (Child File) - 2001
Perpetrators
Women 59.3 %
Men 40.7 %
“Female perpetrators were typically younger than male perpetrators. Of
female perpetrators, 42.3 percent were less than 30 years of age
compared to 31.9 percent of male perpetrators. The median age of
perpetrators was 31 years for women and 34 years for men.”
Administration for Children & Families: Child Maltreatment 2001
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/publications/cm01/figure4_1.htm
“A "Parent" accounted for 80.9 percent of perpetrators.
A "Nonparent" accounted for 15.9 percent and "Unknown or Missing"
accounted for 3.2 percent of perpetrators.”
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/publications/cm01/table4_2.htm
“For almost every type of perpetrator, neglect was the most common
type of maltreatment. Almost one-third of perpetrators with a
relationship of "Other Relative" were associated with sexual abuse.”
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/publications/cm01/figure4_3.htm
Perpetrator data from the perspective of the victim
“More than 10 percent (11.9%) of victims were maltreated by a
nonparental perpetrator. More than 40 percent (40.5%) of victims were
maltreated by a "Mother Only" and 19.3% of victims were maltreated by
a "Mother and Father."
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/publications/cm01/figure4_4.htm
Source:
Department of Health and Human Services
Administration for Children & Families
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/publications/cm01/chapterfour.htm
===================================================
From ChildAbuse.com
- Over 90% of abusive parents do not have a psychotic or criminal
personality.
- Other high risk parents are those where spousal abuse occurs in the
home.
- 10-40% of abusive parents have experienced physical abuse as
children.”
“Incestuous fathers, a profile
- Rigid
- Patriarchal
- Emotionally immature
- Alcoholic or drug abuse common
- Usually do not engage in extramarital affairs”
Source: ChildAbuse.com
http://www.childabuse.com/perp.htm
===================================================
Perpetrators of Child Sexual Abuse
Psychological determinants:
“Groff (1983) identified six key “personality deficits” (sense of
worthlessness and low self-esteem; pervasive feeling of vulnerability
and helplessness; impaired social relationships; dysphoric mood state;
mismanagement of aggression; and tenuous masculine identity.”
Royal College of Psychiatrists: Psychotherapy Section
http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/publications/cr/council/cr31.pdf
===================================================
Additional information that may interest you:
STEPFAMILIES:
“Though it is widely assumed that children are at greater risk of
maltreatment in stepfamilies, there are few studies that have actually
tested this premise, or that investigate the relationship between
stepfamilies and maltreatment.”
“Gelles and Harrop (1991), using a representative U.S. sample
generated by the Second National Family Violence Survey, reported no
significant differences between biological and non-biological parents
in the rates of severe (high probability of causing an injury) and
very severe (higher probability of an injury) physical violence
towards children.”
Source: Discussion Paper Number 1 Winter 1996
Child Maltreatment and Family Structure
ADAM M. TOMISON
Research Fellow
http://www.aifs.org.au/nch/discussion1.html
“Ms. Haigh was charged in counts one through six as a person
responsible for the welfare of a child, with two counts of
intentionally causing bodily harm to her stepdaughter, and with four
counts of intentionally contributing to the neglect of her stepson.
She was also charged with intentionally causing bodily harm to her
stepson by conduct which created a high probability of great bodily
harm.”
http://www.wisbar.org/WisCtApp2/4q99/98-0581.htm
“The prosecutor’s closing argument, that Ms. Haigh’s childhood and
family background provided the “preconditions” for her to commit the
alleged acts of child abuse, deprived Ms. Haigh of due process and a
fair trial.”
http://www.wisspd.org/html/appellate/briefbank/briefs/950581.pdf
==================================================
Search Criteria:
Personality characteristics of child abusers
Personality characteristics associated with child maltreatment
Traits associated with child abusers
Personality characteristics associated with child maltreatment
Profile o OR behavior OR characteristics Child Abuser
Perpetrator profile in child abuse
"Perpetrator profile" "child maltreatment
'Child abuse in stepfamilies'
Personality traits of a child abuser
Milner and Chilamkurti
I hope this helps you in your research. If anything is unclear or if a
link does not function please let me know and I'll be glad to offer
further assistance.
Best Regards,
Bobbie7-ga |
