Although children who are abandoned tend to be infants or young children (who are called foundlings), abandonment still is important to consider when studying the period of adolescence. Abandonment potentially relates to adolescents in two major ways. First, abandonment is relevant to adolescents in that they can be abandoned or in that the feeling of being abandoned leads youth to leave their parents by, for example, running away from their homes (Thompson et al. 2008). Second, abandonment is relevant to adolescents because they may be at risk for abandoning their own children. These propositions may be true but, regrettably, research on abandonment is considerably inadequate and does not support them conclusively. For example, researchers and policy makers lack reliable statistics regarding how many children are abandoned, their basic characteristics and situations, as well as the characteristics of those who abandon them. Even the most comprehensive federal statistics reporting on...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Pollock, K., & Hittle, L. (2003). Baby abandonment: The role of child welfare systems. Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America.
Sanger, C. (2006). Infant safe haven laws: Legislating the culture of life. Columbia Law Review, 106, 753–829.
Thompson, S. J., Bender, K. A., Lewis, C. M., & Watkins, R. (2008). Runaway and pregnant: Risk factors associated with pregnancy in a national sample of runaway/homeless female adolescents. The Journal of Adolescent Health, 43 (2), 125–132.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2009). Child Maltreatment, 2007. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this entry
Cite this entry
Levesque, R.J.R. (2011). Abandonment. In: Levesque, R.J.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Adolescence. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1695-2_660
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1695-2_660
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-1694-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-1695-2
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science