Full Description
A riveting exposé of child abuse in America and how the newest breed of pediatricians determines what happened, why, and at whose hands.
Although more than one million children are abused each year in the United States, child abuse often remains a secret to family members, professionals, and politicians who neither see nor understand it. Child abuse pediatricians are the newest breed of pediatricians, specialized in exposing abuse. With detective-like acumen, child abuse pediatricians deduce through careful medical analysis who has abused and who has been abused. Describing the most compelling cases among the thousands that they have evaluated, author Lawrence Ricci reveals the trauma, pain, disability, and sometimes death that abused children experience at the hands of trusted adults.
This gripping look at the dark side of American families is about good parents and poor ones, perpetrators and victims, and collateral victims such as innocent family members. It is also about the professionals who have made it their career to expose child abuse and to treat children who have suffered from it. The conclusion calls for systematic changes that could help to stem the tide of child abuse.
Contents
Foreword by Stephen Ludwig, MD
Acknowledgments
Prologue: Danny: What Happened in the Woodshed?
Introduction: The Secret Lives of Battered Children
Chapter 1 The Making of a Child Abuse Pediatrician and the Birth of a New Specialty
Chapter 2 Mistakes: It Could Be Anyone
Chapter 3 Down the Rabbit Hole with Baron Munchausen
Chapter 4 The Hidden Ravages of Neglect
Chapter 5 Child Abuse Fatalities: The Anatomy of Death
Chapter 6 Failure to Protect: The Taking of Justice
Chapter 7 A Parent's Grief: Pam and Benji
Chapter 8 The Courtroom: Triumph of Style over Substance
Chapter 9 Vicarious Trauma: "How Can You Do This Work?"
Chapter 10 The Future of Our Children: Child Abuse Prevention in America and Internationally
Epilogue: Strider: What Happened in the Woodshed!
Appendix: Child Abuse Doctors Who Shared Their Stories
References
Index
