When parents interchange love with abuse : an analysis of parental-child abuse for correctional intervention

Abstract

A great deal is known about child abuse, especially the devastating effect of abuse on the child. Substantial national and international research on child abuse exits that focuses on the child as the victim. However, less attention has been paid to really understanding the abuser. This is especially true regarding the parent-child abuser in terms of abuse onset, motives, triggers, and the specific life path and influences that contributed to, and shaped the parent into a child abuser. This article presents a case study of a parent-child abuser’s life journey, influences and crimes from a qualitative-criminological perspective. The mother’s distinctive needs and risks for rehabilitation efforts are derived from her life path, while practical and achievable treatment strategies are recommended and put forward to serve as indicators for effective intervention efforts. The authors furthermore allude to the effects of the abuse on the child victims and the cycle of abuse.