Community Interaction, Influence, and Child Maltreatment: Variations by Rural and Urban Residence Status

Abstract Effects of community interventions on child maltreatment are interpreted via rational deterrence theory’s assumption of instrumental rationality. However, recent contrasting findings have raised questions about the social exchange currency that regulates human behaviour within the rational deterrence framework. This study contributes to this debate by examining the social currency of influence and its role in child maltreatment prevention. We hypothesized that both individual and community wealth of influence would predict physical abuse severity. Data was obtained from 1,100 nationally representative sample of female mothers in Ghana, and associations were examined using random effects regression models. We found a negative association between physical abuse severity and individual level influence as well as community wealth of influence. Results were only significant in the rural sample. The findings suggest that interventions aiming to increase community commitment to deter and prevent child maltreatment should focus on strengthening the currency of influence in communities.