Violence Against Children: Contributions of the Bioecological Theory of Human Development to Research and Intervention

This book shows how the Bioecological Theory of Human Development (BTHD) can be applied to the study of violence against children. Originally developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner to understand human development in general, BTHD offers a powerful framework to carry out a systemic analysis of the multiple levels of risk and protective factors associated with violence against children and provides the tools to develop interventions that go beyond the focus on the individual, addressing wider contextual factors. The chapters of this book present various typologies of violence that can manifest in family, school, community, institutional, and structural contexts, viewed through the lens of the Bioecological Theory of Human Development. The key concepts of Person, Process, Context, and Time serve as the foundation for a critical analysis of the factors that render children vulnerable to experiences of violence. The chapters also aim to showcase research and interventions developed by psychologists who have dedicated their work to studying violence against children in a variety of different contexts. Violence Against Children: Contributions of the Bioecological Theory of Human Development to Research and Intervention will be of interest to researchers in fields such as developmental psychology, education and social work who are interested in understanding violence from a systemic theoretical perspective, culturally situated within various realities. It will also be a useful resource for professionals working with children victim of violence, such as social workers, teachers and mental health practitioners, empowering them to engage in ethically and politically committed actions that drive the necessary social transformations for effectively combating violence against children worldwide, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, social class, religion, or citizenship status.The original manuscript of this book was written in Portuguese and translated into English with the help of artificial intelligence. A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content.

About the Author

Luísa Fernanda Habigzang is a professor in the undergraduate course of psychology and in the Graduate Program in Psychology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Brazil, where she is also the coordinator of the Violence, Vulnerability and Clinical Interventions Research Group (GPeVVIC). She holds a master’s degree in developmental psychology and a PhD in psychology from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil, and a research productivity grant level 1C from the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). She was vice president of the Brazilian Association of Developmental Psychology (2023-2025) and board member of the Brazilian Society of Psychology (2023-2025).

Alex Sandro Gomes Pessoa is a professor in the Department of Psychology and in the Graduate Program in Psychology at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), Brazil. He is also a researcher at the Laboratory for Analysis and Prevention of Violence (LAPREV) and holds a research productivity grant level 2 from the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). He is the current president of the Brazilian Association of Developmental Psychology (2023-2027). Dr. Pessoa acted and is currently aas a Visiting Scholar at the University of Sydney, Australia (2024-2025) with a scholarship from the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP).

Silvia Renata Lordello is a professor in the Department of Clinical Psychology and in the Graduate Program in Clinical Psychology and Culture at the University of Brasilia (UnB), Brazil, where she coordinates the Laboratory of Families, Groups and Communities (LABFAM). She holds a Master’s degree in developmental psychology and a PhD in clinical psychology and culture from the University of Brasília.