Nonphysical Child Abuse: A Review of Literature and Challenge to Communication Scholars

Abstract

To understand nonphysical child abuse better, the authors argue, scholars must provide thorough conceptualization and theoretically grounded operationalization. To illustrate this argument, the authors explicate the terms (a) verbal aggression, (b) psychological aggression, and (c) psychological maltreatment (stemming from communication, sociology, and psychology respectively) and review, for each term, the theoretical conceptualization, operationalization, and implications for intervention. They discuss the importance of and the challenges inherent in developing any theoretically grounded conceptualization and operationalization of nonphysical child abuse and highlight criteria with which to assess both. The authors also argue that scholars of communication are well situated to help fill the gaps in abuse research.