Child Abuse and Neglect: Perceptions, Psychological Consequences and Coping Strategies

117 Pages·2016·2.14 MB·English

by  Michelle Martinez

CHILDREN'S ISSUES, LAWS AND PROGRAMS

C A N
HILD BUSE AND EGLECT

P ,
ERCEPTIONS
P C
SYCHOLOGICAL ONSEQUENCES
C S
AND OPING TRATEGIES

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C ' I ,
HILDREN S SSUES
L P
AWS AND ROGRAMS

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CHILDREN'S ISSUES, LAWS AND PROGRAMS

C A N
HILD BUSE AND EGLECT

P ,
ERCEPTIONS
P C
SYCHOLOGICAL ONSEQUENCES
C S
AND OPING TRATEGIES

MICHELLE MARTINEZ
EDITOR

New York
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ISBN:(cid:3)(cid:28)(cid:26)(cid:27)(cid:16)(cid:20)(cid:16)(cid:25)(cid:22)(cid:23)(cid:27)(cid:23)(cid:16)(cid:27)(cid:19)(cid:19)(cid:16)(cid:27) (eBook)

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CONTENTS

Preface vii
Chapter 1 The Role of Ethnicity in Child Custodial Decisions 1
Emily R. Denne, Taylor E. Wornica
and Margaret C. Stevenson
Chapter 2 Building Relational Safety and Trust in Couple
Therapy with Adult Survivors of Childhood Abuse 19
Melissa A. Wells, Elsie Lobo, Aimee Galick,
Carmen Knudson-Martin, Douglas Huenergardt
and Hans Schaepper
Chapter 3 Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for the Treatment
and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect 65
Amanda H. Costello, Ria M. Travers,
Lauren B. Quetsch, Cree Robinson,
Nancy Wallace and Cheryl B. McNeil
Index 99

PREFACE

Child abuse and neglect (CAN) continues to be a serious public health
problem in the United States, affecting approximately 19% of victims and
costing approximately $124 billion to society. When a child is removed from
their parent’s custody due to parental abuse or neglect, the child is sometimes
placed in temporary custody through dependency court. Difficult and
emotionally laden legal decisions occur within dependency court, including
determining whether (and where) a child should be temporarily placed or
whether a child should be returned to the parent’s custody. Over 6 million
children experienced some type of child maltreatment in 2013, with 144,000
receiving foster care services (Child Maltreatment, 2013). Legal decision-
makers, including judges, case workers, and social workers have the important
task of determining what placement is in the best interest of the child. What
factors shape decisions in child custodial cases? Chapter One of this book
reviews empirical evidence suggesting that the race of the child and parent
plays a role in shaping child custodial decisions. Chapter Two presents a
feminist, social constructionist theoretical conceptualization, entitled relational
trust theory, that describes the effects of gendered power dynamics on the
perception of the other partner as trustworthy in adult-survivor couple
interactions; and expounds on the findings of a longitudinal grounded theory
study that identified clinical processes of Socio-Emotional Relationship
Therapy (SERT) that helped adult-survivor couples transform their gendered
power disparities and engage in relationally safe ways that supported a trusting
emotional culture. Chapter Three provides a description of Parent-Child
Interaction Therapy (PCIT), a rationale for its use with parents and children
who have experienced CAN, and an overview of PCIT’s evidence base for
both intervening with and preventing future CAN.
viii Michelle Martinez
Chapter 1 – When a child is removed from their parent’s custody due to
parental abuse or neglect, the child is sometimes placed in temporary custody
through dependency court. Difficult and emotionally laden legal decisions
occur within dependency court, including determining whether (and where) a
child should be temporarily placed or whether a child should be returned to the
parent’s custody. Over 6 million children experienced some type of child
maltreatment in 2013, with 144,000 receiving foster care services (Child
Maltreatment, 2013). Legal decision-makers, including judges, case workers,
and social workers have the important task of determining what placement is
in the best interest of the child. What factors shape decisions in child custodial
cases? In the present chapter, we review empirical evidence suggesting that the
race of the child and parent plays a role in shaping child custodial decisions.
Indeed, African American children spend more time in the foster care system
and wait longer to be reunited with their families than White children (Elliot &
Urquiza, 2006). The current chapter will review research regarding how race is
related to decisions made involving children in dependency court contexts.
Specifically, the authors review how race shapes the likelihood of child
maltreatment allegations, the likelihood of a child being removed from a
home, and the likelihood of family reunification. They draw upon social
psychological theory with respect to stereotyping, racism, and prejudice that
help account for various effects of race in dependency court contexts.
Chapter 2 – Approximately one-third of partners in couple therapy have
experienced childhood abuse, and a common impact on adult survivors is the
struggle to trust their intimate partner. Furthermore, asymmetrical gendered
power processes in current couple interactions often erode trust. Given the
likelihood that adult-survivor couples may experience a distrusting emotional
culture, this chapter presents a feminist, social constructionist theoretical
conceptualization, entitled relational trust theory that describes the effects of
gendered power dynamics on the perception of the other partner as trustworthy
in adult-survivor couple interactions. The chapter also expounds on the
findings of a longitudinal grounded theory study that identified clinical
processes of Socio-Emotional Relationship Therapy (SERT) that helped adult-
survivor couples transform their gendered power disparities and engage in
relationally safe ways that supported a trusting emotional culture.
The grounded theory analysis involved study of video and transcripts of
40 SERT sessions with four heterosexual adult-survivor couples. The findings
from the research were applied to an additional four couples to refine the final
grounded theory on how to work with the intersection of trust, gender, and
power issues of adult-survivor couples. Three key themes on gendered power