Authors: James A. Inciardi, Hilary L. Surratt, Christine A. Saum
Research in the mid-1980s on the effects of prenatal drug abuse characterized cocaine-exposed children as moody, inconsolable, less
socially interactive, and less able to bond than other children. "Crack babies, " in particular, were believed to be less attentive and less able to focus on specific tasks than nonexposed children. Research concluded that these conditions were irreversible and that no amount of special attention or educational programs could turn these
cocaine-exposed infants into
well-functioning and adjusted children. Methodological problems in these early studies, combined with the fact that cocaine using mothers abuse other drugs as well, have left the research and public…
