Understanding Abusive Parents STUDY OF FAMILY INTERACTION LEAD TO NEW UNDERSTANDING OF ABUSIVE Researchers at the University of Toronto have taken important steps toward producing a profile of an abusive parent. Prof. Gary Walters and doctoral student Lynn Oldershaw of the Department of Psychology have developed a system to characterize parents who physically abuse their children. This could ultimately allow social service professionals to identify parents in child abuse. Over the last five years, Walters and Oldershaw, in collaboration wit