Karson, Michael; Sparks, Elizabeth

• Contents** About the Author* Contributor* Preface* Acknowledgments* Introduction* The Social Construction of Child Abuse* Overview of Child Abuse Research* The Effects of Abuse on Children* Characteristics of Abusive Families* Social and Environmental Factors Associated with Child Abuse* The Child Welfare System* Part I: Conceptual Background* Chapter 1. The Importance of Patterns* Family Patterns Reproduced in the Child* Individual Patterns Reproduced in the Family* The Case of Sexual Abuse* Patterns Changed for Within* Generic Solutions Fail* Chapter 2. Patterns in the Mind* Constant Imagination* Purposes of Imagination* How Imagination Is Revealed* How Imagination Is Suppressed* The Effects of Punishment* Early Memories As Road Maps* Figures in a Landscape* Complexes* Autonomy of Figures* Chapter 3. A Systemic View of the Psyche* Circular Thinking* Projective Identification* Identity and the Quest to Be Oneself* When, Not Whether* Assessment Hygiene* Dialogue Between Psychic Figures* Possession by a Single Figure* Overgovernance versus Undergovernance* Misconstruing the Child As a Precursor to Maltreatment* Part II: General Patterns in Abuse and Neglect* Chapter 4. Children's Idealization of Bad Parents* Denial of Disappointment* The Need for a Parent Who Takes Responsibility* Blaming Others to Exonerate the Parent* Splitting* Parental Accountability* Self-Blame of Exonerate the Parent* Chapter 5. “At Least I'm Not As Bad As My Mother (or Father)”* Focus on the Parent at the Expense of the Child* Chapter 6. The Avoidance of Personal Closeness* Fears and Joys of Intimacy* Excessive Kindness in Service Providers* Advantages of Cross-Cultural Foster Placements* Disadvantages of Ideal Foster Placements* Chapter 7. Seriously Disturbed Patterns* The Use and Misuse of the Borderline Label* Fragmentation* Identity Diffusion* Boundary Problems* Rage and Abandonment Fears* The Maternal Hold* Impulsivity* Implications for Service Planning* Part III: Some Specific Maltreatment Patterns* Chapter 8. The Sexual Abuse Victim's Mother* The Perpetrator, the Victim, and the Mother* The Futility of Blame* Repeat Involvement with Sex Offenders* Damage Assessment* A Good Apology* Chapter 9. The Sexually Powerful Adolescent Girl* The Narcissistic Father and the Depressed Mother* Socializing Girls to Be Depressed* The Choice Between Sex Appeal and Skills* The Limitations of Residential Treatment* Chapter 10. The Disruptive Boy* The Ineffective Disciplinarian* Indoctrination into the Abusive Role* The Legacy of Punishment* Interpersonal Basis of Self-Control* Chapter 11. The Absent Parent Returned* The Child Put On Hold* Responsibility for the Absence* Making Amends* The Child's Point of View* Part IV: Intervention Patterns* Chapter 12. Dysfunctional Treatment Relationships* The Need to Enter Patterns to Change Them* The Risk of Replication* Assuming Distasteful Roles* Chapter 13. Role Ambiguity Among Service Providers* Structural Clarity* Clinicians and Attorneys* Clinicians and Social Workers* Clinicians and Custodians* Chapter 14. The Social Worker and the Family* How the Family Accommodates the Social Worker* Structural Ambiguity Between Social Worker and Parent* The Social Worker's Rationale* Cultural Relativism and the Child Welfare System* Levels of Parental Fitness and the Social Worker's Approach to the Family* Voluntary Cases* Protective Cases* Custodial Cases* Chapter 15. The State Social Worker in the Role of Parenting Conscience* The Ignoring Parent* The Resigned Parent* The Rebellious Parent*