Abstract
Matched a group of 14 abusing mothers with an equal number of control mothers on race, educational level, income, and marital status. Their scores were compared on three personality scales, the Sense of Personal Worth Scale of the California Test of Personality, the Srole Anomia scale, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale. A significant difference (p p <0.07) on the Anomia scale, with abusing mothers scoring higher on feelings of social alienation. On the Self-Esteem scale, which indicates personal feelings of worth independent of the evaluations of others, no significant differences were found between groups. Correlation coefficients also were computed among scores obtained by the abusing mothers on the personality. Implications of these findings related to child welfare work with abusing mothers are discussed.

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