I searched the archives to look for the oft mentioned link between
breastfeeding and reduced child abuse and found that a lot have people have
looked for studies that have found this and that there doesn't seem to be
much around. It seems that it is one of those things that makes sense and
can be extrapolated from what we know but there is not research.
Anyway I did a pretty extensive lit search this afternoon and came across
this abstract that I thought some might find particularly interesting. I'd
like to get a hold of it and have a look at some of the references,
presumeably some of them would be in English.
Karleen Gribble
Australia



Authors
  Croughs W.
Title
  [The early parent-child relationship]. [Review] [71 refs] [Dutch]
Source
  Tijdschrift voor Kindergeneeskunde.  52(2):39-49, 1984 Apr.
Abstract
  The occurrence of serious disturbances in the relations between parents
and
  their young children such as emotional deprivation and child battering
made
  us realise, that the attachment of parents to their infant is not a
matter of
  course. In this paper a number of personal and social factors are
reviewed,
  which might influence the bonding between parents and their
  baby. The foundations of the parent-child relationship are laid in the
  childhood of the parents themselves. The relation between the parents,
their
  attitude to the expected baby and physical, psychological, social and
  economic circumstances during pregnancy and during the first period of
the
  child's life are all important for the bonding process.
  Ideas about parenthood and childrearing practices, that are prevalent in
  their culture, usually have great influence on the way parents handle
their
  child. The infant itself also has an important part in the developing
  relationship. From the beginning the parent-child relation is
characterised
  by mutual interaction and subtle dialogue. The first hours and days after
  birth may be especially important for the start of the
  bonding process. Breastfeeding provides a
  unique opportunity for intimate contact between mother and child. Finally
the
  author gives arguments for paying special attention to the observation of
  parent-child interactions during pediatric history taking and
examination.
  [References: 71]

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