{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,29]],"date-time":"2026-04-29T17:16:43Z","timestamp":1777483003163,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,24]],"date-time":"2020-11-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1606176000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Although the theory of evolution lies at the heart of contemporary biology, its influence on the study of child psychology and psychiatry has been limited. In earlier work we have argued that evolutionary thinking has much of value for clinicians. Here, we explore the possible significance of evolutionary theory for understanding child abuse by mothers, particularly neglect, emotional abuse and physical abuse. We draw on the research of anthropologists, primatologists and evolutionary theorists to make predictions about the environmental circumstances under which one would expect such abuse to be more prevalent. We discuss how in modern, Western cultures there is less understanding of the circumstances that may influence, even predispose, a mother to limit her emotional and material commitment to an infant or child. We use four short vignettes of clinical cases and one longer case description to illustrate the insights offered to clinicians by an evolutionary approach. We see our work both as contributing to greater understanding of these matters and as facilitating more compassionate models of care and intervention for women in such circumstances.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/1359104520974418","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,25]],"date-time":"2020-11-25T01:41:06Z","timestamp":1606268466000},"page":"283-294","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Can an evolutionary perspective shed light on maternal abuse of children?"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"26","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5383-0364","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bernadette","family":"Wren","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3833-9352","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"John","family":"Launer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Graham","family":"Music","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Michael J","family":"Reiss","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"UCL, London, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Annie","family":"Swanepoel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Elysium Healthcare Ltd, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1086\/344374"},{"key":"bibr2-1359104520974418","volume-title":"Attachment and loss: Attachment","author":"Bowlby E. J. M.","year":"1969"},{"key":"bibr3-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S0033291719000953"},{"key":"bibr4-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/oso\/9780195095814.003.0002"},{"key":"bibr5-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.physbeh.2011.08.019"},{"key":"bibr6-1359104520974418","author":"De Thierry B","year":"2020","journal-title":"The simple guide to complex trauma and dissociation: What it is and how to help"},{"key":"bibr7-1359104520974418","first-page":"321","volume-title":"Evolutionary biology and human social behaviour: An anthropological perspective","author":"Dickemann M.","year":"1979"},{"key":"bibr8-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0091-7435(03)00123-3"},{"key":"bibr9-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev-psych-122216-011732"},{"key":"bibr10-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1176\/appi.ajp.162.9.1578"},{"key":"bibr11-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/a0022403"},{"key":"bibr12-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1909699116"},{"key":"bibr13-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1728-4457.2007.00171.x"},{"key":"bibr14-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/hic3.12361"},{"key":"bibr15-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.psyneuen.2018.12.011"},{"key":"bibr16-1359104520974418","volume-title":"Demography of the Dobe! Kung","author":"Howell N.","year":"1979"},{"key":"bibr17-1359104520974418","volume-title":"The langurs of Abu: Female and male strategies of reproduction","author":"Hrdy S. B.","year":"1977"},{"key":"bibr18-1359104520974418","volume-title":"Mother nature: Natural selection and the female of the species","author":"Hrdy S. B.","year":"1999"},{"key":"bibr19-1359104520974418","volume-title":"Mothers and others: The evolutionary origins of mutual understanding","author":"Hrdy S. B.","year":"2009"},{"key":"bibr20-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/9781316422939"},{"key":"bibr21-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10519-018-9909-z"},{"key":"bibr22-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-319-99043-9"},{"key":"bibr23-1359104520974418","volume-title":"Hardness of heart\/hardness of life: The stain of human infanticide","author":"Milner L. S.","year":"2000"},{"key":"bibr24-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/00004583-199005000-00006"},{"key":"bibr25-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4324\/9781315656939"},{"key":"bibr26-1359104520974418","volume-title":"Paper presented at the 5th annual Toulouse Economics and Biology Workshop: The evolution and economics of the family","author":"Myers S.","year":"2017"},{"key":"bibr27-1359104520974418","unstructured":"National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). (2017). Child abuse and neglect: NICE guideline. https:\/\/www.nice.org.uk\/guidance\/ng76\/resources\/child-abuse-and-neglect-pdf-1837637587141"},{"key":"bibr28-1359104520974418","first-page":"279","volume":"9","author":"Reiss M. J.","year":"1990","journal-title":"Evolutionary Theory"},{"key":"bibr29-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1525\/9780520911567"},{"key":"bibr30-1359104520974418","first-page":"111","volume-title":"Understanding and healing emotional trauma: Conversations with pioneering clinicians and researchers","author":"Schore A. N.","year":"2015"},{"key":"bibr31-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1745691610393528"},{"key":"bibr32-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/00332925.2019.1564513"},{"key":"bibr33-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1086\/203801"},{"key":"bibr34-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/pere.12269"},{"key":"bibr35-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1179\/2046905513Y.0000000099"},{"key":"bibr36-1359104520974418","volume-title":"The evolution of life histories","author":"Stearns S.","year":"1992"},{"key":"bibr37-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S095457941800161X"},{"key":"bibr38-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0956797616631958"},{"key":"bibr39-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1192\/apt.bp.116.016659"},{"key":"bibr40-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1192\/apt.bp.114.014043"},{"key":"bibr41-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1439-0310.1963.tb01161.x"},{"key":"bibr42-1359104520974418","first-page":"173","volume-title":"Human reproductive behavior: A Darwinian perspective","author":"Turke P. W.","year":"1988"},{"key":"bibr43-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/jcpp.13147"},{"key":"bibr44-1359104520974418","unstructured":"WHO. (2020). Factsheet: Child maltreatment. https:\/\/www.who.int\/en\/news-room\/fact-sheets\/detail\/child-maltreatment"},{"key":"bibr45-1359104520974418","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1192\/bja.2019.35"}],"container-title":["Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/1359104520974418","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1177\/1359104520974418","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/1359104520974418","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,28]],"date-time":"2026-04-28T14:19:20Z","timestamp":1777385960000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/1359104520974418"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,24]]},"references-count":45,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,1]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1177\/1359104520974418"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/1359104520974418","relation":{},"ISSN":["1359-1045","1461-7021"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1359-1045","type":"print"},{"value":"1461-7021","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,24]]}}}