Front Matter for A Guide for Including Information on Child Abuse andNeglect in Graduate and Professional Education and Training

• Letter to Colleagues
• Contributors to This Guide
• Members of the Child Abuse and Neglect Working Group
• Foreword
• Introduction: Basic Graduate Education About Child Abuse and Neglect
• Design and Development of this Guide

American Psychological Association
Public Interest Directorate
750 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002-4242
(202) 336-5500
TDD: (202) 336-6123

Compiled by:
Jeffrey J. Haugaard, PhD
Department of Human Development and Family Studies
Cornell University

April 1996

Dear Colleague:

This publication is designed to promote education about child abuse and neglect. It provides guidance to faculty members who would like to add information about child abuse and neglect to their current courses or who would like to develop courses focused on child abuse and neglect.

Many of your students will enter professions in which they will have contact with abused and neglected children or with adults who have been abused and neglected as children. Consequently, learning about the causes and consequences of abuse and neglect, about strategies for preventing abuse and neglect, and about therapeutic services for abused and neglected children and adults will be an important component of their education.

Publication of this booklet has been sponsored by the American Psychological Association (APA) Public Interest Directorate, the APA Child Abuse and Neglect Working Group and by the Section on Child Maltreatment (Section I) of the Division of Child, Youth, and Family Services (Division 37). An important mission of both groups is to increase knowledge about child maltreatment within professional groups and in the general public.

Thank you for your interest in including information on child maltreatment in your
courses. Please feel free to share this publication with others. For additional copies of this publication, please contact the Public Interest Directorate, American Psychological Association, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242.

Sincerely,

Diane J. Willis, PhD
Chair
Child Abuse and Neglect Working Group

Jeffery J. Haugaard, PhD
Member, Child Abuse and Neglect Working Group
President, Section on Child Maltreatment

Contributors to This Guide

Judith L. Alpert, PhD
New York University

Joann Grayson, PhD
James Madison University

William Hambacher, PhD
California, PA

Gerald P. Koocher, PhD
Harvard Medical School

Susan Lowery, PhD
Tallmadge, OH

Steve Spaccarelli, PhD
University of Illinois at Chicago

Molly Stebbins, MA
University of Missouri - Columbia

Virginia Weisz, JD
Public Counsel, Los Angeles

David A. Wolfe, PhD
University of Western Ontario

.

Members of the Child Abuse and Neglect Working Group

Diane J. Willis, PhD, Chair
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

Judith L. Alpert, PhD
New York University

Judith V. Becker, PhD
University of Arizona

Barbara L. Bonner, PhD
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

Stuart N. Hart, PhD
Indiana University - Purdue University at Indianapolis

Jeffrey J. Haugaard, PhD
Cornell University

Gary B. Melton, PhD
University of South Carolina

Carol S. (Sue) White, PhD
MetroHealth Medical Center, Cleveland, OH

Foreword

Child Abuse and Neglect in Graduate and Professional Education and Training

In the Introduction, examples of ways that child abuse and neglect information can be included in a variety of graduate psychology courses are described. In Section I, the topics that could be incorporated into a graduate course on child abuse and neglect are described along with a list of references that provide an overview of each topic. In Section II, additional information about topics that should be included in the training of mental-health and other professionals is provided. Finally, in Section III, references are included to comprehensive books on child abuse and neglect and to videotapes that are appropriate for training and for children and families.

INTRODUCTION

Basic Graduate Education About Child Abuse and Neglect

Education about child abuse and neglect for graduate students is important. Research has shown that many children experience abuse and neglect and that it can have an influence on cognitive, emotional, and social development. This influence can last throughout childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Consequently, discussion of the development and maintenance of human behavior in a variety of settings requires some consideration of the influences of child abuse and neglect.

Three general ways that educators can incorporate information about child abuse and neglect into graduate courses are detailed below.

1. Integrate examples of child abuse and neglect issues into current courses:
   • Examples of the difficulty of defining abuse and neglect could be included in several courses in the segment concerning definition, assessment, or diagnosis.

   • Examples of the development of abusive behavior could be included in theoretical discussions of personality development (e.g., how being a victim of abuse may make a child more aggressive).

   • Examples of the prevalence of abuse and neglect could be included in information about public health problems.

   • Examples of the managing of abuse or neglect cases could be used when describing dilemmas in law enforcement.

   • The ethical and legal impediments to conducting rigorous research on abuse and neglect and ways of dealing with these impediments could be discussed in research methods courses.

2. Include in a variety of graduate classes a lecture or two that cover child abuse and neglect issues:
   • Information on the prevalence of child abuse and neglect and of its consequences to child, adolescent, and adult development could be included in a wide range of courses that focus on normal and abnormal development.

   • The extent to which the definition and assessment of abuse and neglect is culturally determined could be included in cross-cultural courses.

   • Information about the influence of involvement with the legal system on abused and neglected children could be included in courses on psychology and the law.

   • An evaluation of efforts to prevent child abuse and neglect could be included in courses on community psychology.

   • Research and theory about the development of abusive behavior within families and the influences of abuse on family functioning could be included in courses on the family.

3. Offer courses that encompass all forms of child abuse and neglect or that focus on one type (e.g., sexual abuse or physical abuse).

Design and Development of this Guide

This publication is designed to facilitate the inclusion of child abuse and neglect material in existing classes and the development of courses that focus on child abuse and neglect. It consists of an outline of the topics that could be included in a comprehensive semester-long course on child abuse and neglect and a series of references to the literature and other educational materials for each topic.

Professors and lecturers who would like to incorporate information about child abuse and neglect into current classes can use this guide to locate literature and other materials on the specific topics that they plan to include. Most of the literature references are to research and theoretical reviews. These reviews include references to the primary
sources of the research and theory and, thus, provide guidance to those seeking in-depth information.

The American Psychological Association (APA) Working Group on Implications for Education and Training of Child Abuse and Neglect Issues encouraged the development of the guide. Following the decision to create the guide, the APA Child Abuse and Neglect Working Group sought, through requests for course syllabi and reading lists in the APA Monitor and directorate and division newsletters, the expertise of psychologists who were teaching about child abuse and neglect. The syllabi and lists were compiled, along with information provided by the members of the Working Group, into this guide. During its development, the guide was reviewed by experts in child abuse and neglect from across the country to ensure its accuracy and representativeness.

Comments about, or suggestions for additions to, this guide should be addressed to the Division 37 Section on Child Maltreatment, c/o Mary Campbell, Public Interest Directorate, American Psychological Association, 750 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242.

Copyright © 1997 by the American Psychological Association. This material may be reproduced without permission, provided acknowledgement is given to the American Psychological Association.