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Child abuse prevention programs have long
focused on reducing particular risk factors. However, increasingly,
prevention services are also recognizing the importance of
promoting protective factors: conditions in families and communities
that research has shown to increase the health and well-being
of children and families. These factors help parents who might
otherwise be at risk of abusing or neglecting their children
to find resources, supports, or coping strategies that allow
them to parent effectively, even under stress.
Child Protective Factors
Resilience is a concept that has been
identified as an important protective factor among children
who have been abused or maltreated. Research has identified
that resilience was found to be related to personal characteristics
that included a child's ability to: recognize danger and adapt,
distance oneself from intense feelings, create relationships
that are crucial for support, and project oneself into a time
and place in the future in which the perpetrator is no longer
present.
Additional protective factors include (CDC, 2015; NYS-OCFS, 2011):
- Good health, history of adequate development
- Above-average intelligence
- Hobbies and interests
- Good peer relationships
- Personality factors such as an easy-going temperament
- Positive disposition
- Active coping style
- Positive self-esteem
- Good social skills
- Internal locus of control
- A balance between help seeking and autonomy
Parental/Family Protective Factors
Resilience is also a protective factor for parents. Parents
who are emotionally resilient have a positive attitude, creatively
problem solve, effectively address challenges, and are less
likely to direct anger and frustration at their children (USDHHS-ACF, 2015; CDC, 2015; NYS-OCF, 2011).
- Secure attachment with children; positive and warm parent-child
relationship
- Supportive family environment
- Parents have come to terms with own history of abuse
- Household rules/structure; parental monitoring of child
- Extended family support and involvement, including caregiving
help
- Stable relationship with parents
- Parents have a model of competence and good coping skills
- Family expectations of pro-social behavior
- High parental education
Community Protective Factors
- Mid to high socioeconomic status
- Access to health care and social services
- Consistent parental employment
- Adequate housing
- Family religious faith participation
- Good schools
- Supportive adults outside of family who serve as role
models/mentors to child
Societal Protective Factors
- Families with two married parents encounter more stable
home environments, fewer years in poverty, and diminished
material hardship
- Supportive institutions in the society such as good child
care and healthcare
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