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