ABSTRACT
Much of the child abuse research has been retrospective in nature. As a result, cause and effect relationships have often been erroneously concluded from significant differences between abusers and nonabusers. By starting with the final outcome and tracing backward, the chain of events may appear inevitable (Kaufman and Zigler, in press). However, when following events prospectively, or forward in time, it becomes evident that numerous pathways for each event are possible. For example, one conclusion drawn from such retrospective research is that poverty is a cause of abuse. An important question remains un answered: Why do some poor parents abuse their children whereas the majority do not? The strength of the relationship between poverty and abuse weakens when examined prospectively. Numerous other examples exist. According to retrospective studies abused children have been found to be born premature compared to a control group (Frei-
*Research for this chapter was supported in part by grants from the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, the Administration for Children, Youth, and Families (DHEW 90-C-424) and Maternal and Child Health and Crippled Children Services (DHEW MC-R-27041601).
