This step-by-step guide will help you identify and manage cases of this unique form of child maltreatment! Munchausen by proxy (MBP) is a dangerous kind of maltreatment in which a caretaker deliberately and repeatedly exaggerates, fabricates, and/or induces a health problem or problems in someone under his or her care. Munchausen by Proxy: Identification, Intervention, and Case Management is the first book to walk you step-by-step through a suspected MBP maltreatment case from suspicion onward. This skills-based, practical book contains a thorough, up-to-date overview of MBP and includes suggestions for identifying and reporting to child protection agencies, investigating and gathering evidence, and legal and court procedures. Its easy readability and immediate applicability make this text a valuable tool in identifying and preventing this form of child abuse. Munchausen by Proxy is divided into three parts. The first covers the definition of MBP, the role of the perpetrator and victim, and the ethical issues affecting professionals, patients, and family. Part two addresses case work from initial suspicions through the investigative and confirmation/disconfirmation process. The third section is dedicated to case planning and case management once MBP has been confirmed, including intervention, immediate child protection, and legal activities. Those involved in a suspected or confirmed MBP case will learn about: the limits of the DSM-IV as applied to MBP perpetrator-consistent characteristics the MBP situational suspicion indicators the inappropriateness of risk assessment tools developed for other forms of maltreatment the danger when MBP perpetrators realize they are under suspicion and more! This volume is generously enhanced with case examples, sample forms, figures, and representative management plans. In Munchausen by Proxy, authors Lasher and Sheridanexperts in MBP and child protectionhave come together to fill the gap in the libraries of anyone who may become involved with a MBP case. This includes child welfare professionals and staff, law enforcement, school personnel, health care practitioners, judges and lawyers, and social workers.

This step-by-step guide will help you identify and manage cases of this unique form of child maltreatment! Munchausen by proxy (MBP) is a dangerous kind of maltreatment in which a caretaker deliberately and repeatedly exaggerates, fabricates, and/or induces a health problem or problems in someone under his or her care. Munchausen by Proxy: Identification, Intervention, and Case Management is the first book to walk you step-by-step through a suspected MBP maltreatment case from suspicion onward. This skills-based, practical book contains a thorough, up-to-date overview of MBP and includes suggestions for identifying and reporting to child protection agencies, investigating and gathering evidence, and legal and court procedures. Its easy readability and immediate applicability make this text a valuable tool in identifying and preventing this form of child abuse. Munchausen by Proxy is divided into three parts. The first covers the definition of MBP, the role of the perpetrator and victim, and the ethical issues affecting professionals, patients, and family. Part two addresses case work from initial suspicions through the investigative and confirmation/disconfirmation process. The third section is dedicated to case planning and case management once MBP has been confirmed, including intervention, immediate child protection, and legal activities. Those involved in a suspected or confirmed MBP case will learn about: the limits of the DSM-IV as applied to MBP perpetrator-consistent characteristics the MBP situational suspicion indicators the inappropriateness of risk assessment tools developed for other forms of maltreatment the danger when MBP perpetrators realize they are under suspicion and more! This volume is generously enhanced with case examples, sample forms, figures, and representative management plans. In Munchausen by Proxy, authors Lasher and Sheridanexperts in MBP and child protectionhave come together to fill the gap in the libraries of anyone who may become involved with a MBP case. This includes child welfare professionals and staff, law enforcement, school personnel, health care practitioners, judges and lawyers, and social workers.

"SEDUCTIVE MAGIC...SPELLBINDING...Rice stages her scenes in a wide variety of times and locales, tapping deeply into the richest veins of mythology and history."
--San Francisco Chronicle
"STEAMY...FAST-PACED AND HUGELY ENGROSSING...Rice's title character--a seductive, evil, highly sexual and ultimately tragic creature--is fascinating."
--The Miami Herald
"BEHIND ALL THE VELVET DRAPES AND GOSSAMER WINDING SHEETS, THIS IS AN OLD-FASHIONED FAMILY SAGA....Rice's descriptive writing is so opulent it almost begs to be read by candlelight."
--The Washington Post Book World
"RICE SEES THINGS ON A GRAND SCALE...There is a wide-screen historical sweep to the tale as it moves from one generation of witches to the other."
--The Boston Globe
"EROTIC...EERIE...HORRIFYING...A tight tale of the occult in present-day New Orleans...Anne Rice is a spellbinding novelist.... LASHER quenches."
--Denver Post
A MAIN SELECTION OF THE LITERARY GUILD(c)

Set in 1968, the story's haunted narrator wonders if the 200-foot cliffs that serve as a backdrop for his tiny, waterfront town, depriving it of sunlight each day and seemingly holding its inhabitants under a spell of alcohol addiction and apathy, might also be to blame for his friend's daring and final bet.