Child Protection and Safety Resources: Child Abuse -- Articles

Toxic Parents: Overcoming Their Hurtful Legacy and Reclaiming Your Life

All parents fall short from time to time. But Susan Forward pulls no punches when it comes to those whose deficiencies cripple their children emotionally. Her brisk, unreserved guide to overcoming the stultifying agony of parental manipulation--from power trips to guilt trips and all other killers of self worth--will help deal with the pain of childhood and move beyond the frustrating relationship patterns learned at home.

Author: Susan Forward
Hardcover: 326 pages
Company: Bantam (1989-08-01) (1989-08-01)
ISBN: 0553057006
List Price: $18.95
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Adult Children of Abusive Parents: A Healing Program for Those Who Have Been Physically, Sexually, or Emotionally Abused

The violent forms of child abuse that make headlines are not the only ones that leave lifelong scars. A child who grows up in an unstable environment where empathy, clear boundaries and trust are lacking, can end up living a ravaged adulthood. Children can be crippled by mixed messages, family secrets and reversed parent-child roles. Many victims of these practices are not even sure their childhood was abusive. This balanced, practical guide delineates traits of abusive families. Narrative vignettes in each section illustrate and personalize critical issues. Most valuable is the step-by-step self-help program that includes exercises and journal work for recovery.

Author: Steven Farmer
Paperback: 224 pages
Company: Ballantine Books (1990-04-14) (1990-04-14)
ISBN: 0345363884
List Price: $13.95
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Heal & Forgive: Forgiveness in the Face of Abuse

Heal and Forgive presents a first-hand description of child abuse and navigates the reader through the distinctive stumbling blocks encountered by adult survivors of abuse who are attempting to forgive. This thought-provoking illustration offers new hope to those who have given up at the prospect of forgiving. Many survivors of abuse long to forgive their abusers; however, many common approaches to forgiveness are not appropriate for situations involving abuse. This work demonstrates to the survivor the additional steps necessary to achieve forgiveness in the face of abuse. Surprisingly, it is often the very process of not forgiving, of acknowledging the pain, and taking the steps to heal that frees the abused to forgive. This book clearly points to the need to validate their story with a sympathetic listener, express their anger in appropriate ways, mourn for their losses, and protect themselves and others from re-injury. Further, this work explains to the individual that forgiveness does not mean excusing. No one needs to forgive the acts perpetrated against them in order to let go of resentment and forgive the being who harmed them. Forgiveness is not an event of immediacy. It's not a bolt of lightning that brightens the soul and burns the pain to ashes. Forgiveness is a process that is transformational. When all is said and done, the final process is an act of love.

Author: Nancy Richards
Paperback: 144 pages
Company: Blue Dolphin Publishing (2005-05-01) (2005-05-01)
ISBN: 1577331583
List Price: $13.00
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Systemic Treatment of Families Who Abuse (Jossey Bass Social and Behavioral Science Series)

A direct, informed approach involving all family members

An invaluable guide for enhancing your skills when working with families in which child abuse has occurred. Systemic Treatment of Families Who Abuse addresses both the symptoms and precipitating issues of child abuse and neglect, and also

* offers new ideas for effective treatment
* identifies the conditions that are often present when child abuse occurs
* outlines the protective factors that can counteract a person's tAndency toward child abuse

The author discusses how the treatment of child abuse differs from generic treatment, and stresses the necessity for systemic interventions for everyone: abusers, abused, and nonabused family members.

Author: Eliana Gil
Hardcover: 264 pages
Company: Jossey-Bass (1995-11-02)
ISBN: 0787901539
List Price: $43.00
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While They Slept: An Inquiry into the Murder of a Family

Early on an April morning, eighteen-year-old Billy Frank Gilley, Jr., killed his sleeping parents. Surprised in the act by his younger sister, Becky, he turned on her as well. Billy then climbed the stairs to the bedroom of his other sister, Jody, and said, “We’re free.”
But is one ever free after an unredeemable act of violence? The Gilley family murders ended a lifetime of physical and mental abuse suffered by Billy and Jody at the hands of their parents. And it required each of the two survivors–one a convicted murderer, the other suddenly an orphan–to create a new identity, a new life.

In this mesmerizing book, bestselling writer Kathryn Harrison brilliantly uncovers the true story behind a shocking and unforgettable crime as she explores the impact of escalating violence and emotional abuse visited on the children of a deeply troubled family. With an artistry that recalls Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, Norman Mailer’s The Executioner’s Song, and her own The Kiss, Harrison reveals the antecedents of the murders–of a crime of such violence that it had the power to sever past from present–and the consequences for Billy and for Jody. Weaving in meditations on her own experience of parental abuse, Harrison searches out answers to the question of how survivors of violent trauma shape a future when their lives have been divided into Before and After.

Based on interviews with Billy and Jody as well as with friends, police, and social workers involved in the case, While They Slept is Kathryn Harrison’s unflinching inquiry into the dark heart of violence in an American family, and a personal quest to understand how young people go on after tragedy–to examine the extent as well as the limits of psychic resilience. The New York Times called Kathryn Harrison’s The Kiss “a powerful piece of writing, a testament to evil and hope.” The same could be said about While They Slept.

PRAISE FOR WHILE THEY SLEPT

“Harrison does a magnificent job of sorting through the heartbreak of a family tragedy. By adding insights into her own life, she brings us a little closer to understanding the resilience of the human spirit and the irrevocable damage and unforeseen consequences of child and sexual abuse.”
–USA Today

“The result of Harrison's masterful embellishment is a fascinating and comprehensive examination of the before and after of a brutal triple murder, of the cyclical nature of violence and of the tragic ineffectiveness of our social support systems…While They Slept does not provide the easy answers we hope to discover in ‘just the facts,’ but it offers instead the richer and more enduring illumination of ‘the story.’”
–L.A. Times

“Her telling brings moral clarity to the dark fate of a family: the daylight gaze of narrative itself as a form of empathy.”
–New York Times Book Review, cover review

“A powerful account…This excellent book will be devoured by educators who try to come to grips with the lasting effects of the traumas of childhood.”
–Deseret Morning News

“Harrison offers careful research and obvious concern… While They Slept’s real horror is in how many potential helpers were aware of the abuse and were unable to help. This is a heartbreaking read.”
–Rocky Mountain News

“Kathryn Harrison pulls the reader through the story of the 1984 triple murder in Medford–our own backyard–with such speed and excitement it feels like you’re watching an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent…Harrison perfectly paces the revelations of new characters, who add critical information and perspective to the Gilley murder.”
–Willamette Weekly

Author: Kathryn Harrison
Hardcover: 304 pages
Company: Random House (2008-06-10) (2008-06-10)
ISBN: 1400065429
List Price: $25.00
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Heal and Forgive II: The Journey from Abuse and Estrangement to Reconciliation

Heal and Forgive II The Journey from Abuse and Estrangement to Reconciliation Nancy Richards Anyone who has heard the devastating words, "I never want to see you again!" from a parent, sibling, or child, knows the torment of family exile. All one needs to do is search the web for sites dealing with family estrangement to find endless choices for the countless individuals seeking help with family cut-offs. Google lists 776,000. Yahoo lists 890,000! Although there are no formal statistics for family estrangement, the numbers available are alarming. From celebrities to friends, co-workers, and neighbors, we find people everywhere dealing with the effects of family rifts. After a painful fourteen-year estrangement, author Nancy Richards and her family reunited. Heal and Forgive II: The Journey from Abuse and Estrangement to Reconciliation presents a first-hand description of the long journey towards healing and offers a blueprint for coming to terms with the past. Reconciliation can bring joy, excitement and a sense of awe like that of a miracle. At the same time, reunions can be frightening, stressful, fragile, and wrought with many pitfalls. Rebuilding relationships requires a great deal of emotional work and a willingness for each family member involved. Often, re-establishing relationships with family members can appear to be an impossible task. Indeed, reuniting is not possible for everyone. Some individuals experience continued physical and emotional violence within their families to a degree that prohibits any safe contact. Other estranged individuals may desire a reunion only to find family members unwilling to see them. Yet sometimes people are surprised when the road to healing and recovery leads to new beginnings. Whether re-establishing a relationship with a family member or remaining apart, healing is vital for the individual's happiness and well-being. This work demonstrates to the reader the healing process necessary to make peace with the past, healing in a fashion that maintains wholesome separateness with or without rebuilding new relationships. This thought-provoking work effectively diagrams the healing and reconciliation process while placing the reader's well-being firmly in his or her own hands. Endorsements "Nancy Richard's latest book reminds us that wisdom born of pain and struggle is true wisdom. She has the ability in sharing her story to engage others with similar experiences and in ways that give insight and direction. We are indebted to Richards for sharing her strength and courage with us. Again she helps us realize the limitations and capacities of the human heart and gives us hope that adequate healing from violence in families may be possible. I recommend this book to any survivor struggling with the brokenness that an abuser can do to a family. May truth help to heal the wounds and soften the scars." Rev. Dr. Marie M. Fortune, Founder and Senior Analyst, FaithTrust Institute

Author: Nancy Richards
Paperback: 172 pages
Company: Blue Dolphin Publishing (2008-06-06)
ISBN: 1577332202
List Price: $16.00
Amazon Price: $10.39
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When Parents Have Problems: A Book for Teens and Older Children With an Abusive, Alcoholic, or Mentally Ill Parent

Author: Susan B. Miller
Paperback: 79 pages
Company: C.C. Thomas (1995-06)
ISBN: 039805990X
List Price: $23.95
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When a Child Kills

Author: Paul Mones
Paperback: 384 pages
Company: Pocket (1992-09-01)
ISBN: 0671674218
List Price: $6.99
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Nobody's Child

Michael Seed 's childhood was nothing but a daily ordeal of unspeakable neglect, misery, and abuse from a father whose tyranny of fear stole Michael's formative years from him and drove Michael's mother to suicide. After years of silence, he now feels ready to tell a story that, though shockingly painful, is a testament to one human's remarkable ability to triumph over the most appalling of circumstances. Living with his adoptive parents, life for Michael was hell from the start. Long before his school days, the only lesson he learned was to try and avoid being noticed by his alcoholic father. More often than not, though, his dad would find time to ensure that both Michael and his mother felt his wrath together. Then, one awful night, Michael realized that the abuse was escalating to another level when his father began the sexual abuse that would continue for years. The abuse did not stop at home. Once he began school, Michael once again fell victim to terrible bullying and a teacher who violated him repeatedly. Michael, it seemed, was destined for a life of inescapable misery. Yet, despite the horror of these years, Michael was ultimately saved by his own will to live and which inspired him to move on and seek a better life. This is the remarkable story of an individual who, against all the odds, managed to preserve his own dignity and finally escape the horrors of a stolen childhood.

Author: Michael Seed, Noel Botham
Hardcover: 288 pages
Company: John Blake (2007-06-01)
ISBN: 1844543439
List Price: $27.95
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Preventing Child Maltreatment through Social Support: A Critical Analysis

"Ross A. Thompson's social-policy expertise illuminates the limitations of formulating a child protection policy agenda on current research without concern for the specific populations to be served. Thompson details an ambitious agenda for child welfare reform by calling for a multistrategy approach, with specific reference to the 1990 proposals of the U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect, with which he has been intimately connected. . . . This masterful work weaves together theory and application about how to prevent child maltreatment. Good references. Upper-division undergraduates and above." --Choice Recently, there has been considerable interest in providing social support to abuse-prone families as a means of preventing child abuse and neglect. Partly due to both reports that social support programs can indeed help parents and the theoretical underpinnings of these programs, social support has become the cause celebre among those who are seeking more effective new avenues to abuse prevention. However, many important issues must be considered in translating this general idea into effective public policy initiatives related to abuse prevention. Preventing Child Maltreatment Through Social Support carefully considers the various factors affecting the success of social support programs and provides the path to designing effective--and enduring--interventions. Offering the reader a critical analysis of current research concerning social networks and functions of social support, this perceptive book fosters an understanding of maltreatment, socially isolated families, and the dynamics of help giving and receiving. Ross A. Thompson moves deftly from theory to practice, including detailed lessons from applications such as home visitation and other intensive family strategies. This volume stimulates thinking about integrating research, policy, and practice, and in a progressive move, envisions social support within the larger context of child welfare reform. Dedicated to making social support programs theoretically grounded and thus able to withstand the rigor of application, this book provides a much-needed resource to practitioners, researchers, and students in social work, family studies, nursing/public health, and clinical and counseling psychology as well as educators and policy makers. "I am very impressed with Preventing Child Maltreatment Through Social Support. I think Ross A. Thompson has tackled a complex and important subject, producing a book that both practitioners and policymakers will find useful in their efforts to construct more effective programs to prevent child abuse. This book fills a unique gap in the child abuse prevention literature." --Deborah Daro, Director, Center on Child Abuse Prevention Research, Chicago "This book provides a coherent road map to the role of social support in dealing with the problem of child maltreatment. It is well researched and well thought out in every respect. Preventing Child Maltreatment Through Social Support is well digested intellectually: It covers the material in detail but is not overcome by detail." --James Garbarino, Director, Family Life Development Center, Cornell University

Author: Ross A. Thompson
Paperback: 238 pages
Company: Sage Publications, Inc (1995-08-25)
ISBN: 0803955952
List Price: $51.95
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