Child abuse policy has long been a politically contentious topic in the United States. This article points to a critical moment in the mid-1970s in which a small organization, Parents Anonymous, helped shape a paradigm for understanding child abuse and its causes. This approach would remain influential for decades despite contradictory evidence. Although researchers in numerous studies from the 1960s and onward have suggested that racial and social inequality contribute significantly to serious child injury,1,3 the advocacy work of Parents Anonymous was instrumental in drawing the discussion away from social determinants of health. This article examines the historical origins of the perception of child abuse as being an equal-opportunity social ill related solely to parental mental health rather than to socioeconomic inequities. It uses this historical background to suggest the need for a discussion of the role of social inequities as being at the crux of...

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