Sexual Abuse in Residential Treatment

Sexual Abuse in Residential Treatment provides comprehensive information on behavioral manifestations of sexual abuse in residential settings and the safety and developmental needs, staff training, and management strategies necessary to protect both residents and staff. Chapters containing vivid case studies that describe problematic episodes, discussions of research projects, and proposals for agency sexuality policies, safe facility management, and staff training contribute to a balanced presentation of the framework in which sexual manifestations are embedded.Professionals in residential treatment will learn how to identify the most common sexual, sexualized, and sexually abusive behaviors and from whence they derive. Sexual Abuse in Residential Treatment provides specific suggestions for policy and program design, recommends operational framework for safe management of treatment facilities, and describes practical staff supervision and training modules. With an emphasis on clinical practice, descriptions of common problems and proposed solutions together with a broad philosophical basis to guide policy setting will benefit professionals in agencies interested in developing customized organizational and treatment plans. Practitioners, policymakers, and decision makers in residential programs, inpatient psychiatric units, community-based group homes, court-related youth shelters, and correctional facilities for the rehabilitation of behaviorally disturbed youth presenting sexual problems will find a wealth of information on a wide range of topics such as: - normal, pathological, and abusive sexual behavior in residential treatment - staff responses to sexual behavior, training, and supervision needs - frequency and quality of sexual behaviors of latency-aged children - safe management to prevent toxic manifestations of sexuality - management of sex abuse allegations in the residential program - recommendations for agency sexuality policies - selection criteria and program features for specialized offender treatment - the heterogeneity of phenomena classified as "sex abuse" - values conflicts involved in the design of programs and policiesSexual Abuse in Residential Treatment provides descriptive commentary concerning sexual behavior of youth in residential treatment from various points of view including development, values, therapeutic milieu, safety, training, and clinical experience. Such a diverse approach makes this a valuable guide for practitioners, as well as program directors, unit supervisors, case managers, staff trainers, faculty in child care studies, and child protective services staff.

Wander de C. Braga, MD, is Director of Psychiatric and Medical Services at Parsons Child and Family Center in Albany, New York. He also serves as Assistant Director of Training in the Child Psychiatry Division of the Albany Medical College Department of Psychiatry. In the past twenty years he has focused his clinical activities on the long-term treatment of severely disturbed residentially placed children and adolescents. His interest for the area of child sexual abuse relates to the over-representation of this special population in residential treatment centers. Dr. Braga teaches various disciplines including medicine, psychology, psychiatry, social work, and child care., Raymond Schimmer, MAT, is Assistant Executive Director for Residence and Education at Parsons Child and Family Center in Albany, New York. In this position, he is responsible for overseeing all internal investigations of abuse allegations. Over the past several years, Mr. Schimmer has developed policies and procedures to guide and train educational, clinical, and child care staff. He previously worked at Tufts-New England Medical Center's psychiatric day hospital for children in Boston and at the Walker School in Needham, Massachusetts.

Contents Preface - Foreword - Sexual Behaviors of Latency Age Children in Residential Treatment - Dangerous Development: Considerations Concerning the Governance of Sexual Behavior in Residential Treatment Centers - Safety Considerations in Developing an Adolescent Offender Program in Residential Treatment - Ensuring That All Children and Adolescents in Residential Treatment Live in a Protected, Safe Environment - Staff Training Needs Around Sex Abuse in Residential Treatment - Experiences With Alleged Sexual Abuse in Residential Program: I. Case Vignettes - Experience With Alleged Sexual Abuse in Residential Program: II. Problems in the Management of Allegations - Reference Notes Included