Child Physical Abuse: Current Evidence, Clinical Practice, and Policy Directions


Book Description

This eye-opening monograph challenges professionals across disciplines to take a more thorough and focused approach to addressing child physical abuse at the practice and policy levels. Positing child physical abuse as a public health crisis (as opposed to a more vague “social” one), the authors use empirical findings and clinical insights to advocate for wide-scale reforms in screening, assessment, responses, treatment, and prevention. The book’s social/ecological perspective delves into root causes of physical maltreatment, analyzes the role of family and community risk and support factors, and notes forms of discomfort keeping many professionals from meeting the issue head-on. From there, chapters describe coordinated multidisciplinary efforts for intervention and prevention with the potential to avert all forms of child abuse. Included in the coverage: · Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) · The non-verbal child: obtaining a history for caregiver(s) · Clinical perspectives on multidisciplinary collaboration Corporal punishment and risk for child physical abuse Intimate partner violence (IPV) and risk for child physical abuse Evolution of child maltreatment prevention Complementary dynamic prevention approach Child Physical Abuse sets out the scope of this ongoing crisis for a wide audience including healthcare providers, child advocates, clinical social workers, public health officials, mental health providers, legislative staff professionals, and members of the lay public, with clear guidelines for effective long-term solutions.




Child Sexual Abuse


Book Description

This brief approaches the challenging topic of child sexual abuse from an objective, evidence-based perspective. It offers an overview of child sexual abuse, including definitions and a clear explanation of the epidemiology. The text also explores the conceptual frameworks that seek to explain how a child comes to be sexually abused by an adult or older adolescent. In the chapters, the authors present credible prevalence and incidence studies that are used to provide a scientific response to how common this problem is. In addition, they address the policy implications for a myriad of prevention and treatment initiatives as well as related issues such as delayed reporting and the risk for sexual abuse within child serving organizations. Finally, the brief concludes with the authors' recommendations for the future on how best to prevent child sexual abuse in the first place. Prevention of child sexual abuse is very different than prevention of child physical abuse and neglect and requires a different framework and set of initiatives. Child Sexual Abuse: Current Evidence, Clinical Practice, and Policy Directions is a must-have resource for a range of professionals including healthcare providers, child advocates, clinical social workers, public health officials, mental health providers, and legislative staff professionals. It also is written in a readable manner for members of the lay public.




New Directions in Child Abuse and Neglect Research


Book Description

Each year, child protective services receive reports of child abuse and neglect involving six million children, and many more go unreported. The long-term human and fiscal consequences of child abuse and neglect are not relegated to the victims themselves-they also impact their families, future relationships, and society. In 1993, the National Research Council (NRC) issued the report, Under-standing Child Abuse and Neglect, which provided an overview of the research on child abuse and neglect. New Directions in Child Abuse and Neglect Research updates the 1993 report and provides new recommendations to respond to this public health challenge. According to this report, while there has been great progress in child abuse and neglect research, a coordinated, national research infrastructure with high-level federal support needs to be established and implemented immediately. New Directions in Child Abuse and Neglect Research recommends an actionable framework to guide and support future child abuse and neglect research. This report calls for a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to child abuse and neglect research that examines factors related to both children and adults across physical, mental, and behavioral health domains-including those in child welfare, economic support, criminal justice, education, and health care systems-and assesses the needs of a variety of subpopulations. It should also clarify the causal pathways related to child abuse and neglect and, more importantly, assess efforts to interrupt these pathways. New Directions in Child Abuse and Neglect Research identifies four areas to look to in developing a coordinated research enterprise: a national strategic plan, a national surveillance system, a new generation of researchers, and changes in the federal and state programmatic and policy response.




The Wiley Handbook of What Works in Child Maltreatment


Book Description

A comprehensive guide to empirically supported approaches for child protection cases The Wiley Handbook of What Works in Child Maltreatment offers clinicians, psychologists, psychiatrists and other professionals an evidence-based approach to best professional practice when working in the area of child protection proceedings and the provision of assessment and intervention services in order to maximize the well-being of young people. It brings together a wealth of knowledge from expert researchers and practitioners, who provide a comprehensive overview of contemporary work informing theory, assessment, service provision, rehabilitation and therapeutic interventions for children and families undergoing care proceedings. Coverage includes theoretical perspectives, insights on the prevalence and effects of child neglect and abuse, assessment, children’s services, and interventions with children, victims and families.




Shaken Baby Syndrome


Book Description

Since the early 2000s, a growing body of scientific studies in neuropathology, neurology, biomechanics, statistics, criminology and psychology has cast doubt on the validity of the automatic diagnosis of Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS), more recently termed Abusive Head Trauma (AHT). It has been shown that accidental short falls, as well as a wide range of medical conditions, might cause the same symptoms. Nevertheless, mischaracterized diagnoses and wrongful convictions continue to this day. Bringing together contributions from a multidisciplinary expert panel of 32 professionals across 8 countries in 16 different specialties, this landmark book tackles the highly controversial topic of SBS, which lies at the intersection of medicine, science, and law. With comprehensive coverage across multiple disciplines, it explains the scientific evidence challenging SBS and advances efforts to evaluate how deaths and serious brain injuries in infants should be analysed and investigated.




Cognitive-Behavioral Strategies in Crisis Intervention


Book Description

The most comprehensive guide to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) with clients in crisis is now in a significantly revised fourth edition with 75% new material. Over 15 years of clinical and research advances are reflected in fully updated chapters on evidence-based brief strategies for helping people cope in highly stressful situations. From leading experts, the book addresses suicide prevention, crises related to mental and physical health problems, child and family crises, and exposure to disasters and mass or community violence. Vivid case material illustrates what the interventions look like in action and how to tailor them to individual clients' needs. New to This Edition *Chapter on clinician self-care. *Chapters on managing the involuntary hospitalization process, working with psychosis in inpatient settings, intervening with clients at risk for mass violence, and more. *Chapters retained from the prior edition are all updated or rewritten to incorporate current data, clinical strategies, and assessment tools. *All of the case examples are new.




Childhood Sexual Abuse


Book Description

Childhood Sexual Abuse critically reviews research into and provides a concise and clear guide to our current knowledge on the topic. The issues covered include: the prevalence of child sexual abuse; who molests children; the effects of such abuse, both immediate and long-term; the risk factors for abuse; and the influences and interventions that may amplify or ameliorate the impact of child sexual abuse on the victim. Areas of debate, such as the false memory syndrome, are approached in terms of the research data relevant to their resolution. This volume sets out to inform rather than advocate, discusses the methodologies of research as well as their results, highlights the limitations and the extent of current information, and points out how we can learn more about child sexual abuse.




C. Henry Kempe: A 50 Year Legacy to the Field of Child Abuse and Neglect


Book Description

The book series, “Child Maltreatment: Contemporary Issues in Research and Policy.” will consist of a state of the art handbook (to be revised every five years) and two to three volumes per year. The first volume in this series is a legacy to C. Henry Kempe. This is a timely publication because 2012 marks 50 years after the appearance of the foundational article by C. Henry Kempe and his colleagues, “The Battered-Child Syndrome.” This volume capitalizes on this 50 year anniversary to stand back and assess the field from the perspective that Dr. Kempe’s early contributions and ideas are still being played out in practice and policy today. The volume will be released at the next ISPCAN meeting, also in 2012.




Children Exposed To Violence


Book Description

Children’s exposure to violence (CEV) in their home, their community, and our society has finally been recognized as a serious mental health, social, and public health problem. This book highlights a summary of relevant current research, practice, and policy issues. It is the third in a series to help provide current state-of-the-science information to stimulate awareness, research, and best practices in the field. This book provides chapters concerning the physiological effects of violence on children, its effects on behavioral and emotional functioning, and differences between boys and girls. Current interventions for children and families, such as innovative programs that are both home based as well as community based, are described. Promising and evidence-based practices are presented to provide the most recent approaches to helping children recover from the trauma of the abuse. The chapters in this book provide greater awareness of the issues involved with CEV, stimulate additional research, improve practice techniques, lead to more evidence-based programs for both intervention as well as prevention, and help initiate a national priority to eliminate violence in the home and community. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Emotional Abuse.




Child Abuse Quick Reference


Book Description

This completely revised and expanded quick reference is designed to provide busy practitioners with the information required to rapidly diagnose child maltreatment and recognize children at high risk for abuse and neglect. Medical practitioners, other health care professionals, social service workers, law enforcement officials, EMS personnel, and others who deal with abused children are given the vital information needed to handle these cases. This review is presented in bulleted outlines, lists, tables, and photographs to quickly locate essential points to consider in this handy pocket volume. The sections present an up-to-date assessment of the scope of the problem, all the details needed to perform assessment and treatment, the essentials regarding investigation and prosecution, and a handy summary of educational and prevention approaches to child abuse.This quick reference serves as an adjunct to the text on Child Maltreatment: A Clinical Guide and Reference. Professionals dealing with child maltreatment and its effects on a dialy basis will find great value in this child abuse book. No other quick reference so completely sums up the need-to-know facts in such a readily available format.