Summarizes current knowledge of child neglect. The text also reflects the challenges facing clinicians, researchers, and policymakers who are working to enhance protections for children and supports for families. Chapters cover: (1) a conceptual understanding of child neglect in relation to child development; (2) a review of current methods of defining, and distinguishing between, maltreatment and neglect; (3) the socioeconomic underpinnings of neglect and types of neglect; (4) the foundation of cultural competence and its role in understanding child maltreatment; (5) a review of the limited research on the short- and long-term effects of neglect on children; (6) the definition of neglected health care and its frequency, causes, major manifestations, and management; (7) the association between prenatal alcohol and drug use and the risk of child maltreatment; (8) fatal child neglect, including causes and incidence rates as well as current professional and societal responses; (9) child neglect prevention strategies; (10) evaluation and risk assessment of child neglect in public child protective services (CPS); (11) promising approaches to family intervention; (12) rethinking the termination of abused women’s parental rights for failure to protect; and (13) research and policy recommendations.
