Psychological maltreatment: Definitional limitations and unstated assumptions

Abstract

Defining child maltreatment has never been easy. This is true irrespective of whether the focus is abuse or neglect, or whether the maltreatment in question is physical, emotional, and/or psychological in nature. Thus, McGee and Wolfe (1991) set for themselves no small task in generating an operational definition of psychological maltreatment that would be useful for research. In the main, I come away from their article believing that they have failed to advance the definitional state of the field, though admiring of their effort. In order to substantiate this point of view, I will begin by highlighting a series of concerns that I have with the definition they advance and end by raising broader questions about unstated assumptions that underlie their work.