ABSTRACT
Maltreatment of infants and children is one of the most maladaptive forms of behavior that parents can express toward their offspring and one that is most distasteful and difficult for both laypersons and professionals to comprehend and to handle. Despite studies in recent years that have increased our knowledge and understanding, abuse remains a problem much outside the general stream of social concern. Many people still find it hard to realize that a significant number of fathers and mothers physically injure or neglect the children under their care, or abuse them sexually or emotionally, thereby seriously distorting their subsequent physical and psychological development.
