ABSTRACT
It has become commonplace to assert that child maltreatment is multiply determined. Child maltreatment arises through a mix of social, cultural, and psychological forces and, commonplace or not, it is true that the only appropriate model is an ecological one that emphasizes the interplay of organismic and environmental forces. Many reviews of existing research are available to document this (e.g., Belsky, 1980; Garbarino & Gilliam, 1980). Our focus here is on prevention, however, rather than on an exhaustive review of theory and causation, except insofar as such a review is necessary to illuminate programmatic and policy issues involved in prevention.
