Child abuse and its massive impact on overall child development have been a concern for research since ancient times. Initially, however, only half-hearted attempts were made to explore the causal factors and backgrounds or the effects of such abuse. It was not until the 1960s, through the first studies by the research group led by Ray E. Helfer and C. Henry Kempe, that the issue gradually came back into focus. Researchers began to take it more seriously and to examine it more systematically.

Although we now know quite a bit about the conditions leading to child abuse and its influence on child development, much research still needs to be done to develop and implement effective prevention and intervention approaches in modern child protection work. In particular, new insights and theories from various disciplines regarding attachment research and brain development, and thus also language development as part of cognition, are at the forefront of this field.

There remains a research deficit, especially in Germany, which is partly due to the lack of uniform definitions, terminologies, and classifications, as well as issues in distinguishing between acceptable parenting practices and abuse. Particularly regarding the effects of child abuse on language development, there are still very few and hardly any current studies, not only in Germany. For this reason, this book addresses the impact of child abuse by primary caregivers on language development. It compiles the current state of research concerning language development and uncovers potential causal factors that could influence the language development of abused children. Subsequently, some factors of this theory, specifically related to the subtype of neglect, are discussed.