Although the theory of evolution lies at the heart of contemporary biology, its influence on the study of child psychology and psychiatry has been limited. In earlier work we have argued that evolutionary thinking has much of value for clinicians. Here, we explore the possible significance of evolutionary theory for understanding child abuse by mothers, particularly neglect, emotional abuse and physical abuse. We draw on the research of anthropologists, primatologists and evolutionary theorists to make predictions about the environmental circumstances under which one would expect such abuse to be more prevalent. We discuss how in modern, Western cultures there is less understanding of the circumstances that may influence, even predispose, a mother to limit her emotional and material commitment to an infant or child. We use four short vignettes of clinical cases and one longer case description to illustrate the insights offered to clinicians by an evolutionary approach. We see our work both as contributing to greater understanding of these matters and as facilitating more compassionate models of care and intervention for women in such circumstances.

中文翻译：

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进化的观点能否阐明母亲虐待儿童的问题？

尽管进化论是当代生物学的核心，但它对儿童心理学和精神病学研究的影响是有限的。在早期的工作中，我们认为进化思维对临床医生有很大的价值。在这里，我们探讨了进化理论对于理解母亲虐待儿童的可能意义，特别是忽视、情感虐待和身体虐待。我们利用人类学家、灵长类动物学家和进化理论家的研究，对人们预计这种虐待将更加普遍的环境情况做出预测。我们讨论了在现代西方文化中，对可能影响甚至倾向于母亲限制她对婴儿或儿童的情感和物质承诺的情况的了解较少。我们使用四个简短的临床案例小插曲和一个较长的案例描述来说明通过进化方法提供给临床医生的见解。我们认为我们的工作既有助于更好地理解这些问题，又有助于在这种情况下为女性提供更富有同情心的护理和干预模式。