Maternal Violence Against Children: A Brief Literature Review

Abstract

Domestic Violence against Children and Adolescents (DVCA) is considered a social and public health problem, which occurs in the private space of the family. Mothers are among those who most violate their children because they are the main ones responsible for their care. This review analyzed the articles published in the last 12 years that dealt with maternal violence. It was found that most of the studies were qualitative, written in Portuguese, carried out in Brazil, and in the area of psychology. The high production by Brazilian authors shows that this phenomenon has become visible in the country. Physical violence and neglect were the most highlighted and the mothers participating in the studies were mostly from lower socioeconomic classes. There is a gap regarding the inclusion of mothers with other socioeconomic characteristics and from other countries. The content of the articles provided a wealth of information about the life histories and personalities of these women, but only a minority explored the relational vicissitudes of the mother-child dyads, which could result in more comprehensive and effective intervention proposals in the context of DVCA.