Queen rania faculty for childhood, special education department, hashemite university, Zarqa, Jordan; b Queen rania faculty for childhood, childhood department, hashemite university, Zarqa, Jordan Introduction Child abuse (CA) is an infringement of a child's basic human rights (Kellogg, Parra, & Menard, 2007), which occurs across cultural and societal boundaries, despite variations in its incidence, form and definition. It is common in both developing and developed countries (Finkelhor, 2000; Futa, Hsu, & Hansen, 2001). In Arab countries, the World health organization (WHO, 2006) indicated that many recent reports document CA in those countries. CA is defined as all types of physical and/or emotional maltreatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment or commercial or other exploitation, leading to actual or potential hurt to the child's health, well-being, development or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power (WHO, 2002). Related to the factors that are behind CA, Kellogg et al. (2007) mentioned that CA is the result of a set of interrelated familial, social, psychological and economic variables. However, other researchers indicated that factors that can influence an individual's vulnerability to CA are biological factors, such as age and gender (Dube et al., 2005; Hopper, 1998); parent-and caregiver-related factors, like misuse of alcohol, low self-worth and lack of self-control when upset or angry; and child-related factors such as hyperactivity and impulsivity (WHO, 2002). In addition, Belsky (1980, 1993) mentioned community-related variables, like neighbourhoods, workplaces and schools; country-related variables, like high rates of vacancy and poverty; and societal-related variables, like traditional norms that support the physical punishment of children. The literature cites four main types of CA, physical abuse, sexual
