Clinical social work and the family court: A new role in child sexual abuse cases

Clinical social workers encounter difficult treatment issues when working with children where there is a suspicion of child sexual abuse, or where there has been an indicated child protective services case but no family court action. This article outlines a new role for the clinical social worker to play in relationship to the family court system. The author argues that the involvement of the clinician in an assessment process developed to aid the court can aid in the protection of children and set the stage for effective intervention and treatment.Director, Center for Training and Research in Child Abuse and Family Violence.     

Aetiology of anorexia nervosa in Hong Kong: a social work qualitative inquiry

This paper reports the results of a qualitative inquiry into the aetiology of anorexia nervosa in Hong Kong. These results are part of our main research project about family treatment and families with a daughter suffering from anorexia nervosa. This present qualitative study adopts a multiple case study approach (n = 8) and employs a multiple‐source data collection method, involving pre‐ and post‐family treatment interviews, clinical observations of the participants during the treatment sessions and home visits, as well as detailed field notes. The findings indicate that there are biological, psychological, socio‐cultural and familial interpretations of the aetiology of anorexia nervosa. This study challenges the dominant discourse on anorexia nervosa in Hong Kong, which states that the root of the disease lies in a desire for slenderness and beauty, and suggests instead that the aetiology of anorexia nervosa can be discovered only if approached from the systems level. Implications for social work practice are highlighted.     

Thinking empathically: The video laboratory as an integrative resource

The use of video taped, simulated interviews is an effective means of addressing the dynamics of affect in clinical practice. This mode of training, grounded in ego and self psychological concepts, is instrumental in identifying, understanding and integrating feelings—the goal of which is to help trainees think empathically. The theoretical framework and structure of the laboratory mode are presented; examples of the teaching/learning process are also discussed.     

From child rescue to family protection: The evolution of the child protective movement in the United States

The child protective movement, an offshoot of animal protective work, initially adopted a punitive, law enforcement emphasis. Under the leadership of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, anti-cruelty work took on a broader focus based on prevention rather than punishment. The new approach stressed the need to maintain and enrich family life through broad social supports, relying on family casework and social reform. “Normal family life,” a vaguely denned but firmly middle-class notion, was established as the ideal to which social agencies should subscribe in their drive to protect children and insure an orderly society. Child protection, formerly isolated from the child welfare movement, gradually became a part of it.     

On the misinterpretation of certain obsolete multivariate models

The prudent reader who does not understand something in a research report should inquire of the researcher concerning the precise nature of the problem. Had Professor Kuz contacted me, Professor Latif (then working half-way across town from him), or some third party knowledgable in the field in this regard, he would have been spared the embarrassment of committing more mistakes than I can hope to identify in this short space. I would have been spared the time and trouble to locate and correct them. The Review would have been spared the unhappy task of keeping some worthy contribution unpublished while choosing to publish Professor Kuz' comments.