Repeating or Breaking the Cycle: Practitioner Perspectives on Intergenerational Child Maltreatment

Abstract

Child maltreatment may recur across generations, but transmission is neither inevitable nor adequately explained by a single mechanism. This exploratory qualitative study examined how Family Centered Services practitioners perceived intergenerational child maltreatment, related risk and protective factors, and practice barriers and supports. Seven Social Services Specialists in the Family Centered Services unit of the Jackson County Children’s Division in Kansas City, Missouri, were invited by email to complete an anonymous online survey; four practitioners with at least six months of role experience responded. The survey contained two mandatory open-ended questions concerning practitioners’ observations of intergenerational maltreatment and their use of data and professional judgment in intervention planning. Responses were de-identified and analyzed by the author using inductive, semantic thematic analysis in Dedoose version 10.0.59. Participants described childhood trauma and normalization of harmful caregiving practices as perceived contributors to risk, while also emphasizing that maltreatment histories do not determine future parenting behavior. They identified mental health concerns, substance use, poverty, family dynamics, limited social support, and willingness to engage with services as contextual factors affecting safety and intervention. Participants further described early identification, trauma-informed and family-centered engagement, and coordination with community providers as potentially helpful approaches. Because this study involved four practitioners from one local unit and relied on brief written responses, findings are exploratory and are not evidence of causal intergenerational transmission. The study contributes practice-based insight into how frontline practitioners conceptualize risk and protective processes and highlights the need for larger, multi-site research that examines intervention implementation and family outcomes.