Two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison has always been a fighter--yet as a young teen, no one knew she was also a victim. Combining Kayla's powerful story of sexual abuse by her judo coach with science-based information from two renowned therapists, this unique book provides critical guidance for parents and professionals. Learn how to spot the signs that a child or teen is being groomed, why kids stay silent about their trauma, how they struggle with self-blame and the brutal betrayal of a trusted authority figure, and exactly what kind of help they need to recover. No one is more qualified than Kayla and her expert coauthors to explain the impact of child sexual abuse--and what you can do to keep kids safe.

For the busy frontline practitioner with little time to plan ahead, this hands-on guide presents imaginative and unique methods to engage families and caregivers throughout the process of assessing vulnerable children. Setting the context for each area of assessment, including strengths and resilience, risk and needs and the child's lived experience, the book then describes a series of activities or creative techniques to engage young people and their caregivers within this area. It outlines the materials required, aims of the exercise and method. It includes 'handy hints' based upon practical experience, making it a quick go-to guide for every day practice. It encourages practitioners to focus on building safety into relationships and to adapt their approach to take into account the impact of trauma and abuse on an individual's capacity to engage and to communicate verbally.

A Sunday Times Book of the Year

'Passionate and courageous, insightful and humane, funny and moving, this is a wonderful book' David Nicholls, author of One Day

Graham Caveney was born in 1964 in Accrington: a town in the north of England, formerly known for its cotton mills, now mainly for its football team. Armed with his generic Northern accent and a record collection including the likes of the Buzzcocks and Joy Division, Caveney spent a portion of his youth pretending he was from Manchester. That is, until confronted by someone from Manchester (or anyone who had been to Manchester or anyone who knew anything at all about Manchester) at which point he would give up and admit the truth.

In The Boy with the Perpetual Nervousness, Caveney describes growing up as a member of the 'Respectable Working Class'. From aspiring altar boy to Kafka-quoting adolescent, his is the story of a teenage boy's obsession with music, a love affair with books, and how he eventually used them to plot his way out of his home town. But this is also a story of abuse.

For his parents, education was a golden ticket: a way for their son to go to university, to do better than they did, but for Graham, this awakening came with a very significant condition attached. For years Graham's headteacher, a Catholic priest, was his greatest mentor, but he was also his abuser.

As an adult, Graham Caveney is still struggling to understand what happened to him, and he writes about the experience - all of it - and its painful aftermath with a raw, unflinching honesty. By turns, angry, despairing, insightful, always acutely written and often shockingly funny, The Boy with the Perpetual Nervousness is an astonishing memoir, startling in its originality.

The high profile reporting of child sexual abuse carried out by Jimmy Savile over decades has had far reaching-consequences, raising public awareness and concern, yet we continue to uncover new cases of institutional abuse which have been taking place under the radar for years. This book distils the learning from 80+ public inquiries relating to Savile as well as related cases of institutional abuse and analyses the key findings. It examines what we now know about offending within organisations and institutions, and how organisational failures can enable abusers. Each chapter also outlines solutions, offering perspectives for individuals and organisations on what practical action they can take to minimise risk in the settings in which they work. The book includes chapters specifically dedicated to the NHS, sports organisations and schools, and is necessary reading for professionals with responsibility for safeguarding in any setting.

People with intellectual disabilities are particularly vulnerable to sexual abuse, and offering them psychological support at the earliest possible moment greatly increases their ability to cope with the event and return to daily life. This book provides a complete, structured, evidence-based programme for providing this help to survivors of sexual abuse with developmental disabilities, both adults and children. Step-by-step session plans, as well as comprehensive background information and downloadable worksheets, provide the means by which to offer effective help to clients and recover their feelings of safety and trust. Sessions are also included for helping parents and caregivers to cope with their own reactions and emotions on the discovery of the abuse. Each session is adaptable for the needs of people with severe, moderate and mild intellectual disabilities in order to provide exceptional care to every individual who needs it.

Everything changes when Julie Riddle's parents stumble across the wilderness survival guide How to Live in the Woods on Pennies a Day. In 1977, when Riddle is seven years old, she and her family-fed up with the challenges of city life-move to the foot of the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness in northwestern Montana. For three years they live in the primitive basement of the log house they are building by hand in the harsh, remote Montana woods. Meanwhile, haunted by the repressed memory of childhood sexual abuse, Riddle struggles to come to terms with the dark shadows that plague her amid entrenched cultural and gender mores enforced by enduring myths of the West. As Riddle grapples with her own painful secrets, she discovers the world around her and its impact on people-the demands of living in a rural, mountain community dependent on boom-and-bust mining and logging industries, the health and environmental crises of the W. R. Grace asbestos contamination and EPA cleanup, and the healing beauty of the Montana wild. More than simply a memoir about family and place, The Solace of Stones explores Riddle's coming of age and the complexities of memory, loss, and identity borne by a family homesteading in the modern West.

This authoritative work brings together leading play therapists to describe state-of-the-art clinical approaches and applications. The book explains major theoretical frameworks and summarizes the contemporary play therapy research base, including compelling findings from neuroscience. Contributors present effective strategies for treating children struggling with such problems as trauma, maltreatment, attachment difficulties, bullying, rage, grief, and autism spectrum disorder. Practice principles are brought to life in vivid case illustrations throughout the volume. Special topics include treatment of military families and play therapy interventions for adolescents and adults.

A Wall Street Journal Best Book of 2015 A Boston Globe Best Book of 2015 A brilliant, disturbing portrait of the dawn of the culture wars, when America started to tear itself apart with doubts, wild allegations, and an unfounded fear for the safety of children.During the 1980s in California, New Jersey, New York, Michigan, Massachusetts, Florida, Tennessee, Texas, Ohio, and elsewhere, day care workers were arrested, charged, tried, and convicted of committing horrible sexual crimes against the children they cared for. These crimes, social workers and prosecutors said, had gone undetected for years, and they consisted of a brutality and sadism that defied all imagining. The dangers of babysitting services and day care centres became a national news media fixation. Of the many hundreds of people who were investigated in connection with day care and ritual abuse cases around the country, some 190 were formally charged with crimes, leading to more than 80 convictions.It would take years for people to realize what the defendants had said all along,that these prosecutions were the product of a decade-long outbreak of collective hysteria on par with the Salem witch trials. Social workers and detectives employed coercive interviewing techniques that led children to tell them what they wanted to hear. Local and national journalists fanned the flames by promoting the stories'salacious aspects, while aggressive prosecutors sought to make their careers by unearthing an unspeakable evil where parents feared it most.Using extensive archival research and drawing on dozens of interviews conducted with the hysteria's major figures, n+1 editor Richard Beck shows how a group of legislators, doctors, lawyers, and parents,most working with the best of intentions,set the stage for a cultural disaster. The climate of fear that surrounded these cases influenced a whole series of arguments about women, children, and sex. It also drove a right-wing cultural resurgence that, in many respects, continues to this day.

Challenging Child Protection offers a ground-breaking new perspective which will illuminate and improve the professional understanding and practice of social workers and child protection workers. Taking a fresh look at the principles underlying child protection, this book provides a thought-provoking analysis of the evidence base which underpins professional understanding and intervention. It outlines the ways in which agencies have worked to prevent child abuse and neglect and traces key changes in UK policy, as well as situating these amid wider trends in Europe. With contributions from a wide variety of disciplines, including philosophy and anthropology, this is a uniquely diverse collection of academic perspectives. This book challenges our conceptions of child protection and encourages readers to think critically about why children are harmed by adults, how society views child abuse and how this informs practice.

This title considers the way we approach violence and safeguarding in childhood, exploring the victimization of children as well as children who use violence towards others. "Rethinking Children, Violence and Safeguarding" explores the victimization of children as well as children who use violence towards others and presents an overview of key developments in research, policy and practice on children and violence in the context of the recent major shift in thinking from 'child protection' towards 'safeguarding' and evidencing better outcomes. The gaps between rhetoric and practice are considered and Lorraine Radford argues that the way we 'think' about children and violence has had a profound impact on actions against the abuse of children and children who commit violence. Examples of research, reflections on research and key points and guidance on further reading make this a really accessible text. "Rethinking Children, Violence and Safeguarding" is essential reading for those studying childhood and undergraduate and graduate level, and will be of great interest to those working with children in any field. Is childhood changing? What effects are new ideas about childhood having on children's lives? How are children's voices and opinions affecting the services they use? Contemporary debates on the nature of childhood, attitudes towards children, the experiences of children and the emergence of a child rights agenda are resulting in a re-examination of theory, practice and research in many fields. "New Childhoods" offers a re-appraisal of the meaning of childhood - a series of texts that are succinct, accessible and engaging in introducing undergraduates to key areas of Childhood Studies, Education Studies and Sociology, and in disseminating new thinking, research, scholarship and practices. Books in this series will also be of interest to those who are preparing to work with children, such as teachers, early years practitioners, youth workers, health workers and psychologists. Key features include: boxed summaries of research which engage the reader in analysis; case studies to explore each issue in context; tasks to develop critical thinking; and pointers on further reading. Each volume promotes a child rights perspective, and provokes a re-examination of child-adult relationships in the contexts of family, community and state. Insights and experiences across fields such as sociology, philosophy and psychology are combined to encourage an inter-disciplinary approach.

Child abuse cases with hard-to-prove allegations pose challenges for all those who seek to protect the welfare of children. Helping courts, evaluators, guardians, and lawyers understand and work with difficult cases, Equivocal Child Abuse brings together insights, experience, and guidance from multiple sources to minimize unnecessary harm done to children and families. Exploring all facets of case management, the book discusses: Legal concepts and theory, the history of guardians ad litem, and the complexity of the processes involved in legal decision making How different court systems operate, the path of a case, and the roles of participants in custody cases The investigative process, the evaluation of report credibility, the use of videotape, perspectives of child custody evaluators, and sample investigations The testimony of expert witnesses, evaluators, guardians ad litem, and treating professionals; and the rules of evidence Hazards practitioners face in domestic relations and custody cases, including licensing issues, civil suit actions, and personal safety concerns Intervention options, such as supervised visitation, therapy for children, and mediation Mental health issues in case participants, including borderline personality disorder, narcissistic and related personality patterns, affective disorders, and substance abuse A working model for the forensic evaluator, with instructions on conducting the evaluation and reportage Filled with case studies to elucidate concepts, the book also contains appendices with recommended guidelines for interviewing children in cases of alleged sexual abuse, a line-by-line expert critique of a child interview, and other tools, making this volume a critical resource for all those who contend with these complex cases.

The quality of the assessment of children in need has a significant impact on outcomes for the children concerned. Good assessment contributes to better outcomes, but poor assessment can have tragic consequences. Understanding what makes a good assessment is vital. This book brings together findings from 10 years of UK research that shed light on different aspects of child and family assessment, and examines the evidence for what works in promoting the best outcomes for children. It covers thresholds for assessment and intervention, what information should be collected in assessments, and assessments in different contexts. It also examines key aspects of practice and the factors that can help or hinder good quality assessment. These areas include analysis, critical thinking and reflection; engaging with children and families; and inter-professional working. Structural, procedural and organisational factors are also considered. In summarising the research, this important book provides key messages on the links between assessment and outcomes for children, and offers implications for policy and practice. It will be essential reading for social work practitioners, academics, students and researchers, and all those in the child protection field.

Emotional maltreatment is widespread and has a profoundly harmful effect on a child's development. The effects of abuse are often carried into adulthood, and emotionally abused children are more likely to experience a range of problems as adults including depression, substance misuse and eating disorders. This book sets out to identify 'what works' in preventing emotional maltreatment from recurring. Since most emotional maltreatment takes place within the family home, involves the primary care-giver and reflects ongoing patterns of damaging parent-child interaction rather than isolated incidents, interventions directly targeting parent-child interactions are highlighted. The authors explore the available treatments, identifying which approaches work, who they work with and the limitations of each. Conclusions and recommendations based on the key findings are presented, including implications for practice and over-arching issues to be addressed. Safeguarding Children from Emotional Maltreatment is essential reading for all practitioners working in the field of emotional abuse and neglect, including social workers, health visitors, community paediatricians and psychologists.

Disability and Child Sexual Abuse examines the ways in which society marginalises, institutionalises and places disabled children in situations of unacceptable risk, and how - as evidenced in the survivors' narratives - patterns of service delivery can contribute to the problem. Based on the accounts of seven disabled individuals who were sexually abused in childhood, the book highlights a wide range of pertinent issues. Through case vignettes and empirical research, the authors ask practitioners to scrutinise their current professional practice, exploring participants' experiences of hospitalisation, education systems and local authorities. They consider the issue of who abuses and why, and highlight issues relating to the complexities involved in revisiting past experiences and confronting unwarranted and unwanted feelings of responsibility. The difficulty of recounting the abuse narrative is also examined within the research context. This book will be relevant for professionals and students in the social, health and education services, such as social workers, teachers and counsellors. It will also offer insights for those seeking a less disablist society, including disabled people themselves.

Child Sexual Abuse critically evaluates the development of policy and legislative measures to control sex offenders. The last fifteen years has seen increasing concern on the part of the government, criminal justice agencies, the media and the public, regarding child sexual abuse. This concern has been prompted by a series of events including cases inviting media attention and involving the abduction, sexual abuse and murder of young children. The response to this wave of child sexual abuse revelation has been to introduce increasingly punitive legislation regarding the punishment and control of sex offenders (sex offenders are the only group of offenders in British legal history to have their own act), both in custody and in the community. But this response, it is argued here, has developed in a reactionary way to media and public anxiety regarding the punishment and control of sex offenders (who have abused children) and the perceived threat of such offenders in the community.

Praise for the First Edition:

All readers will be drawn to the style of the book as well as its content. The structure will make sure that it is not just a "one-off," being read as part of a course of study, but a book which is used frequently as a source of reference' - "Child Abuse Review

"

The Second Edition of this best-selling textbook provides students and practitioners with a broad introduction to, and critical analysis of, the complex issues involved in child protection work. Chris Beckett's approachable style presents these issues in a clear and engaging way, all the time encouraging reflection and debate through such features as case examples and interactive exercises.

The book is fully comprehensive, considering key topics such as: the consequences for children of abuse and neglect; the reasons why some adults abuse and neglect children; the personal challenges involved in doing child protection work; and the organizational framework within which child protection work takes place. Other key features of this thoroughly revised Second Edition include:

" Fully updated content: the book has been revised to incorporate new literature, research, legal and policy developments, including the recent Working Together guidelines

" Two new chapters: these comprise a chapter on families where there is domestic violence, and a chapter on promoting strategies for bringing about change

" Interprofessional appeal: the author addresses the book to all the professionals involved in child protection work, ensuring wide interdisciplinary appeal

The new edition of this highly successful textbook will be required reading for students studying social work andallied subjects, and an essential resource for all professionals involved in child protection work.

Chris Beckett is based at the Division of Social Work and Social Policy, Anglia Ruskin University. He is the author of three best-selling Sage textbooks: Human Growth and Development; Values and Ethics in Social Work (with Andrew Maynard); Essential Theory for Social Work Practice.

Find out more about Chris Beckett at the Anglia Ruskin University website

Praise for the First Edition:

All readers will be drawn to the style of the book as well as its content. The structure will make sure that it is not just a "one-off," being read as part of a course of study, but a book which is used frequently as a source of reference' - "Child Abuse Review

"

The Second Edition of this best-selling textbook provides students and practitioners with a broad introduction to, and critical analysis of, the complex issues involved in child protection work. Chris Beckett's approachable style presents these issues in a clear and engaging way, all the time encouraging reflection and debate through such features as case examples and interactive exercises.

The book is fully comprehensive, considering key topics such as: the consequences for children of abuse and neglect; the reasons why some adults abuse and neglect children; the personal challenges involved in doing child protection work; and the organizational framework within which child protection work takes place. Other key features of this thoroughly revised Second Edition include:

" Fully updated content: the book has been revised to incorporate new literature, research, legal and policy developments, including the recent Working Together guidelines

" Two new chapters: these comprise a chapter on families where there is domestic violence, and a chapter on promoting strategies for bringing about change

" Interprofessional appeal: the author addresses the book to all the professionals involved in child protection work, ensuring wide interdisciplinary appeal

The new edition of this highly successful textbook will be required reading for students studying social work andallied subjects, and an essential resource for all professionals involved in child protection work.

Chris Beckett is based at the Division of Social Work and Social Policy, Anglia Ruskin University. He is the author of three best-selling Sage textbooks: Human Growth and Development; Values and Ethics in Social Work (with Andrew Maynard); Essential Theory for Social Work Practice.

Find out more about Chris Beckett at the Anglia Ruskin University website

Praise for the Second Edition: `This is a user-friendly, readable, practical guide to assist survivors of childhood sexual abuse that will be particularly useful to students and practitioners who are new to this field' - Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health `This is a book that should give those who find themselves working with sexual abuse survivors some tools and skills for the job' - Young Minds Magazine `This book will be found valuable by all therapists and counsellors, not just those who have a special interest in childhood sexual abuse. Many will want to follow up the well-selected references the author gives. The detailed index will also help one to browse and read selectively' - Sexual and Relationship Therapy The experience of childhood sexual abuse is a trauma which continues to have an impact on survivors thoughout their lives. The pervasive and long-term effects that stem from sexual abuse make it vital that counsellors become adept at addressing the unique and complex needs of survivors. In this Third Edition of Counselling Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse, Claire Burke Draucker and Donna S Martsolf identify the significant healing processes which are essential to achieve recovery. These include: " disclosing the abuse " reinterpreting it from an adult perspective " addressing issues related to the context of the abuse; and " making desired life changes. Each of these processes is discussed in conjunction with the most effective counselling interventions to facilitate resolution. Carefully chosen case examples demonstrate the appropriate use of interventions in practice. The Third Edition includes a wealth of new material covering memory retrieval, outcome research, multicultural counselling, emerging therapeutic approaches, and neuroscience and counseling. Dynamics and difficulties in the therapeutic relationship are also discussed in great depth.

This book is intended to provide teachers with an accessible guide to their responsibilities to children who may have been abused, clarifying their role within the child protection system.The layout has been designed to ensure information can be found quickly, without teachers having to wade through excessive prose. It should also be an appropriate introductory text for a range of courses relating to teacher training.

Increase in public concern about the abuse of children in residential homes has led to a proliferation of inquiries and large-scale criminal investigations throughout the 1990s and into the new millennium. The authors examine the background and context to these developmentals in detail. A focal point of the book is an in-depth analysis of the North Wales Tribunal (to which the authors were given extended access) - the events that led up to it, the process it followed and the recommendations that it made. The authors set out their own recommendations for future public inquiries into residential abuse. Public Inquiries into Abuse of Children in Residential Care contains a wealth of material derived from public inquiries that provides a key knowledge base for practitioners and those responsible for the provision of residential care for children. It also highlights some major issues in relation to monitoring and inquiring into matters of national concern which are also of major importance to public policy students and practitioners.

In the growing professional literature on child sexual abuse, few books focus specifically on the experience of victimized boys and men. Interweaving vital elements of psychodynamic and trauma-oriented clinical practice, this much-needed volume examines how sexual betrayal affects boys, the ways they carry this hurt into adulthood, and how therapists can address the unique needs of men with sexual abuse histories. Exploring the impact of abuse on men's emotional development, gender and sexual identity, and relationships, the book provides in-depth consideration of individual and group treatment issues. Numerous case examples draw readers into the direct experience of these clients and the clinicians who work with them and illuminate their continually shifting relational world.

Based on the first-hand accounts of children and their mothers regarding their experiences of both domestic violence and support services, this is the first book to examine children's experiences of a range of service provision in response to domestic violence. It seeks to encourage a more effective and professional approach in the services that aim to support and protect children, highlighting both the strengths and the shortcomings of existing professional interventions and illustrating the range of problems that children face when they are living with domestic violence. Drawing on a unique, three-year research project into domestic violence and the support and protection of children, the book explores: * the types of violence experienced by mothers and witnessed by children * the types of abuse children are subjected to * children's understanding of domestic violence * children's and mothers' views of how best to protect children and their perception of the support services * the barriers for children and mothers to seeking help. The book assesses the role and response of the social services, police, refuge staff, solicitors and barristers, voluntary organisations and the agencies of health, education and housing. It describes approaches to existing problems, emphasising the importance of a child-focused response and concludes by recommending improvements for policy and practice.

Detect and put a stop to child abuse For mental health professionals, social workers, legal professionals, and policy makers, Maltreatment in Early Childhood: Tools for Research-Based Intervention examines strategies and ideas for professional training in child protection in the United States. Derived from presentations at the San Diego Conference Responding to Child Maltreatment, this book addresses current assessment issues, the intersection of child maltreatment and other social problems, the history of child protection, and the intricacies of courtroom testimonies, and provides guidance for case management. Through insight into research and case studies, Maltreatment in Early Childhood explores effective approaches to child-friendly services, multivictim cases, therapy, and victim recantation to help you assist sexually abused children or children who have witnessed domestic abuse.Addressing a variety of challenges that face all those involved with youth in need of assistance due to abuse, this informative book examines why children of different racial identities may display different secret-keeping behavior, and presents a variety of approaches that encourage clients to talk about their situation. Maltreatment in Early Childhood explores child abuse from a historical and political context, and discusses key issues relating to all facets of this social problem, including: understanding the pros and cons of asking children to recall their experiences through specific types of questions, such as invitational questions and less preferred questions, which may or may not reveal true answers deciding if the Validity Checklist, the second part of the Analysis procedure, is able to determine truthfulness of allegations in child sexual abuse cases testing the efficacy of the model designed at the National Children's Advocacy Center (NCAC), which may be used to validate abuse and determine if children's statements are accurate overcoming difficulties in the child protection system, including the probability of multiple interviews and potential contamination of children's narratives by a variety of sources, to produce fair evaluations and successful prosecutionsWith tables and charts that will help you easily explore research findings, Maltreatment in Early Childhood provides you with the information you need in order to determine the truth of children's statements, how to present statements in court, and how to affect changes that will protect and assist victims of childhood sexual abuse.

`This is a useful book that offer4s insights into outcomes for a sample of adults who sought help for the effects of their childhood abuse and the affect of the personal qualities and approaches of their therapists. It traverses some controversial ground and because it brings to light issues that are often on the basked labelled "too hard" should be compulsory reading for all the therapists working in this field' - International Social Work `This book is an extensive overview of practice-based research on therapy for adults who were abused as children, physically, sexually or emotionally.... Peter Dale looks in detail at the lessons to be learnt from people's experiences of therapy... a relief to find such a comprehensive well-researched book on the subject from a psychotherapeutic perspective.... Its wider relevance is that we (society, therapists and service-planners in particular) must learn from people who have been abused as children, so that appropriate and supportive services can be set up' - Transformations, The PCSR Journal `I believe this book - based on Peter Dale's research into the experience of 53 clients - is of profound importance to practising counsellors, trainers and researchers....I recommend this carefully designed and executed piece of research to all BAC readers' - Mary Berry Senior Lecturer in Counselling, University of Manchester 'The author has created interesting and thought-provoking arguments that provide a balanced analysis of abuse therapy, in particular Repression, Dissociation and False Memory Retrieval' - Clare Young, The Journal of Critical Psychology, Counselling and Psychotherapy This enlightening book brings together the experiences of both clients and therapists who receive and provide help for the effects of childhood abuse. The book consolidates existing knowledge about child abuse and psychotherapeutic approaches to give an integrated account of counselling and therapy as it relates to adults abused as children. Part One examines research in the fields of child abuse and psychotherapy, reviewing historically changing attitudes towards childhood abuse and the consequences of cultural context on approaches to treatment. Part Two reviews the testimonies of the therapeutic process from over 50 clients and therapists, including therapists who were themselves abused as children. These testimonies form a basis for the discussion of specific issues, such as becoming a client, talking about abuse and what happens when things go wrong in therapy. Part Three tackles the controversy surrounding `recovered memory' and child abuse, and assesses the implications for the future direction of counselling and therapy.

The past decade has seen more and more clinicians involved in the assessment and treatment of abused and traumatized children. They have contributed to an impressively large body of literature on the impact of abuse and trauma at all ages, the focus of which has been the short and long-term sequelae apparent in the child's behavior, emotional experience, and social interaction. But there have been few efforts to investigate the ways in which abuse and trauma damage the intrapsychic systems and structures that often guide, direct, and inform the child's manifest adjustment and functioning. The need to redress the balance was the major impetus for this book.
Kelly offers a clinical paradigm for the personality assessment of abused or traumatized children via projective instruments--the TAT and Rorschach--and shows how various projective measures and indices can be utilized as sensitive barometers of changes in self, object, and ego functioning following therapeutic interventions and other corrective experiences. But further, integrating the tenets of trauma theory and those of psychoanalytic theory, he sets this clinical paradigm in a meaningful theoretical context, and draws on both theory and clinical experience to develop a comprehensive psychological composite of the child who has been maltreated.
Part I provides an overview of theoretical models relevant to the assessment and diagnosis of the maltreated child. Contemporary psychoanalytic theory serves as one frame and is discussed first, with particular emphasis on object relations and ego functions. Equal attention is devoted to developmental psychology as another frame.
Part II reviews relevant research. The Mutality of Autonomy Scale (MOA) and the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale (SCORS) are introduced as examples of reliable and valid instruments readily employed to assess the impact of abuse or trauma on a child's object relations functioning. Additional Rorschach indices--boundary disturbance measures, thought disorder indices, trauma markers, and defensive functions measures--are discussed as measures of the impact on different facets of ego functioning. These various projective measures can be utilized as sensitive barometers of changes in self, object, and ego functioning following therapeutic interventions and other corrective experiences.
Part III includes a variety of extended clinical illustrations.
Seven cases of boys and girls subjected to varying degrees of abuse and trauma are presented to demonstrate the clinical utility of projective material for assessment, diagnosis, and treatment planning. For the clinician who takes the idiographical-phenomenological approach, appropriate given the uniqueness of each situation of abuse or trauma and the frequent brevity and barrenness of the protocol, such material can open a window onto a rich vista of the child's psychological terrain. The resulting map can point the way to wise decisions about type, timing, and level of therapeutic intervention, the resolution of such process issues as transference and countertransference, plus additional questions.
Two cases of adult women who were abused as children and find themselves continuing to struggle with enduring unresolved issues vis a vis their own children are also presented. These cases underscore the value of TAT and Rorschach material, and object relations measures, in assessing and understanding the abusive and potentially abusive parent.