A study of battered children in Santa Barbara, California

Current newspaper articles, professional journals and legislation reflect increased concern and attention in the area of child abuse. The frequency of reports of children physically and mentally abused, some fatally, makes abundantly clear the need to identify the children in jeopardy. As an outgrowth of experience as a caseworker in Protective Services in Santa Barbara, California, the author developed a personal interest in learning more about characteristics of families with identified abused children. Associated with this personal interest is the possibility of identifying common elements of characteristics which might prove predictive and therefore potentially preventative in the area of child abuse. To consider family characteristics, the author examined materials gathered by CALM (Child Abuse Listening Media of Santa Barbara) and by others working in Protective Services in Santa Barbara. For the purpose of this study, all cases of physical child abuse from the records of Santa Barbara County Protective services over an eight month period were reviewed and compared with a control group which consisted of a random sample of all cases referred to protective services over the same period