Three views of child neglect: expanding visions of preventive intervention

The failure to address child neglect prevention efforts from a system viewpoint is presented as a major impediment to the generation of truly preventive interventions. Child neglect prevention is discussed at three levels: at the level of the individual, at the level of social systems and at the level of fundamental beliefs and cultural agreements. A process of component selection and placement is suggested with component selection based on components drawn from recent research and clinical work. Interventions would be geared to meet the particular needs of individual settings and at the same time be constructed so that each component would mesh with and build on previous components. An outline of a preventive child neglect intervention strategy is presented. Practices of government, the impact of business and technology and economic theory and practice are shown as plausible areas for preventive intervention. Core beliefs upon which social systems are built are challenged. It is stated that too narrow a view of child neglect often limits problem definition and encourages placement of blame at the family level. This decreases the effectiveness of the clinician who is coping with an individual problem as well as the researcher who is exploring the basic issues.