research on cohabitation

["Sandi McLeod" <mcleods@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Dr. Jeff Scott,

The National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information has 
a few citations in our documents collection that may be of interest 
to you in your research on the link between child abuse and 
cohabitation.

In your original message, you mentioned a 1993 British study.  Do I 
assume that you are referring to the book by R. Whelan, "Broken Homes 
and Battered Children:  A Study of the Relationship Between Child 
Abuse and Family Type"?

The other citations that you might want to check out are:

"Conceptualization and Measurement of Battering:  Implications for 
Public Policy" by Murray Strauss, 1991.  (In "Woman Battering:  
Policy Responses" edited by M. Steinman.)  Compares married and 
cohabitating relationships.

"Preventing Child Sexual Abuse:  The State of Knowledge and Future 
Research" by C.R. Bagley, 1991.  (In "Child Sexual Abuse.  Critical 
Perspectives on Prevention, Intervention, and Treatment" edited by 
Bagley and R. J. Thomlison.)  Includes studies that indicate that 
sexual abuse is more likely to occur in families that were disrupted 
by separation or divorce followed by subsequent remarriage or 
cohabitation.

"Cohabiting and Marital Aggression:  The Role of Social Isolatlon" by 
J.E. Stets, 1991 in the Journal of Marriage and the Family.  This 
article describes a study that attempted to determine the reason that 
physical aggression is more common among cohabiting couples compared 
with married couples.

And finally, the American Public Welfare Association, 1991, did a 
position paper entitled "Family Violence".  As part of the paper, the 
scope of the problem is outlined for spouse and cohabiting partner 
abuse, child abuse and elder abuse.

If you are interested in conducting your own search, please visit our 
web site at:  http://www.calib.com/nccanch; select menu item "online 
databases and directories".
 
As a final note, I might point out to you that while the NIS-3 Report 
does not use the term "cohabiting", it does include information on 
the parent's boyfriend/girlfriend in the perpetrator relationship 
data.  Although boyfriend/girlfriend does not necessarily mean 
"cohabiting", it might provide some useful insight into the child 
maltreatment piece of your research.  The NIS-3 is available, free of 
charge from the Clearinghouse.

If I can be of further assistance, please let me know.

Sincerely,
Sandi McLeod
National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect