Although there are very few forms of verbal abuse, there are some parents who use verbal abuse but would not hit their children, neglect them, or involve them in sex. Verbal abuse may become an increasingly frequent form of controlling and disciplining children because of the increased awareness of physical abuse and because of the possible declining value of children. Verbal abuse may have a greater impact because the abused child has greater difficulty defending himself from the attack. Because children tend to identify with their parents, the verbal abuse by their parents becomes a way in which they then abuse themselves. (Publisher abstract)