This landmark book is the first to offer researchers and policymakers perspectives on developing a precise, scientifically valid system of defining, classifying, and measuring child maltreatment. Directly addressing the biggest barriers to research lack of consistent definitions and measurement approaches "Child Abuse and Neglect" is the result of two federally funded workshops that pooled the expertise of two dozen researchers. Together, these experts present a framework for conducting successful research, giving readers the information they need to

• clarify the limitations of current definitions, classification systems, and measurement approaches
• revise the research definitions for four types of abuse: physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological maltreatment, and neglect
• use multi-method, multi-source approaches to classification and measurement
• understand how social policy trends help or hinder both research and practice
• address the ethical challenges of conducting research with vulnerable children and families

An indispensable resource for researchers and policymakers, this timely volume will help the field reach consensus on how to define and measure child maltreatment and facilitate research that lays the groundwork for better prevention and treatment efforts."
About the Author:
Dr. Feerick holds a bachelor's degree in English and a master's degree in Developmental Psychology from Columbia University, and a doctorate in Developmental Psychology from Cornell University. Early in her career, Dr. Feerick worked as a language arts teacher and director of development/contributions at an independent junior high school in New York City, while also working as a freelance editor/reader for Penguin Books, U.S.A. She has also served in research and statistical consultant positions on several federally-funded research projects at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital in New York City, the New York State Research Institute on Alcoholism and Addictions, and the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect, and has published articles and book chapters addressing various aspects of child maltreatment and family violence. Dr. Feerick has been the recipient of numerous fellowships and awards, including an individual National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and a Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) Executive Branch Policy Fellowship. From 1998 2004, Dr. Feerick served as a Health Scientist Administrator/Program Director at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, where she directed a large research and training program in child development, family processes, and child maltreatment and violence, in addition to serving on numerous inter-agency work groups and committees including the Federal Interagency Work Group on Child Abuse and Neglect, the NIH Child Abuse and Neglect Working Group (which she co-chaired), the Inter-Agency Work Group on Children Exposed to Violence (which she developed and chaired), and the Technical Advisory Group for the Fourth National Incidence Study (NIS-4) of the Office of Child Abuse and Neglect. She is currently working as an independent consultant, a freelance science writer, a Liaison for the Section on Child Maltreatment of the Division on Children, Youth, and Families of the American Psychological Association, and a reviewer for several peer-reviewed journals, while completing several writing projects and raising her two children.
Dr. Knutson holds a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Augustana College, Rock Island, IL, a master's degree in Psychology and a doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Washington State University. After completing a post-doctoral fellowship in Medical Psychology at The University of Oregon Medical School, he joined the faculty at The University of Iowa, where he was a recipient of the Regents' Award for Faculty Excellence in 1999. He has served two tours of duty as Director of Clinical Training at Iowa, and he directed the Department's training clinic for ten years. He has held editorial positions on "Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Journal of Clinical Child Psychology," and "Aggressive Behavior," and he is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Society. He served three terms as Treasurer of the International Society for Research on Aggression. Dr. Knutson's early research career focused on basic processes underlying the development of aggression, with his research on child maltreatment commencing in the late 1970s. He has also devoted considerable effort to research on psychological factors, including family relations, in the outcome of cochlear implants with deafened populations. Dr. Knutson has published more than 100 journal articles and book chapters on aggression, physical child abuse, neglect, the association between abuse and disabilities, cochlear implants, and methodology pertaining to the assessment of child maltreatment. Dr. Knutson served on two Federal committees focused on research definitions of child maltreatment and he was a member of the Technical Advisory Group for the Fourth National Incidence Study (NIS-4) of the Office of Child Abuse and Neglect. His current active research support is examining the role of supervisory and care neglect in the development of young children's aggression and the influence of exposure to domestic violence on young children's social adjustment.
Dr. Trickett is the David Lawrence Stein/Violet Goldberg Sachs Professor of Mental Health in the School of Social Work and Professor of Psychology in the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences at the University of Southern California. Dr. Trickett earned her Ph.D. from the New School for Social Research, New York. She is a developmental psychologist whose research, for more than two decades, has focused on the developmental consequences of child abuse and neglect on children and adolescents and on the characteristics of families in which such abuse occurs. She has had an Independent Scientist Award from the National Institute of Mental Health titled The Developmental Consequences of Child Abuse and Violence. In addition, Dr. Trickett is conducting a longitudinal study, now in its 18th year, of the psychobiological impact of familial sexual abuse on girls and female adolescents. She is also the Principal Investigator of a longitudinal study of the impact of neglect on adolescent development funded by the National Institutes of Health. She served as member, and then Chair, of the American Psychological Association's Committee on Children, Youth, and Families from 1992 to 1995 and was member-at-large of the Executive Committee of the Section on Child Maltreatment of APA's Division of Child, Youth, and Family Services. She is a Fellow of APA's Division 7 (Developmental Psychology). Dr. Trickett also directs a university-wide interdisciplinary violence research initiative at the University of Southern California.
Dr. Flanzer earned a bachelor's degree with honors in liberal arts from the University of Illinois Chicago Circle Campus, a master's degree in educational counseling from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, and a doctorate in Human Development from the Catholic University of America, Washington DC. She is a Certified Institutional Review Board Professional (CIP). Previously, Dr. Flanzer was the Director of the Division of Data, Research and Innovation at the Children's Bureau, Administration on Children, Youth and Family, Administration for Children and Families, DHHS, (1997 to 2003), having worked at the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (NCCAN/ACYF/ACF/DHHS) from 1993 to 1997. Prior to working for the federal government, Dr. Flanzer worked for several consulting firms in the Washington DC area conducting program evaluations and research on child maltreatment, runaway and homeless youth, family violence, domestic violence, foster care, and foster care parenting and discipline. Dr. Flanzer has made numerous presentations on these topics to professional and lay audiences. She has been the recipient of several academic honors including membership in Pi Gamma Mu, International Honorary Society in Social Sciences, a Daughters of Isabella Fellowship from The Catholic University of America, and membership in Phi Lambda Theta, the National Honorary Society in Education. In her present position, Dr. Flanzer oversees the human protections program for intramural research at AHRQ and serves as a consultant to the extramural research program. She also serves on many committees and working groups in the Department of Health and Human Services which include serving as an Ex Officio member of the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Human Research Protections (SACHRP) and on the inter-agency National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Committee on Science (COS) Human Subjects Research Subcommittee (HSRS) under the auspices of the President's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and on the Social and Behavioral Research Working Group of the HSRS. While serving at the Children's Bureau, Dr. Flanzer also participated in the Federal Interagency Work Group on Child Abuse and Neglect, the NIH Child Abuse and Neglect Working Group, the Child Neglect Research Consortium, and the Child Welfare League of America's National Council on Research in Child Welfare (1991-2003). She is an occasional reviewer for both "Child Abuse & Neglect: The International Journal Child Maltreatment" and "The Journal of the Professional Society on the Abuse of Children." Presently, she serves as a member of the Institutional Review Board, at Caliber Associates, Fairfax, Virginia and is a member of PRIM&R (Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research)/ARENA (Applied Research Ethics National Association) the professional association for human research protection program practitioners.
N. Dickon Reppucci, Ph.D., received his doctoral degree in clinical psychology from Harvard University in 1968, was a psychology faculty member at Yale University from 1968 to 1976, and became Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia in 1976. Since then, he has served the Psychology Department as Director of the Program in Research and Clinical Community Psychology (1976-1980), coordinator of the Community Psychology program (1980-present), and Director of Graduate Studies (1984-1995). As President of APA's Division 27 (The Society for Community Research and Action) in 1986, Dr. Reppucci initiated the Biennial Conferences on Community Research and Action. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society, and the American Association of Applied and Preventive Psychology. He has served on several editorial boards, including the American Journal of Community Psychology, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, and Professional Psychology, and was Associate Editor of Law and Human Behavior (1986-1996). Dr. Reppucci has served on National Institute of Mental Health Internal Review Committees concerned with violence and antisocial behavior and with life-span development and preventive intervention, the Virginia Advisory Council on Prevention and Promotion (1985-1992), and the Executive Committee of the National Consortium on Law and Children and The Child Maltreatment section of APA's Division 37. His books include The Sexual Abuse of Children (Jossey-Bass, 1988) and Prevention in Community Mental Health Practice (Brookline Books, 1991), both coauthored with Jeffrey Haugaard. Author of more than 100 professional works, Dr. Reppucci's most recent articles have been concerned with juvenile delinquency, preventing child abuse, and adolescent decision making in legal contexts. In 1991, he was honored as the Outstanding Scholar in Psychology by the Virginia Association of Social Scientists.

Kyle L. Snow, Ph.D., is Program Director for research in early childhood education at Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International. He is also Principal Investigator for the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Birth (ECLS B) cohort, a prospective longitudinal study of a nationally representative cohort of children studied from 9 months to kindergarten.

Dr. Snow has also held a faculty appointment at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and taught courses at Cornell University, American University, and Seton Hall University. Dr. Snow holds a bachelora s degree in psychology from Castleton State College in Vermont and mastera s and doctoral degrees in human development from Cornell University. Dr. Snowa s areas of specialization include infant and child development, the interface between early social and cognitive development, and childrena s transition to school.
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