ABSTRACT
Miranda did suffer repeated childhood beatings at the hands of both parents, especially her father. But Miranda also remembers his frequent neglect, and somehow that was even worse. “I now see that I did a lot of things to get my father’s attention,” she admits. “If I was good, daddy ignored me. So I stayed out late, stole from stores, and didn’t go to school; that got his attention.” And a beating. Miranda learned that the kind of attention she “deserved” was violent. When she later became involved with abusive lovers, she believed she had caused-deserved-those beatings too. The fact that men hit her convinced Miranda that they cared about her. (Baker, 1983, p. 313)
Innumerable scientific studies have demonstrated the link between the abuse and neglect of children and a wide range of medical, social, emotional, psychological, and behavioral disorders. Subsequently, abused and neglected children are more likely to suffer from depression, alcoholism, drug abuse, and severe obesity. They are also most likely to require special education services in school and to become juvenile delinquents and adult criminals.
