Book dossier

Treatment and prevention of childhood sexual abuse

by Sandra A. Burkhardt

This practice-oriented book provides a model of intervention for sexually abused children. Its unique approach is that intervention strategy should be based on child-generated information, whereas the traditional approach has been based on adult-generated information. Models of intervention based upon adult-generated information are ineffective - simply because children do not have the cognitive capability of utilizing such strategies to prevent or stop abuse. In contrast, therapeutic strategies presented in this text - emphasizing child-generated information - enable the clinician to assess and understand the vulnerability of sexually abused children with regard to their cognitive level of understanding and their emotional reactions. Here, mental health professionals are guided to: acquire information about what and how children think about adults in general and perpetrators in particular; inventory children's own strategies for responding to perpetrators; document children's underlying logic for the strategies they identify; and use the information provided by children to guide the selection of treatment and prevention techniques. After the introduction of the topic, the book moves on to a comprehensive discussion of the correlates of childhood sexual abuse. Detailed information on a systematic research endeavor examining victim vulnerability is presented, as well as children's responses to perpetrators. Other chapters focus on the Burkhardt child-generated model of sexual abuse intervention, and procedures for assessment. Finally, the appendix provides a description of educational and psychological materials on childhood sexual abuse which can be used for prevention and intervention.