Camil Bouchard

Child Physical Abuse With and Without Other Forms of Maltreatment: Dysfunctionality Versus Dysnormality:

The fact that most etiological studies of physical abuse have not taken into account co-occurrence of different forms of maltreatment calls into question the validity of our knowledge on the subject. The aim of this study, therefore, is to compare the etiological patterns of cases of physical abuse reported to Quebec child protective services (CPS) according to whether the abuse occurs alone or co-occurs with other forms of maltreatment. The data are taken from the Quebec Incidence Study (QIS), which examined 4,929 reports investigated by Quebec CPS in the fall of 1998. The cases included 514 children who were physically abused: 269 of them were not subjected to any other type of maltreatment and 245 were also victims of one or two other forms of maltreatment. The survey form provided information on more than 30 characteristics of the children reported, their families, and their parental figures. Bivariate and direct logistic regression analyses revealed that the profile of physical abuse cases varies depending on whether the physical abuse occurs alone (what we are calling dysnormality) or in combination with one or two other forms of maltreatment (dysfunctionality). Those results will help deepen our etiological knowledge of physical abuse and may serve to inspire different types of intervention for the two groups of children.

The psychological adjustment of children from separated families: The role of selected social support variables

This study investigates the impact of social support on childrens psychological adjustment following the divorce of their parents. Seventy-one (71) children from separated families and 120 children from intact families participated in the study. Data were collected twice. Children from separated families listed support networks of lower density with more sitters and teachers contributing both to emotional support and to negative interactions. Social support variables contribute more in predicting the psychological status of children from separated families than of children from intact families. Insufficient income, dissatisfaction with family life, lower density of the support network and higher ratio of negative interactions are predictive of children behavior problems.

Incidence et caractéristiques des signalements d'enfants maltraités: comparaison interculturelle.

This study compared the incidence and characteristics of reported child abuse cases in two different ethnic groups. Incidence was calculated based on the total number of cases (N = 2,854) reported to child protection authorities between July 17, 1988 and March 31, 1989. In a sample of 953 reports, the following were examined: the source of the reporting, type of abuse, substantiation and age of the child. The incidence was found to be slightly higher among Haitian group compared to French-Canadian group. In the former case, reporting tended to originate with public authorities such as the police or school personnel. Cases tended to consist mainly of physical abuse, with very few cases of sexual abuse. Most involved adolescents. These results suggest that child-rearing practices of Haitian families are in conflict with the values of the host community, and that there exist similar value-based conflicts between Haitian parents and their children.