Child abuse is as age-old problem which involves physical, emotional and sexual abuse and also the unauthorised administration of drugs to children. The problem does not arise from just a single cause or factor but is multifactorial. One big area is the presence of social situational stresses prior to or during the episodes of abuse. The author has carried out a retrospective study of twenty cases of child abuse investigated by the Department of Social Welfare, Kuala Lumpur from December 1979 to January 1980. This paper describes part of the findings, namely the social situational stresses. The findings are found to be similar to those of other studies, both local and abroad.