Previous findings on the relationship between neighborhood informal social control and child abuse have been mixed. We implemented a scale created by Emery, Trung, and Wu to study protective informal social control of child maltreatment (ISC_CM) by neighbors in a three-stage random cluster sample of 541 families in Seoul, South Korea. Random-effects regression models found that protective ISC_CM significantly moderated the relationship between very severe abuse and child injuries. Very severe abuse was associated with fewer injuries when levels of protective ISC_CM were higher. Implications are discussed.
Keywords: ISC_CM; child abuse; informal social control; injury.
© The Author(s) 2014.