2016 Volume 57 Issue 5 Pages 769-782
As only 7% of abuse cases handled by the Child Guidance Centers in Japan result in removal of the children from their homes, the majority of maltreated children continue life within the community with their original families. Although community support is available for parents and children of mild to moderate abuse cases, lack of human resources and effective programs for their support and treatment remain the challenge.
The aim of support in abuse cases is to help children recover from the negative impacts of abuse, allowing for healthy development through nurture of self-esteem. Family support is provided to achieve that goal by changing abusive parenting behavior, and shifting the home into an environment conducive to the child's emotional and physical development. This process often requires support not only for the parents, but multidimensional approaches including care for the child, the parent-child relationship, and help in bridging the parents with support from relatives, acquaintances, and the community. Abusive behaviors can at times be lessened by helping to relieve parents from isolation, reducing stress in their everyday life, and promoting the family's strengths and independence. However, some parents, particularly those with histories of being abused, require treatment and education to acquire appropriate parenting skills, and to reconstruct the parent-child relationship.
This article reviews the compound factors giving rise to child abuse, classification of abuse by the mechanism fostering abuse helpful in determining the types of required support, supportive networks encompassing welfare, education, medical care and justice. Treatment and educational modalities are overviewed, including the Alternatives for Families: A Cognitive Behavior Therapy (AF-CBT) —an evidence-based treatment program developed in the US targeting both parents and children—comprised of core elements with proven efficacy in supporting families with abuse issues (safety planning, psychoeducation, emotion regulation, restructuring thoughts, parent training, and clarification of responsibility for abusive behavior and apology).
