CHILD ABUSE

LEADERSHIP COUNCIL, THE, research and articles on Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS), Parental Alienation theory, False Memory Syndrome, the politics of child abuse, and other issues. The Leadership Council is a nonprofit independent scientific organization composed of respected scientists, clinicians, educators, legal scholars, journalists, and public policy analysts. Its mission is to promote the ethical application of psychological science to human welfare, and to provide the public with accurate, research-based information about a variety of mental health issues. Special Projects include examination of controversial meta-analysis by Rind et al., and examination of the use of "parental alienation syndrome" by the courts.

PANDORA'S BOX, by Nancy Faulkner, Ph.D.

SECASA SEXUAL ASSAULT articles from South Eastern Centre Against Sexual Assault (SECASA) False Memory Syndrome, by Domestic Violence and Incest Resource Center; Confronting Precedent and Prejudice, by Jocelynne A. Scutt; Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse - Accurate and truthful disclosures, false allegations, and false denials, by Kay Bussey; Children in the Legal System, by Jan Breckenridge & Moira Carmody; The Psychological Adjustment of the Rape Victim, by Lesley Hewitt; The Child Abuse Accommodation Syndrome, by Roland Summit; Mother/Daughter Rape, by Lee FitzRoy; Offending Women, by Lee FitzRoy; Offending Mothers, by Lee FitzRoy; How Do Children Tell? The Disclosure Process in Child Sexual Abuse, by April R. Bradley and James M. Wood; Is the Child Victim of Sexual Abuse Telling the Truth? by Kathleen Coulborn Faller; Breaking the Last Taboo: Child Sexual Abuse by Female Perpetrators, by Renee Koonin; Strategies for Dealing with Child Sexual Assault at the Point of Disclosure: A Personal and Agency Perspective, by Kay Churchill and Karen Cameron; Responding to Abuse: A Matter of Perspective, by Kate Sinclair.

ADDITIONAL WEBSITES THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST:
Australian Domestic & Family Violence Clearinghouse http://www.austdvclearinghouse.unsw.edu.au/ and
The Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault http://www.aifs.gov.au/acssa/

TRAUMA INFORMATION PAGES,  by David V. Baldwin, Ph.D. (best scholarly site)  

CHILD CUSTODY; LITIGATION
(also see PARENTAL ALIENATION and PSYCHOLOGY ETHICS)

THE BATTERER AS PARENT, R. Lundy Bancroft, Ph.D. Several good articles on Lundy Bancroft's website, including "The Connection Between Batterers and Child Sexual Abuse Perpetrators," "The Batterer as Parent," "Critique of Janet Johnston's Typology of Batterers" and others.

UNDERSTANDING THE BATTERER IN VISITATION AND CUSTODY DISPUTES, by R. Lundy Bancroft.

FALSE ALLEGATIONS OF SEX ABUSE IN DIVORCE CASES, by Merrilyn McDonald.

LEGAL RESOURCES - VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ABUSE, by Susan K. Smith, Esq. Sue Smith's superb website with articles, forms, contact information for adult and child victims of sexual abuse.  Highly recommended.

WHEN PARADIGMS COLLIDE: Protecting Battered Parents and Their Children in the Family Court System, by Clare Dalton, 37 Fam. & Conciliation Courts Rev. 273 (1999). 

CUSTODIANS OF ABUSE, by Kristen Lombardi.  If you're a parent, it's your worst nightmare: finding out that your child is being molested by your spouse. If you seek a divorce as a result, or are already going through one when you make the discovery, you hope that family court will do the right thing: grant you sole legal and physical custody of your child. In fact, you can't even imagine that there could be any other outcome in the custody judgment. But for many parents --in nearly every instance, mothers -- just the opposite occurs: the alleged abusers dont just get unsupervised visitation rights, they get full custody...

MYTHS AND FACTS ABOUT FATHERHOOD, MOTHERHOOD, CUSTODY: What the Research Really Says, ed. by liz  

PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME;
PARENTAL ALIENATION THEORY

PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME, by John E. B. Myers, Prof. of Law, and comments by Trish Wilson, others

PAS:  HAS PSYCHIATRY GONE PSYCHO?   
by Kelly Patricia O'Meara. A pop-psychology theory, parental alienation syndrome, is being used in custody cases to defend fathers accused of incest by blaming mothers for being narrow-minded.

RICHARD GARDNER: A SELF-MADE MAN, by Judith M. Simon.  Richard A. Gardner is one of the most popular child psychiatrists in the country.  He has written scores of books, lectured internationally, served as an expert witness in numerous child custody disputes, and is regularly quoted in the press.  Soon, his authority will be formally acknowledged in what he has called a companion volume to the DSM-IV...

PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME: GETTING IT WRONG IN CHILD CUSTODY CASES, by Prof. Carol Bruch. The definitive article everyone wants to read on the so-called "parental alienation syndrome" and its misuse in child custody cases. Originally published in the Fall 2001 issue of the ABA Family Law Quarterly.

LIZ ON PAS,  liznotes  "One of the biggest reasons PAS has become so well-accepted is precisely because it relies on the observation of COMMON, however mean, insecure and obnoxious, NORMAL behaviors ('symptoms') that EVERYONE has seen, that nearly EVERYONE has done at one time or another (it's only a matter of degree), and as to which nearly EVERYONE can say, why yes, yes, that's so true!  I've SEEN it..."

FALSE MEMORY SYNDROME; RECOVERED MEMORIES

ARE FALSE MEMORY SYNDROME CLAIMS EMPIRICALLY BASED?  by Kenneth S. Pope, Ph.D., ABPP, and other recommended articles

FALSE MEMORY SYNDROME FOUNDATION: A REMEDY FOR A NONEXISTENT PROBLEM, by Judith M. Simon. ALTERNATE URL  False Memory Syndrome (FMS) purportedly arises from "recovered memory therapy," a theoretical practice said to be capable of creating memories of childhood sexual abuse in psychotherapy patients. The "diagnosis" of FMS was introduced in 1992 by Pamela Freyd... and her husband Peter... after their daughter... privately confronted them with memories of incest perpetrated by her father..."

FALSE MEMORY SYNDROME, by Juliette Cutler Page, and more...

GROUND LOST: The False Memory-Recovered Memory Therapy Debate, by Alan W. Scheflin, Prof. of Law. The recovered memory debate has been the most acrimonious, vicious and hurtful internal controversy in the history of modern psychiatry... the term recovered memory is used exclusively as a pejorative. In fact, by definition, every memory is recovered. Furthermore, there are no known schools of recovered memory, no conferences on how to practice recovered memory therapy, nor are there any textbooks on the topic. The term was a clever rhetorical invention and, as such, it has even fooled many otherwise cautious scientists.

"LOST IN A SHOPPING MALL" -- A Breach of Professional Ethics, by Lynn S. Crook and Martha C. Dean.  The "lost in a shopping mall" study has been cited to support claims that psychotherapists can implant memories of false autobiographical information of childhood trauma in their patients.  An analysis of the mall study shows that beyond the external misrepresentations, internal scientific methodological errors cast doubt on the validity of the claims that have been attributed to the mall study within scholarly and legal arenas. FRYE/DAUBERT analysis by Wendy Murphy et al. (It fails).

TAUBMAN CENTER:  RECOVERED MEMORIES

PSYCHOLOGY ETHICS

ARE PSYCHOLOGISTS HIDING EVIDENCE? by Paul R. Lees-Haley, Ph.D., and John C. Courtney, Psy.D.  "A growing problem... is the unwillingness of some psychologists to disclose their tests and test data to attorneys wishing to depose or cross-examine them." Article lays out a convincing argument against this position.

CONFRONTING THE UNETHICAL FORENSIC COLLEAGUE, by Brodsky and McKinzey. Brodsky, S. L. & McKinzey, R. K., (2002). The Ethical Confrontation of the Unethical Forensic Colleague. Professional Psychology: Research & Practice, 33, 307-309. "In the course of clinical and forensic work, psychologists sometimes discover serious weaknesses in knowledge, performance, or ethics in other psychologists' work. The APA ethical code mandates confronting such a psychologist prior to making a professional complaint. This mandatory confrontation typically is omitted because of a sense of awkwardness or a fear of insulting the other psychologist. Education and training in psychology does not cover this sensitive and important area. In this article, we suggest sample templates for an exchange of letters to meet that ethical requirement and to begin to resolve problem behaviors by colleagues."

CURING THE THERAPEUTIC STATE, by Thomas Szasz. The medicalization of American life.

PSYCHOLOGY ETHICS: Articles, reprints, research, and resources online written or collected by Kenneth S. Pope, Ph.D., and other recommended articles

PSYCHOLOGY ETHICS: Rorschach and Forensics, by J. M. Wood et al. Wood, J. M., Nezworski, M. T., Stejskal, W. J. & McKinzey, R. K., (2001). Problems of the Comprehensive System for the Rorschach in Forensic Settings: Recent Developments. Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice, 1 (3) 89-103. "The Comprehensive System for the Rorschach is currently the subject of heated controversy among psychologists. Much "common knowledge" about the test is either incorrect or in dispute. Psychologists who use the Rorschach in forensic settings can often be successfully challenged by well-informed attorneys and may risk becoming the subject of ethics complaints. This article identifies seven issues that are particularly relevant to use of the Comprehensive System for the Rorschach in forensic psychology."

REEVALUATING THE EVALUATORS: Rethinking the Assumptions of Therapeutic Jurisprudence in the Family Courts

WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF CHILD ABUSE, liznotes

CHILD ABUSE AND RELIGION;
CIRCUMCISION AND GENITAL MUTILATION

CIRCUMCISION, a Jewish Feminist Perspective, by Miriam Pollack. "...the so-called hygienic arguments for circumcision still persuade millions of secular Jews and non-Jews to circumcise their baby boys despite the statement made by the American Academy of Pediatrics that "there is no absolute medical indication for routine circumcision of the newborn" (American Academy of Pediatrics, 1975). The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists followed with a similar statement in 1978 (American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 1983). The desperate arguments for circumcision include prevention of penile and cervical cancer, urinary tract infections and sexually transmitted diseases. Let's examine these, one at a time..."

CIRCUMCISION: A Source of Jewish Pain, by Ronald Goldman. "...Currently, circumcision is not universal among Jews either inside or outside the United States. The Circumcision Resource Center, a nonprofit educational organization, knows of hundreds of Jews in Europe, South America, and in the United States who either have not or would not circumcise a son. Even in Israel some Jews do not circumcise, and there is an organization that publicly opposes circumcision.3 The purpose of this article is to coherently explain a few of the contemporary reasons for the increasing doubts some Jews have about circumcision. Then I will apply Torah law and Jewish values to these reasons..."

||||| "If a woman is made to distrust her most basic instinct to protect her newborn child, what feelings can she ever trust?"

"My tiny son and I sobbed our hearts out... After everything I'd worked for, carrying and nurturing Joseph in the womb, having him at home against no small odds, keeping him by my side constantly since birth, nursing him whenever he needed closeness and nourishment -- the circumcision was a horrible violation of all I felt we shared. I cried for days afterward."

"I have never heard such screams... Will I ever know what scars this brings to your soul?... What is that new look I see in your eyes? I can see pain, a certain sadness, and a loss of trust."

CIRCUMCISION - noharmm

THE CASE AGAINST CIRCUMCISION, by Paul M. Fleiss, M.D. -- also here.

CIRCUMCISION INFORMATION AND RESOURCE PAGES

THE CIRCUMCISION PROBLEM, by James L. Snyder, M.D., F.A.C.S.

CIRCUMCISION AND STDs, by P. M. Fleiss, F. M. Hodges, and R. S. Van Howe. "Circumcision started in America during the masturbation hysteria of the Victorian Era, when a few American doctors circumcised boys to punish them for masturbating. Victorian doctors knew very well that circumcision denudes, desensitizes, and disables the penis. Nevertheless, they were soon claiming that circumcision cured epilepsy, convulsions, paralysis, elephantiasis, tuberculosis, eczema, bed-wetting, hip-joint disease, fecal incontinence, rectal prolapse, wet dreams, hernia, headaches, nervousness, hysteria, poor eyesight, idiocy, mental retardation, and insanity... In fact, no procedure in the history of medicine has been claimed to cure and prevent more diseases than circumcision."

||||| GENDER, SEXUAL AMBIGUITY, TRANSGENDERISM, by Prof. Lynn Conway.  An excellent place to being to understand issues involving gender identity, intersexuality, transsexualism, more. Numerous links within the text. Touches on abusive sex assignment surgery in infants and young children, debunking John Money's theories of gender as being purely socialization, and does a nice job of explaining the differences between homosexuality and gender identity, transvestism and transsexualism, although winds up focusing heavily on the adult issues of male-to-female transsexualism. Recommended for parents of adolescents who may be struggling with gender and sexual identity issues, or of intersexed infants and children who are grappling with conflicting advice regarding "fixing" their child's gender with surgery. Also see The Intersex Society of North America on the issue of abusive sexual reassignment surgery in children.

SPECIAL READ::
ADDICTED TO HATE, by J. M. Bell. The shocking expose of the Westboro Baptist Church, Inc.

DAYCARE; EDUCATIONAL AND
DEVELOPMENTAL ISSUES

A META-ANALYSIS OF THE PUBLISHED RESEARCH on the Psychological Effects of Nonmaternal Care, by Claudio Violato, Ph.D. and Clare Russell, Ph.D.

THE PROBLEM WITH DAYCARE, by Karl Zinsmeister "There is no easy way, public or private, to buy for individual children the kind of loving concern that has never been for sale."

TELEVISION AND CHILDREN'S MINDS, by Susan R. Johnson, M.D.
"As a mother and a pediatrician who completed both a three-year residency in Pediatrics and a three-year subspecialty fellowship in Behavioral and Developmental Pediatrics, I started to wonder: 'What are we doing to our children's growth and learning potential by allowing them to watch television and videos as well as spend endless hours playing computer games?'

PARENTING AND CHILDREN'S EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT: WHAT WORKS; WHAT DOESN'T, ed. by liz.

PORNOGRAPHY

THE CRUEL EDGE, by Prof. Robert Jensen. What's wrong with pornography, and why it's a problem.

NUDIST HALL OF SHAME, by Nikki Craft

PSYCHIATRY AND THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES

ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION

AMERICA'S SCHOOLCHILDREN TREATED LIKE LAB RATS, by John W. Whitehead "In almost every state across the nation, schoolchildren are being subjected to behavioral exams and mental health tests, often without their parents' knowledge or consent... One such program is the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS). Currently used in at least 45 states, the YRBSS test takes approximately 35 minutes to complete, with questions on everything from how much television the student watches to thoughts on suicide, sexual activity and drug use. For example, the 2007 middle school questionnaire includes such questions as: "Have you ever seriously thought about killing yourself?" ... "The last time you had sexual intercourse, did you or your partner use a condom?"...[C]ritics of these risk assessment tests insist that they're aimed at pushing antidepressant drugs..."

                        WORTH A LOOK:


                 

Vaccine Injured Children
 

There are some "researchers" around these days raising the question of whether adult-child incest et al. is truly "harmful," or whether much of the "psychosocial effects" attributable to it are because of laws, policies, strategies and social responses making this "experience" shameful and a trigger for consequent (but ostensibly unnecessary) negative repercussions (like the perp is thrown in jail, mom gets divorced from dad, etc. etc.) These researchers offer information to the effect that there are lots of "alleged former victims" who seem to be rather successful and well adjusted in their young adulthood, and notably among them, a significant portion of "alleged former victims" who didn't "disclose" prior to, in college or something, getting the researchers' research questionaire.

If we discovered through "research" that a significant majority of college students who had broken bones in childhood suffered no obvious long-term effects from it, would that then make it okay for adults to sock a kid on occasion and break a few ribs? Child abuse does often cause lasting detrimental effects, but that doesn't mean if there aren't (obviously discernable) lasting effects, it wasn't "abuse"! Some real studies on the effects of child abuse are listed below:

Anda RF, Croft JB, Felitti VJ, et al. Adverse childhood experiences and smoking during adolescence and adulthood. JAMA 1999 Nov 3;282(17):1652-8.

Anda RF, Felitti VJ, Chapman DP, et al. Abused boys, battered mothers, and male involvement in teen pregnancy. Pediatrics 2001 Feb;107(2):E19.

Dietz PM, Spitz AM, Anda RF, et al. Unintended pregnancy among adult women exposed to abuse or household dysfunction during their childhood. JAMA 1999 Oct 13;282(14):1359-64.

Dube SR, Anda RF, Felitti VJ, et al. Adverse childhood experiences and personal alcohol abuse as an adult. Addict Behav. In press 2002.

Dube SR, Anda RF, Felitti VJ, et al. Childhood Abuse, Household dysfunction, and the risk of attempted suicide throughout the life span. Findings from the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study. JAMA 2001;286:3089-3096.

Dube SR, Anda RF, Felitti VJ, et al. Exposure to abuse, neglect and household dysfunction among adults who witnessed intimate partner violence as children: implications for integrated health and social services.

Edwards VJ, Anda RF, Nordenberg DF, et al. Bias assessment for child abuse survey: factors affecting probability of response to a survey about childhood abuse. Child Abuse Negl 2001 Feb;25(2):307-12.

Edwards VJ, Fivush R, Anda RF, et al. Autobiographical memory disturbances in childhood abuse survivors. In: Freyd JJ, DePrince AP, editors. Trauma and cognitive science: a meeting of minds, science, and human experience. Binghamton (NY): Haworth Press; 2001. Published simultaneously as a single-topic issue of J Aggression Maltreatment Trauma Vol 4(2), No. 8.

Felitti VJ, Anda RF, Nordenberg D, et al. Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. Am J Prev Med 1998 May;14(4):245-58.

Foege WH. Adverse childhood experiences: A public health perspective. Am J Prev Med 1998 May;14(4):354-5.

Hillis SD, Anda RF, Felitti VJ, et al. Adverse childhood experiences and sexually transmitted diseases in men and women: a retrospective study. Pediatrics 2000 Jul;106(1):E11.

Weiss MJ, Wagner SH. What explains the negative consequences of adverse childhood experiences on adult health? Insights from cognitive and neuroscience research. Am J Prev Med 1998 May;14(4):356-60.