Page 75 - Aug Sept 2016

A Case for Specialized and Specific Intervention and Treatment Strategies with Abused Children
Though one might hope that the bear study is the determination of abuse
aforementioned Article VI of the process and the subsequent legal forensics

Victims of Child Abuse Act guidelines process to ascertain if there are long
would directly address questioning lasting effects of the child moving through

tactics by attorneys, examination of the such a gauntlet. While psychologists may
Article reveals no such measures. It use a collected battery of standardized
should be noted, though, that the Article tests and measures in the determination

does provide for measures that make of a PTSD diagnosis, these may not
an attempt to be sensitive to the child’s be sensitive enough to pick up discrete

emotional state such as videotaped impacts and effects of the abuse on the
or closed circuit video testimony child. The tools may even misidentify the
with an adult supportive attendant impacts and effects as an entirely other

in close proximity to the child. But diagnosis. (Briere, Elliott, 1997) It stands
even these may not be enough to to reason that the same measures may be

mitigate all of the possible cues and inadequate to determine if the protective
triggers to (post traumatic) stress process itself is causing further harm to
reactivity. One wonders why these the child. There are tailored checklists and

same supportive measures (perhaps inventories available, such as the Trauma
with the foster parent or therapist of the Symptom Checklist for Children and the

child attending) are often not provided Child Sexual Behavior Inventory (Biere,
routinely, and as mandatory in cases of Spinazzola, 2005), but these appear to
repeated forensic exam per CSAAS. have inherent limitations. The TSCC is

a self-report for children ages eight to
The legal and therapeutic aspects of sixteen, and the CSBI, while evaluating
child abuse cases are inextricably children between the ages of two to
entwined. Without accurate information twelve, only evaluates sexual behaviors.

and proofs of abuse, the child may be Given the complexity of ‘complex PTSD’,
returned to a perpetrator. The process there may be no adequate tool to ascertain

of gaining that accurate information the full, unique impact of the critical
and proof may negatively impact the incidents on a specific child. Schuder, et
child’s symptoms and progression of al. (2004) speaks about ‘hidden trauma’

treatment. Crouch, Smith, and Ezzell that is an integral part of the child’s
(August 1999) cite the fact that research relational experience and may may include

in developing valid and reliable tools to behavior sets and interaction qualities that
measure relevant variables of outcomes are not noticed as problematic by even a
is lacking. One of those variables that trained observer. Even with the current

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