Protecting children from child abuse using the legal system can be a complicated and sometimes devastating process for parents. Suspecting sexual abuse, a mother may seek a divorce and custody, oruif already divorcedurequest withdrawal of visitation rights. However, when unable to prove abuse, she may be labeled "hysterical" and jeopardize her case. A MotherAEs NightmareuIncest assists professionals and parents in reducing the likelihood that the legal system will backfire. Easy to read and including step-by-step strategies for success, this manual answers myriad critical questions asked by parents who encounter the possibility of incest, such as: + What happens to a child who experiences abuse? + What do I do if the abuse cannot be established? + How do I find out what my legal options are? + What can I do to keep emotionally balanced? + What will happen in the court system? While alerting readers to the very real dangers that await those who accuse a spouse of child sexual abuse, author John E. B. Myers helps parents and professionals navigate the current court system to work toward attaining victoryuand safety. He provides supportive and practical suggestions for documenting evidence and seeking an expertAEs advice. Myers demystifies the subject of incest and explains the requirements of the court system so that mothers will enter the legal arena prepared. This book is not only for mothers. Health professionals, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, pastoral counselors, and any other professional working to protect children from abuse will want to read and refer to A MotherAEs NightmareuIncest. Likewise, the book is also ideal for academics and students to use in courses that cover child abuse issues.

This expanded and updated edition of Legal Issues in Child Abuse and Neglect Practice will familiarize professionals from medicine, nursing, psychology, social work, and related disciplines with the innumerable legal implications in their day-to-day work. Offering a state-of-the-art exploration of the role that law can play in cases of child maltreatment, this edition closes the communication gap between legal and helping professionals that sometimes reduces efficacy and cooperation in achieving the common goal of improving the lives of victimized children. This new edition continues to provide vital information to non-lawyers regarding how the legal system works in child maltreatment cases. John E. B. Myers discusses the prevalence and effects of child maltreatment, and he outlines the child protection system with clarity. Other areas covered include the investigation and reporting laws, issues of confidentiality and disclosure, expert testimony, cross examination and impeachment, and the liability of professionals. Legal Issues in Child Abuse and Neglect Practice is a must-read for mental health and legal professionals, health care providers, educators, and child advocates. Advanced clinical and legal students as well as academics and researchers will also find this material essential.

Child abuse and neglect are intractable problems exacting a terrible toll on children and rending the very fabric of our society. What can be done to reduce the suffering? If there were simple solutions to abuse and neglect they would have been discovered long ago. There are no easy answers, but in this vivid history of child protection in America, John E.B. Myers introduces realistic policies that will reduce maltreatment and strengthen the system that protects our children.
Before it is possible to design viable improvements in today's system, it is necessary to understand how it evolved. The sweeping, beautifully written account of child protection in America traces its growth from colonial days to the present--from the rise and gradual disappearance of orphanages, the growth of foster care, the birth of organized child protection in 1874, and the rise of private societies to prevent cruelty, to the twentieth-century transition to government-operated child protection.
Myers goes on to describe the principal causes of child maltreatment, including intergenerational transmission of violence, poverty, substance abuse, cultural violence, excessive corporal punishment, sexual deviance, evolution, mental illness, and domestic violence. Once the causes of maltreatment are clear, it is possible to create solutions. Some of the proposals outlined have been in play for more than a century, while others are new. Policies to combat poverty, expand nurse home visiting programs, increase access to day care, strengthen a sense of community, outlaw corporal punishment, rethink our attitude toward alcohol, and lower the toxicity in popular culture are rooted in a deep understanding of thecycle of violence and challenge traditional ways of thinking.
Since it will never be possible to prevent all maltreatment, it is critical to strengthen the existing child protection system. Attainable reforms such as dealing with the lingering effects of racism in the child welfare, reworking funding mechanisms, refocusing leadership, creating a less adversarial system, strengthening foster care, and reinventing the juvenile court point to flaws in our system but demonstrate that progress is possible.
This provocative book will challenge all those concerned with children's welfare to move toward real solutions that will make life better for America's most vulnerable children.

A History of Child Protection in America is the first comprehensive history of American efforts to protect children from abuse and neglect. The book begins in colonial times and chronicles child protection into the twenty-first century. Among the important nineteenth century events detailed in these pages are the rise of orphanages for "dependent" children, the "orphan trains" operated by the New York Children's Aid Society, the birth of the juvenile court, the reforms of the Children's Progressive Era, and the dramatic rescue of Mary Ellen Wilson, which led to the creation of the world's first organization devoted entirely to child protection, the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Twentieth century milestones include the gradual transition from private child protection societies to government operated child protection, the obscurity of child abuse from the 1920's to the 1960's, the "discovery" of child abuse in 1962, and the creation of the child protection system we know today.

This reader is a collection of 23 articles on Child Abuse and Neglect. It makes an ideal complement to the APSAC Handbook On Child Maltreatment - 3rd Edition. The book is divided into five parts, including the following: 1.) Child Protection in the United States 2.) Child Neglect 3.) Physical Abuse 4.) Child Sexual Abuse 5.) Investigation and Substantiation of Neglect and Abuse. All articles selected are from the SAGE leading journals of Child Maltreatment and the Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Each article contains a one page summary of key points written by John Myers as well as discussion questions at the end of each chapter.

This expanded and updated edition of Legal Issues in Child Abuse and Neglect Practice will familiarize professionals from medicine, nursing, psychology, social work, and related disciplines with the innumerable legal implications in their day-to-day work. Offering a state-of-the-art exploration of the role that law can play in cases of child maltreatment, this edition closes the communication gap between legal and helping professionals that sometimes reduces efficacy and cooperation in achieving the common goal of improving the lives of victimized children. This new edition continues to provide vital information to non-lawyers regarding how the legal system works in child maltreatment cases. John E. B. Myers discusses the prevalence and effects of child maltreatment, and he outlines the child protection system with clarity. Other areas covered include the investigation and reporting laws, issues of confidentiality and disclosure, expert testimony, cross examination and impeachment, and the liability of professionals.

Legal Issues in Child Abuse and Neglect Practice is a must-read for mental health and legal professionals, health care providers, educators, and child advocates. Advanced clinical and legal students as well as academics and researchers will also find this material essential.

University of the Pacific, Stockton, California Although a vigorous battle has been waged to bring child sexual abuse to the forefront in our society, other forces have been at work to suppress recognition of child abuse and to discredit the allegations of young victims. In The Backlash, editor John E. B. Myers has gathered the expertise of major figures in the field to present a timely and thoughtful presentation of the backlash against child protection. Beginning with a historical and sociological perspective of the issue, The Backlash provides the reader with a thorough sampling of perspectives that include county CPS administration, state-level CPS administration, Victims of Child Abuse Laws (VOCAL), the experience of backlash in Europe, and a survey of backlash literature. This book is important for everyone concerned with child protection. Recommendations made by the authors will be of special interest to practitioners, agency administrators, researchers, prosecutors, law enforcement personnel, and policy makers. "This remarkable book 'a report from the front,' offers views from all sides." --Virginia Child Protection Newsletter "Myers presents a thoughtful analysis of the backlash against child protection, especially by those trying to convince the world that most allegations of child sexual abuse are false." --The Women's Advocate "This is a provocative book. Child protection has become a highly political issue and this is a very political book. All of these concerned with child protection issues will gain something from reading the material presented here, although reactions are likely to differ sharply. In many ways this is also a timely book, but its true significance will become apparent only with the benefit of hindsight, when child protection practices, and our understanding of the issues involved, have moved on from the present state of turmoil and confusion." --Neil Frude in Legal & Criminological

Protecting children from child abuse using the legal system can be a complicated and sometimes devastating process for parents. Suspecting sexual abuse, a mother may seek a divorce and custody, orùif already divorcedùrequest withdrawal of visitation rights. However, when unable to prove abuse, she may be labeled "hysterical" and jeopardize her case. A MotherÆs NightmareùIncest assists professionals and parents in reducing the likelihood that the legal system will backfire. Easy to read and including step-by-step strategies for success, this manual answers myriad critical questions asked by parents who encounter the possibility of incest, such as: + What happens to a child who experiences abuse? + What do I do if the abuse cannot be established? + How do I find out what my legal options are? + What can I do to keep emotionally balanced? + What will happen in the court system? While alerting readers to the very real dangers that await those who accuse a spouse of child sexual abuse, author John E. B. Myers helps parents and professionals navigate the current court system to work toward attaining victoryùand safety. He provides supportive and practical suggestions for documenting evidence and seeking an expertÆs advice. Myers demystifies the subject of incest and explains the requirements of the court system so that mothers will enter the legal arena prepared. This book is not only for mothers. Health professionals, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, pastoral counselors, and any other professional working to protect children from abuse will want to read and refer to A MotherÆs NightmareùIncest. Likewise, the book is also ideal for academics and students to use in courses that cover child abuse issues.