Mothers' personal social networks and child maltreatment.

The social networks of 32 mothers in families being treated in a hospital-based program for indicated cases of child abuse and neglect were compared to the networks of a demographically comparable control group of 24 mothers whose children were not subject to maltreatment. The clinic mothers were found to be more isolated and more insulated from other people in their -networks. Their isolation reflected a deficiency primarily in their peer connections, and their insularity served to separate their immediate families from their peer connections and from the rest of their families. Child and adolescent maltreatment has become more noticeable to the public in recent years as our information-gathering systems have become more efficient and reports issued have revealed its deleterious effects on children (American Health Association, 1976; American Humane Association, 1978; Konopka, 1975; Straus, Gelles, & Steinmetz, 1980; Child Protective Services, Note 1). Severe maltreatment of children by members of their families is unsanctioned by all social communities. There are cultural differences in disciplinary child-rearing practices that share some of the attributes of violence, as described in Erlanger's (1974) review, but nevertheless, there are limits and standards set by all social groups regulating such behavior and specifying the contexts in which and the extent to which it is permitted. The behavior we are concerned with, child maltreatment severe enough to be indicated by Child Protective Services, falls outside these limits and is considered a problem in every social group. Its persistence within the