Helping Abused Children And Their Families

`I think this has the potential to be a very good resource for social work students on qualifying and post-qualifying courses: there aren′t enough books on how to do the job at this level′ - Chris Beckett, Division of Social Work, Anglia Polytechnic University `This book moves beyond investigation and risk assessment to decision making about the most effective ways of working with a family. Trotter provides a strong case for why practitioners should make these decisions evidence based. Only with such an approach is it going to be possible to increase the confidence of those working in Child Protection′ - Professor Margaret Lynch Editor, Child Abuse Review 1992 -2003 `This book gives us fresh insights into the complex task of child protection and must be essential reading for all those engaged in this demanding work. Both practitioners and policy makers will find much to stimulate them here′ - Robbie Gilligan, Professor of Social Work and Social Policy and Associate Director of the Children′s Research Centre at Trinity College Dublin Helping Abused Children and their Families is a timely guide to the main challenges faced by social workers working in the context of child abuse and child protection. Written in a sensitive and accessible style, the book outlines the knowledge and skills needed for effective practice. By drawing upon current international research, Chris Trotter shows that rates of re-abuse and client and worker satisfaction can be improved with certain approaches to intervention. Key strengths of the book include: Draws directly upon the author′s first-hand practice experience to give the book considerable authority Outlines a direct-practice model, including role clarification; problem-solving; pro-social modelling; and client-worker relationship skills Successfully links theory to practice by adopting an evidence-based approach Debates issues from the perspective of the workers; the service-user; and their families. Illustrates the discussions with a comprehensive range of case-studies Helping Abused Children and their Families highlights important research in the field of child protection, and offers a unique opportunity to assess and critique the issues and skills relevant to practice. It will be an invaluable teaching and learning resource for social work trainees, child protection practitioners, and all professionals working in the context of child welfare.

Presenting an integrative model for treating traumatized children, this book combines play, art, and other expressive therapies with ideas and strategies drawn from cognitive-behavioral and family therapy. Eliana Gil demonstrates how to tailor treatment to the needs of each child by using both directive and nondirective approaches. Throughout, practical clinical examples illustrate ways to target trauma-related symptomatology while also helping children process painful feelings and memories that are difficult to verbalize. The book concludes with four in-depth cases that bring to life the unique situation of each child and family, the decision-making process of the therapist, and the applications of developmentally informed, creative, and flexible interventions.

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.

This is a guide to the main challenges faced by social workers working in the context of child abuse and child protection. The book outlines the knowledge and skills needed for effective practice and shows how certain approaches to intervention can help to prevent re-abuse.

A professional book aimed at practitioners and practitioners in training, this volume is the first attempt to provide a comprehensive, practical approach to the assessment and treatment of physically abused children. While there are other books that cover certain aspects of assessment and treatment, this book is comprehensive in that it covers child-specific, parent-specific, and family-specific interventions. The volume will present an overview of child physical abuse (including statistics and consequences), it will discuss outcome studies and treatment implications, and it will thoroughly discuss assessment and treatment. It will help practitioners: Understand children's abuse experiences, views, exposures to violence, and it will help expose thinking errors or negative attributions. It will also help the practitioner help the children with anxiety management, anger management, social skills, and safety plans. Help parents with child management and development, expectations and cognitive distortions, behavior management, and discipline. Facilitate family communication and problem solving.

Highlighting the importance of a 'safe place' as the foundation of the healing process for those affected by child sexual abuse, this practical book details the factors that contribute to a secure therapeutic climate where recovery can take place. The Children and Families Project draws on the perspectives of those who have been abused to show how a person-centred approach to establishing a sense of safety can enable children and their relatives to regain trust and self-esteem. The book demonstrates how therapeutic services can be improved through feedback from service users and how creative activities such as storytelling, painting and drama can encourage the expression of experiences. The need for preventative work is also addressed. Of particular relevance to professionals is the exploration of some of the difficulties that may be encountered in this field of work, such as the tension that can arise between therapeutic work and the child protection system. This is an invaluable resource for anyone working with abused children and adults.

In the early 1970s, a new wave of public service announcements urged parents to "help end an American tradition" of child abuse. The message, relayed repeatedly over television and radio, urged abusive parents to seek help. Support groups for parents, including Parents Anonymous, proliferated across the country to deal with the seemingly burgeoning crisis. At the same time, an ever-increasing number of abused children were reported to child welfare agencies, due in part to an expansion of mandatory reporting laws and the creation of reporting hotlines across the nation. Here, Mical Raz examines this history of child abuse policy and charts how it changed since the late 1960s, specifically taking into account the frequency with which agencies removed African American children from their homes and placed them in foster care. Highlighting the rise of Parents Anonymous and connecting their activism to the sexual abuse moral panic that swept the country in the 1980s, Raz argues that these panics and policies—as well as biased viewpoints regarding race, class, and gender—played a powerful role shaping perceptions of child abuse. These perceptions were often directly at odds with the available data and disproportionately targeted poor African American families above others.