Synopses & Reviews
Johnston, Roseby, and Kuehnle take you behind the child's eyes, into their heads... they] flesh out the familial context, and bring it all back into the larger social world....When you are done reading, you know who these families are, what the children need, and -- as a clinician -- how you can help them.
--Marsha Kline Pruett, PhD, MSL
Maconda Brown O'Connor Professor
Smith College School for Social Work
This book addresses problems that arise for children of conflicted and violent divorce .It provides a good base for beginning to treat children in this situation as well as good information for understanding the legal and community services available.
--Doody's
The fully updated and revised edition of In the Name of the Child examines both the immediate and long-term effects of high-conflict divorce on children. By combining three decades of research with clinical experience, the authors trace the developmental problems affecting very young children through adolescence and adulthood, paying special attention to the impact of family violence and the dynamics of parental alienation.
The authors present clinical interventions that have proven to be most effective in their own clinical work with families. With a new emphasis on the need for prevention and early intervention, this edition examines how defensive strategies and symptoms of distress in children can consolidate into immutable, long-standing psychopathology in their adult lives. This book contains the policies and procedures that can preempt these high-conflict outcomes in divorcing families.
Key Features:
Contains a new chapter examining the effects of violent divorce on a sample of young adults, tracking their developmental changes from adolescence through adulthood Discusses the developmental threats to both boys and girls of different ages and stages, along with therapeutic interventions and guidelines for parenting plans Proposes principles and criteria for decision-making about custody, visitation, and parenting plans based on individual assessment of the developing child within his or her family
Mental health professionals, educators, family lawyers, judges, and court administrators will find this book to be an essential read, with all the knowledge and insight needed to understand the short- and long-term effects of violent divorce on children.
Synopsis
Researchers increasingly recognize the importance of early family experiences on children and the impact that inter-parental conflict has on child development. This book reviews recent research in order to show how children who experience high levels of inter-parental conflict are put at both an immediate psychological and physical risk and a longer-developing risk of recapitulating such behaviors. The authors examine topics such as the differences between destructive and constructive inter-parental conflict on child development, why some children are more adversely affected than others, and how conflict affects child physiology. Ultimately they provide suggestions for improving the futures of children who are experiencing challenging family environments today.and#160;
About the Author
Jenny Reynolds is an independent researcher specializing in family relationships and an associate at OnePlusOne.Catherine Houlston is a senior research officer at OnePlusOne.Lester Coleman is head of research at OnePlusOne.Gordon Harold is the Andrew and Virginia Rudd Chair in Psychology at the University of Sussex.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Preface
1. Conflict in context
Changing family life
Introducing inter-parental conflict
Introducing child impacts
Introducing why outcomes from inter-parental conflicts differ for children
2. Understanding different types of conflict
What type of conflict matters?
Differentiating destructive and constructive conflict
What about domestic violence?
Constructive conflict
3. The impact of inter-parental conflict on children
Emotional regulation: externalising and internalising conflicts
Family and social relationships
Poor health
Sleep
Academic performance
4. How does inter-parental conflict affect children?
Inter-parental conflict and troubled family relationships
Implications for childrenand#8217;s emotional security and attachment
Processes that explain the negative impact of couple conflict on parenting
Emotional, cognitive and behavioural responses to conflict: the childand#8217;s perspective
Inter-parental conflict and childrenand#8217;s early brain development
Sensitisation: donand#8217;t children get used to fighting parents?
5. Risk and resilience: why are some children affected more than others?
Child characteristics
Family characteristics
Extra-familial characteristics
6. Review of conflict-based interventions for couples
What should conflict interventions focus on?
Are there effective conflict interventions?
Focus on parenting: parent education programmes
Parenting intervention programmes that take account of the couple relationship
Programmes that focus on at-risk groups and challenging transitions
Interventions that focus specifically on conflicts
Couples who have separated/divorced
Couples who are still together
Early intervention: relationship preparation or enhancement courses
What does the current evidence tell us?
7. Implications for practice: how to help families
When should we intervene?
Early intervention is important, but how early is early enough?
Who should interventions focus on?
What are some common components of couple interventions?
Moderating factors
Innovative ideas for conflict intervention
Conclusions
8. Conclusions and recommendations
Headline findings
How practitioners can help families in conflict
Gatekeepers to conflict interventions and further support
Promoting an early intervention approach and raising awareness
Help parents develop skills to avoid destructive conflict and to promote constructive conflict
Inform programme developers in how to customize conflict interventions
Follow-up support for parents
Focusing on children
Encouraging help seeking
How policy makers can help
The role of further research
References
Index