Page 70 - Aug Sept 2016

A Case for Specialized and Specific Intervention and Treatment Strategies with Abused Children
the question: should the child be both sexually and physically abused met
returned to the custody of, say, a parent the criteria for PTSD. In addition, the

offender, or a non-offending parent study found that all of the children, while
who failed to protect the child and the not fully PTSD, had clinically significant

child is highly reactive to as a reminder symptoms. The children in the study that
of the abuse? Since the persistence had only partial symptoms may very
of PTSD symptoms are likely closely well continue development on to full

related to the intensity, volume of PTSD status. Thus, children diagnosed
critical incidents, and duration of abuse, with PTSD as a result of abuse become a

it would appear that there is no current special concern outside of the population
predictive tool to ascertain how long of children who have experienced abuse,
treatment will take. This situation but have not been diagnosed with PTSD.

serves to complicate custody issues, not Though common sense informs that
to mention issues of the child having special care needs to be given to children

visitation contact with a person who who have experienced traumatic events,
could be a perpetrator. Further, if the the issues of their post-trauma care can
child’s symptoms worsen following become quite complex. Lieberman and

contact with their biological parent(s), Van Horn state that:
is it ethical to desensitize a child to

contact with their perpetrator in order Responses to early trauma need to be
for the child to return the perpetrator’s understood as the initial manifestation of
care? If there is no “return home” goal, long-term risks to the child’s unfolding

and the child will be adopted, what development. (p. 112)
is the therapeutic point of continuing Briere and Spinazzola (2005) assert that

exposure? in the case of a lengthy history of family
interpersonal trauma, a complexity of
There is of course, no current, traumatic stress develops that negatively
valid, and reliable tool to predict if effects the child’s attachment with the

an individual will develop PTSD parent. Such complexity of this population
following a trauma. (Walters, Bisson, of child victims gives rise to the need
Shepherd, 2006) Perry and Azad for specialized attention, study, and

(1999), in a study on the incidence of formulations of forensic and treatment
PTSD, found that 34% of a sample approaches. In a study concerning the

of children who had been identified “pathways” to PTSD in abused children,
as being sexually abused, and 58% of Kaplow, Dodge, Jackson, and Saxe (2005)
children identified and being found that behavioral signs noted

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