The big increase came at the end of 1987, when the Steinberg case first broke, she said, adding that the trial is almost after the fact.

"The Steinberg case has forced open the door between family violence and our conscience as a civilized society," the women wrote.

Statistical surveys of child abuse make it clear that, in terms of race and class, the Steinberg case is an exception.

Though police procedures didn't require such follow-up in the Steinberg case, city social workers did visit the home several times in response to neighbors' reports.

Yesterday, he said the Steinberg case did not seem to call for systematic revisions in how child-abuse cases are handled.

They also agree on a pattern of psychological behavior in abusive relationships that seems to fit much of what is known about the Steinberg case.

Of the two current trials, there is a special concern about exploitation of the Steinberg case.

Added to this is the central issue in the Steinberg case - the buying and selling of infants on the black and gray markets.

Indeed, what made the Steinberg case even more disturbing was the perception that the system, for the most part, had worked.

Unlike in the Steinberg case, there were people who tried to save 18-month-old Tess.