Child Maltreatment in American Indian and Alaska Native Communities: Integrating Culture, History, and Public Health for Intervention and Prevention

Abstract

This article addresses child maltreatment intervention and prevention among American Indians and Alaska Natives. The authors argue that history and culture must be included as context and variables for developing and implementing prevention programs in Indian Country. They propose that the public health violence prevention model would benefit from incorporating tenets of the history and culture(s) of diverse groups, in this instance American Indians and Alaska Natives. The authors offer an approach that focuses on population- and individual-level risk and protective factors for child maltreatment intervention and prevention in American Indian/Alaska Native communities. They include suggestions and examples for doing the work in Indian Country.