After nearly two years of development and peer review, this month a committee of Div. 37 (Child, Youth and Family Services) is releasing a free new child maltreatment curriculum guide for psychology professors. The guide provides tips for incorporating information about child abuse and neglect into either graduate or undergraduate courses.

Committee Chair Cindy Miller-Perrin, PhD, a Pepperdine University psychology professor and member of the division’s Section on Child Maltreatment, says the guide will help professors identify and access the best literature available on the topic.

“We highlight the specific areas that are important—and necessary—to cover when teaching,” she says.

The guide will include resources on topics including:

• Definitions of child maltreatment.

• Statistics about incidence and prevalence.

• Causes of child abuse and neglect.

• Consequences associated with child maltreatment.

• Current courses of treatment.

• Avenues for prevention.

• Legal issues faced by mental health professionals.

The guide also explores controversial issues, like corporal punishment, false allegations of abuse and whether exposure to domestic violence should be considered maltreatment. The guide will replace the undergraduate and graduate curriculum guides on child maltreatment previously produced by the division.

—Z. Stambor

To obtain a copy of the guide, visit the Div. 37 Section on Child Maltreatment Web site at www.apa.org/divisions/div37/child_maltreatment/child.html or e-mail Cindy Perrin.