The discussion is organized into seven chapters. In the first chapter, issues of abuse prevention are framed within the broader context of contemporary concerns about the child protection system, along with the hope and pessimism that derive from reflection on the status of children in American society. The second chapter is the first of three that critically analyze current research on social networks and social support, drawing on studies from community psychology, family sociology, developmental psychology, and related fields. Chapter 3 describes the organization of social networks and the functions of social support, followed by a chapter that considers the impact of social support on its recipients, including consideration of recipient reactions to aid, the effects of help-giving on helpers themselves, the impact of stress on social support and the stressfulness of social networks, how the recipient's personal characteristics can mediate help-giving, and the general question of whether social support benefits the recipient. Chapter 5 begins the transition from theory to application as it considers research on the social context of child maltreatment in general and the social isolation of abuse-prone families in particular. Chapter 6 discusses two approaches to the prevention of abuse that involve social support: home visitation and intensive family preservation strategies. The concluding chapter offers suggestions for potentially fruitful new directions in research, policy, and practice. 234 references and author and subject indexes