ABSTRACT
Practitioners in the human services are playing an ever-increasing role in what historically has been a private domain: the parent-child relationship. Journal and newspaper articles describe increasing public awareness and an associated increase in reporting of parent-child relationships that do not meet legal and societal standards. Societal intervention in the family involves identifying inadequate parental behaviors and the sequelae of child abuse and neglect, and providing preventive or direct services to address these needs. Society has accepted as its intervention mandate the best interests of the child, aiming to optimize the child's physical, cognitive, and emotional development.
