Self-Concept Disturbance among Mothers Who Abuse Their Children

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Abstract
The problem addressed here was whether self-concept disturbance significantly distinguished abusive from non-abusive mothers. 60 women with children under 5 yr. were divided into 2 groups of 30 each on the basis of known abuse or non-abuse of the child. All participants completed a Personal Data Sheet containing relevant background information, and Weed-man, Warren, and Marx's unpublished Self-concept Incongruence Scale, to assess positive self-concept, self-concept incongruence, and self-concept inconsistency. Women who abused their children had lower and more inconsistent self-concepts than non-abusers. They also experienced greater incongruence between the way they viewed themselves and the way they would like to be. These disturbances were seen as both the sources and consequences of the extreme frustration which leads to violence when socially appropriate outlets are unavailable.