Violenza all'infanzia e fallimento delle competenze genitoriali

[Autom. eng. transl.] The article analyzes the phenomenon of child violence, its impact on short and long term development and the risk and protection factors connected to the failure of parenting skills. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children explains how the most serious negative consequences manifest themselves in severe child maltreatment, multiple forms of physical abuse and neglect perpetrated by parents or educators whose primary vulnerability is due to the early age of onset of violence and its durability. Intrafamilial violence is to be understood not as a punctual event in the life of individual members, but rather as the outcome of a processuality, which is defined and organized since the first romantic relationships (teen dating violence) for then evolve, often, into marital conflict and domestic violence. Risk assessment, a crucial task of protection services, consists in the accurate and timely identification of situations in which children are more likely to suffer episodes of negligence and / or mistreatment. Evaluation requires attention not only to risk factors but also to the effect of protective factors.