Allison Lauretti

Parental reports of coparenting and observed coparenting behavior during the toddler period.

Fifty-two married partners played with their 30-month-olds in both dyadic (parent-child) and whole family contexts and reported on their own coparenting activities (family integrity-promoting behavior, conflict, disparagement, and reprimand). Coparenting behavior observed in the whole family context was evaluated for antagonism, warmth and cooperation, child-adult centeredness, balance of positive involvement, and management of toddler behavior. Parallel balance and management scores were also formed using dyadic session data. Mens reported family integrity-promoting activities and womens reported conflict and reprimand activities were reliable correlates of family group process in both bivariate and discriminant analyses, with links enduring even after controlling for marital quality. Whole family- and dyad-based estimates of coparenting were altogether unrelated, and reported coparenting was tied only to behavior in family context, not to family measures created from dyad-based data.

The Evaluation of Parental Fitness in Termination of Parental Rights Cases: A Functional-Contextual Perspective

This article highlights issues involved in carrying out evaluations for termination of parental rights cases and suggests caution for mental health professionals doing such evaluations. It argues that current models of parenting that come from the child development and child maltreatment fields are too narrow in their focus to act as a foundation for such evaluations and are often based on research with select groups in our society making them open to bias. Similarly, it is argued that traditional assessment measures are limited in their utility for responding to the kinds of relational and basic care questions asked in such evaluations. A functional-contextual model is offered as an alternative with examples of potentially useful measurement strategies. With such a frame as a starting point, the field might progress to providing more useful information to courts. Future research directions to improve this practice arena are discussed.

The Current Status of Etiological Theories in Intrafamilial Child Maltreatment

Child maltreatment is a major social problem affecting over a million children and their families each year (National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, 1992). Effective treatment development for both perpetrators and victims of this problem rests on the availability of wellarticulated and validated theories of etiology. Such theories allow for empirical documentation of causal factors and ultimately, more precisely targeted interventions. The goal of this chapter is to assess progress in the development of etiological models of intrafamilial child maltreatment. The chapter begins with a historical overview of the forces that operated to slow theory building in early phases of this field and ones that are now more fostering of theory development. We then examine the foundations of current theories about each form of child maltreatment, highlighting the definitions and assumptions that models have adopted and the basic dimensions on which they differ. The chapter ends with a preliminary attempt to integrate current theorizing into a metamodel that would be useful in treatment development.