ISSUES IN FAMILY THERAPY: CHILDHOOD ABUSE

While most parents attempt to do the best they can for their children, some either cannot or will not meet a child's most basic needs; the result is child maltreatment of which, there are several forms, e.g. physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, etc. According to Papalia and Olds (1992), the term "child abuse" is used to refer only to those cases of maltreatment involving physical injury. The authors state that, in America, approximately two million children per year suffer from some form of childhood maltreatment with at least half of these experiencing physical abuse either by itself or in addition to other forms of maltreatment.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss some of the major issues that arise in family therapy treating childhood abuse. Among the issues discussed are confidentiality, and issues of power and control.

There are several issues that family therapists must deal with in situations of child abuse. For example, Ackerman, Colapinto, Scharf and Weinshel (1991) report that in most cases family therapy for child abuse is court-ordered which means that for many of the parents, especially the abusing parent, treatment is involuntary.

In such cases, the authors report that family therapists must work with untrusting families who go through the motions of treatment without any real commitment to it. Colapinto, Scharf and Weinshel (1991) state that the key to dealing with such famil

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(1995) states that there are three commonly recognized adverse effects of breach of confidentiality during treatment: deterrence from seeking counseling, lack of full disclosure during counseling, and the destruction of the trust relationship. To assist with these problems, Butz (1985) recommends that the confidentiality issue and third-party disclosures be discussed with the client prior to the onset of counseling in the context of the health care insurance carrier. Still, it is noted that even with such a discussion, the client may also want to know what other kinds of information might be disclosed and to whom. Butz (1985) suggests that when child abuse must be reported, a cooperative and concerted effort between clinicians and local child protection caseworkers will reduce the trauma of an official investigation while also protecting the welfare of the endangered child. The goal here is to preserve the helping relationship while the private clinician and agency caseworker unite to conduct the formal investigation and develop an appropriate and comprehensive treatment program. Sieber (1994) has discussed the various issues associated with mandatory reporting requirements in situations of child abuse and neglect. The

Category: Psychology - I