Pathways to Prevention: Connecting Research and Policy to Reduce Risk for Child Maltreatment foregrounds recommendations for preventing child maltreatment by examining historical and contemporary changes in U.S. social policy and by summarizing research on the causes and consequences of child maltreatment. The book draws on research from the Lehigh Longitudinal Study, one of the longest-running projects on child maltreatment in the United States, to bring attention to the ways in which policies and systems have, or have not, evolved to meet the needs of vulnerable children and families.

The book begins by tracing the history of U.S. child welfare policy to explain how the original Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) of the 1970s came to be and what the writers of this legislation intended. Following this review, the authors introduce the Lehigh Longitudinal Study and other studies of its time to explore how themes in research parallel changes in federal policy. Throughout the book, the authors include recommendations to align research and policy and demonstrate the power of prevention.


Written with students, child advocates, and policy makers in mind, Pathways to Prevention will serve as a resource for anyone interested in helping improve the lives of children and families.