This type of approach looks for events that are external to the individual, causing stress to arise within the family. Some of these burdens include unemployment, family size, and social isolation. Researcher Gil (1971) supports unemployment to play a role in child maltreatment when he reported that fifty percent of fathers abused their children when they were unemployed. The social stress model (Belsky, 1978) helps to provide researchers an explanation for parents’ lack of coping strategies. When parents are faced with stress, a common reaction for them is an overwhelming feeling of frustration and failure. It is this sense of lack of power and control that causes the parent to take out their frustration on their