Child abuse: A dynamic process of encounter between needs and personality traits within the family

Abstract

Abstract Personality traits and behavioral attributes are formed within a dynamic process of exchange. Just as the child is influenced by the parents, he or she may also influence them and elicit new modes of behavior from them. This article applies this idea to the situation of child abuse. The characteristics of an abused child might be the result of a parent's abusive behavior or the cause of such behavior. Both participants—the parent and the child—bring their attributes to the situation, and both react and change as a result of the interaction. The nature of the particular encounter, the matching or nonmatching of needs, may turn the characteristics of the child or those of the parent into risk factors. The article includes a case presentation.