"Abusers of different cultures may not be assessed accurately because thay do not make eye contact or express negative emotions in groups or to therapists. Their cultural support systems have rarely been included in treatment sessions or aftercare plans. Lack of attention to cultural issues may foster ineffective treatment, putting some abusers and their communities at risk. Contributors discuss cultural issues regarding assessment and treatment of female sex abusers (as an unrecognized culture), Native Americans, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Alaska Native groups, Asian Americans, and model approach undertaken with Maoris in New Zealand."--Publisher's description.

A beautiful foreword by Eliana Gil and a very helpful preface and introduction by the editor, Lisa Aronson Fontes, elucidate the many ways in which culture is relevant to sexual abuse. They set the personal tone and the fresh scholarly information that characterizes the chapters. The reader is treated to an impressive, state-of-the-art array of ideas on culture that opens new avenues for inquiry. The book also offers a new repertoire of rituals and healing practices, such as ′sitting shiva′ to deal with the losses of sexual abuse for the Jewish family, or a version of ′dusmic′ (a term coined by Nuyorican poets) strength to empower Puerto Rican clients. . . . From a practical point of view, this book belongs on the office shelf of all individual and family therapists. They will obtain rich guidance about treatment approaches, therapist-client cultural matching, and prevention strategies that are both more humane and more effective because they are culturally attuned and deepen the knowledge of the cultural context of abuse. --Celia Jaes Falicov in Journal of Marriage and Family Therapy (forthcoming issue) "The overall effect of this edited volume reflects a sense of unity and teamwork. The writing is thorough and thought-provoking. It maintains consistency and originality, while presenting individual issues about the influence of unique cultural factors in working with abuse survivors." --Paula T. McWhirter in Contemporary Psychology "This volume of original chapters is an important contribution to understanding the relationship between culture and child sexual abuse. Lisa Aronson Fontes has edited a thought-provoking collection of papers along with an excellent foreword by Eliana Gil. . . . This book has much to recommend it, not only to the clinician to whom it is geared, but also to the researcher, the policy maker, and the wider community concerned with child sexual abusee." --Jill E. Korbin in Child Abuse & Neglect "The book makes an important contribution to cross-cultural awareness and widens the limited knowledge base about child sexual abuse within the cultural groups concerned. . . . The text promotes ′an ecosystemic approach to sexual abuse′ that takes into account individual, familial, cultural, and societal factors. Therapists, protective workers, and law enforcers, as well as legal, medical, and school personnel and policymakers should find this book a useful tool." --Fred Seligman in READINGS: A Journal of Reviews and Commentary in Mental Health How can we best prevent and treat sexual abuse in diverse populations? Cultural and linguistic misunderstandings, racism, and even homophobia sometimes lead professionals to mishandle issues of sexual abuse. This volume breaks new ground in suggesting ways in which cultural norms can be used to protect children and promote recovery from sexual abuse. It contains information that can be applied to people from all groups as well as nine solution-focused chapters on sexual abuse in the following specific groups: African Americans, Asian Americans, Anglo Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cambodians, Seventh Day Adventists, Jews, gay men, and lesbian women. Sexual Abuse in Nine North American Cultures is the first major work to address cultural issues in family violence. It is essential reading for advanced students, therapists, protective workers, sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, attorneys, police, educators, and others interested in adults and children who have been sexually abused. "Sexual Abuse in Nine North American Cultures has been masterfully sculpted to give us individual perceptions of cultures by professionals who were influenced by and who currently provide services to families and communities in distress. . . . This volume is provocative, personal, and professional; it is both abstract and concrete. It struggles with how to discuss the diversity within cultures without wavering from its overall goal of providing basic historical premises for diverse cultures. . . . It also provides an uncharacteristic view of culture that reaches beyond race and ethnicity. . . . The contribution of the book is not only in the information it so aptly presents but also in the way it encourages the reader to think and in the assertion that clinicians must enlighten and empower themselves when working cross-culturally, approaching issues of culture with rigorous attention and sensitivity." --from the Foreword by Eliana Gil "By drawing on these resources, clinicians optimize their chances of meeting their stated goal: to be of assistance to families so that the quality of their lives is improved and children are safe and nurtured." --from the Foreword by Eliana Gil

"In a diverse democracy, law must be open to all. All too often, however, our system of justice has failed to live up to our shared ideals, because it excludes individuals and communities even as they seek to use it or find themselves caught up in it. The research presented here offers hope. The abstract doctrines of the law are presented through real cases. Judges, lawyers, scholars, and concerned citizens will find much in these pages documenting the need for reform, along with the means for achieving our aspirations. The issues presented by race, ethnicity, and cultural differences are obviously central to the resolution of disputes in a nation made up of people who have in common only their faith in the great experiment of the United States Constitution. Here the challenges are met in an original, accessible, and thoughtful manner." -Frank H. Wu, Howard University, and author of Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White "Kim Barrett and William George have taken on an enormous task, which is matched only by its timeliness. Cultural competence and cultural diversity pass off our lips as eternally valued ideals, but Barrett and George have brought a critical and edifying eye to thee ideas. Racism is similarly easy to acknowledge but difficult to account for in the everyday lives of ordinary people of color. What we discover in this impressive volume is not only that race and culture matter, but how they matter in the minds of people who are clients and the minds of people who attempt to serve them and in the courts of law that attempt to mete out justice. Race, Culture Psychology and the Law is essential reading for anyone with a professional or personal interest in social justice and psychological well-being." -James M. Jones, Ph.D., Director, Minority Fellowship Program, American Psychological Association "This is an extraordinary and daring compilation of cutting edge commentaries that should prove invaluable to students, scholars, and practitioners working in social work, clinical and forensic psychology, juvenile justice, immigration adjustment, Native American advocacy, and child and adult abuse. It is a quality text that tackles key topics bridged by psychology and the law with clarity, succinctness, complexity, and evenhandedness." -William E. Cross, Jr., Ph.D., Graduate Center, City University of New York American ethnic and racial minority groups, immigrants, and refugees to this country are disparately impacted by the justice system of the United States. Issues such as racial profiling, disproportionate incarceration, deportation, and capital punishment all exemplify situations in which the legal system must attend to matters of race and culture in a competent and humane fashion. Race, Culture, Psychology, and Law is the only book to provide summaries and analyses of culturally competent psychological and social services encountered within the U.S. legal arena. The book is broad in scope and covers the knowledge and practice crucial in providing comprehensive services to ethnic, racial, and cultural minorities. Topics include the importance of race relations, psychological testing and evaluation, racial "profiling," disparities in death penalty conviction, immigration and domestic violence, asylum seekers, deportations and civil rights, juvenile justice, cross-cultural lawyering, and cultural competency in the administration of justice. Race, Culture, Psychology, and Law offers a compendium of knowledge, historical background, case examples, guidelines, and practice standards pertinent to professionals in the fields of psychology and law to help them recognize the importance of racial and cultural contexts of their clients. Editors Kimberly Holt Barrett and William H. George have drawn together contributing authors from a variety of academic disciplines including law, psychology, sociology, social work, and family studies. These contributors illustrate the delivery of psychological, legal, and social services to individuals and families-from racial minority, ethnic minority, immigrant, and refugee groups-who are involved in legal proceedings. Race, Culture, Psychology, and Law is a unique and timely text for undergraduate and graduate students studying psychology and law. The book is also a vital resource for a variety of professionals such as clinical psychologists, forensic psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors, social workers, and attorneys dealing with new immigrants and people from various ethnic communities.

Confronting Child and Adolescent Sexual Abuse is the first text to examine the history, theory, treatment, and prevention of this complex phenomenon. With in-depth insights into the psychologies of victims, their families, and the perpetrators, this comprehensive text shows readers how to recognize the symptoms and impact of childhood sexual abuse, critically engage with the unique nature of each case, complete a thorough assessment, develop a treatment plan, and effectively intervene in critical situations. A national expert on child abuse and neglect and the author of numerous books and publications, Cynthia Crosson-Tower addresses a wide range of special topics and helps readers prepare for working in this challenging professional field.

A comprehensive program of treatment for adolescent sex offenders! Covering every phase from assessment to relapse prevention, this valuable book offers specific suggestions and backs them with the latest research as well as years of clinical experience. Treating Youth Who Sexually Abuse: An Integrated Multicomponent Approach is a training tool, reference book, and field manual for the use of therapists, administrators, and everyone involved with the assessment, treatment, and placement of sexually abusive youth. Beginning with a broad view of the continuum of programs available and the structure of the service-delivery system that provides treatment, Treating Youth Who Sexually Abuse continues with specifics of program policy and design in both outpatient and inpatient settings. From choice of client to aftercare, the book covers the specifics of pretreatment, various modalities of therapy, inpatient and outpatient programs, and relapse-prevention programs. The foundations of program structure and the specific components (such as family therapy, group therapy, milieu treatment) are integrated to make a powerful, flexible, and above all effective treatment tool. Treating Youth Who Sexually Abuse offers practical advice and help for therapists and administrators, including: ready-to-use treatment materials reproducible group curricula sample schedules for full-day treatment and afterschool programs discussions of staff training and administrative concerns information on liability issues ideas for coordinating care with other treatment providers Treating Youth Who Sexually Abuse: An Integrated Multicomponent Approach is an essential training tool for students, a field manual for professionals, and a reference book for everyone interested in sex offence-specific treatment for youth. With case studies, diagnostic criteria, helpful tables and diagrams, listings of organizations in the field and Web addresses, this volume deserves a permanent place on your professional bookshelf.

A comprehensive guide to the identification, assessment, and treatment of child sexual abuse The field of child sexual abuse has experienced an explosion of research, literature, and enhanced treatment methods over the last thirty years. Representing the latest refinements of thought in this field, Handbook of Child Sexual Abuse: Identification, Assessment, and Treatment combines the most current research with a wealth of clinical experience. The contributing authors, many of whom are pioneers in their respective specialties, include researchers and clinicians, forensic interviewers and law enforcement professionals, caseworkers and victim advocates, all of whom do the work of helping children who have been sexually victimized. Offering a snapshot of the state of the field as it stands today, Handbook of Child Sexual Abuse explores a variety of issues related to child sexual abuse, from identification, assessment, and treatment methods to models for implementation and prevention, including: The impact of sexual abuse on the developing brain The potential implications of early sexual victimization Navigating the complexities of multidisciplinary teams Forensic interviewing and clinical assessment Treatment options for children who have traumagenic symptoms as a response to their sexual victimization Treating children with sexual behavior problems and adolescents who engage in illegal sexual behavior Secondary trauma and vicarious traumatization Cultural considerations and prevention efforts Edited by a leader in the field of child therapy, this important reference equips helping professionals on the front lines in the battle against child sexual abuse not merely with state-of-the-art knowledge but also with a renewed vision for the importance of their role in the shaping of our culture and the healing of victimized children.

Until recently, the topic of female sexual offenders remained under-researched, and many incorrect assumptions and beliefs still surround the subject. This book is organised in to five parts around eleven chapters. It provides a comprehensive overview of the latest research in this often overlooked area and discusses both adult female offenders and adolescents/younger children who commit sexual offences against children. After an in-depth evaluation of research literature, the author then considers a range of treatment approaches and directions for future research.