Children and the Dark Side of Human Experience

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvi

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2. How Can We Think About Children Confronting the Dark Side of Human Experience?

   Pages 9-15

3. The Right to Feel Safe: Trauma and Recovery

   Pages 17-27

4. The Right to a Healthy Social Environment: Protecting Children from Social Toxicity

   Pages 29-41

5. The Right to Protection: Child Abuse is the Root of Much Evil

   Pages 43-54

6. The Right to Be Free from Hate: Protecting Voices of Compassion in Times of War and Political Violence

   Pages 55-68

7. The Right to Be Economically “Regular”: What It Means to Be Desperately Poor

   Pages 69-82

8. The Right to Equality: No Girl Left Behind

   Pages 83-91

9. Home and Homeland: Displaced Children and Youth

   Pages 93-106

10. The Right to Priority in Times of War: Would You Torture One Child to Bring World Peace?

    Pages 107-121

11. The Right to Heal: When Traumatized Kids Need Help to Recover

    Pages 123-132

12. Back Matter

    Pages 133-157

    PDF

And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ” —Mark, 10:13–14 I began writing this book during a trip to Japan in January 2002. While in the country I started reading anthropologist Ruth Benedict’s classic analysis of Japanese society and culture, The Sword and the Chrysanthemum. Written at the close of World War II to help the American government plan for defeating the Japanese war machine and dealing with a defeated nation, Benedict wrote several things that struck home as I began my own work a half century later. For one thing, as she reviewed indigenous Japanese social analyses she cautioned, “They were amazingly frank. Of course they did not present the whole picture. No people does. A Japanese who writes about Japan passes over really crucial things which are as familiar to him and as invisible as the air he breathes. So do Americans when they write about America” (p. 7). That is part of the challenge I faced, to see what is invisible in front of our eyes. The German poet Goethe spoke of this when he wrote: “What is most difficult of all? That which you think is easiest, To see what is before your eyes.

• Child Abuse
• Child Trauma
• Corner
• Displaced Children
• Nation
• Protecting Children
• Social Environment
• Trauma Recovery
• development
• environment
• psychology
• trauma

From the reviews:

"This short book about children in difficult circumstances is sensitively expressed, thought provoking, and highly readable. … The book reads more like a memoir than a scientific report. … There are many jewels in this book. … an essential book for everyone interested in promoting the well-being of children. … Those who are beginning to work in this field will be well briefed on the importance of sensitivity and caring but also of making interventions based on theory, research, and cultural knowledge." (Judith L. Gibbons, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 53 (41), 2008)

• Loyola University, Chicago, USA

  James Garbarino

Dr. James Garbarino is Director of the Center for the Human Rights of Children and holds the Maude C. Clarke Chair in Humanistic Psychology at Loyola University Chicago. Previously, he was Elizabeth Lee Vincent Professor of Human Development at Cornell University, and from 1985-1994 he was President of the Erikson Institute for Advanced Study in Child Development. He earned his B.A. from St. Lawrence University in 1968, and his Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies from Cornell University in 1973. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association. Dr. Garbarino has served as consultant or adviser to a wide range of organizations, including the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse, the National Institute for Mental Health, the American Medical Association, the National Black Child Development Institute, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect, and the FBI. In 1991, he undertook missions for UNICEF to assess the impact of the Gulf War on children in Kuwait and Iraq and has served as a consultant for programs serving Vietnamese, Bosnian, and Croatian children.

Books he has authored or edited include: See Jane Hit: Why Girls Are Growing More Violent and What We Can Do About It (2006), And Words Can Hurt Forever: How to Protect Adolescents from Bullying, Harassment, and Emotional Violence (2002); Parents Under Siege: Why You Are the Solution, Not the Problem, in Your Child's Life (2001); Lost Boys: Why Our Sons Turn Violent and How We Can Save Them (1999); Raising Children in a Socially Toxic Environment (1995); Let’s Talk About Living in a World with Violence (1993); Towards a Sustainable Society: An Economic, Social and Environmental Agenda for Our Children (1992); Children in Danger: Coping With The Consequences of Community Violence (1992); Children and Families in the Social Environment, Second edition (1992); Saving Children: A Guide to Injury Prevention (1991); What Children Can Tell Us (1989); No Place To Be A Child: Growing Up In A War Zone (1991); Special Children/Special Risks: The Maltreatment of Children with Disabilities (1987); The Psychologically Battered Child (1986); Troubled Youth, Troubled Families (1986); Adolescent Development: An Ecological Perspective (1985); Social Support Networks (1983); Successful Schools and Competent Students (1981); Understanding Abusive Families (1980; Second Edition, 1997); and Protecting Children From Abuse and Neglect (1980).

Dr. Garbarino serves as a consultant to television, magazine, and newspaper reports on children and families, and, in 1981, he received the Silver Award at the International Film and Television Festival of New York for co-authoring "Don’t Get Stuck There: A Film on Adolescent Abuse." In 1985, he collaborated with John Merrow to produce "Assault on the Psyche," a videotaped program dealing with psychological abuse. He also serves as a scientific expert witness in criminal and civil cases involving issues of violence and children.

The National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect honored Dr. Garbarino in 1985 with its first C. Henry Kempe Award, in recognition of his efforts on behalf of abused and neglected children. In 1975, Dr. Garbarino was named a Spencer Fellow by the National Academy of Education and, in 1981, named a National Fellow by the Kellogg Foundation. In 1979, and again in 1981, he received the Mitchell Prize from the Woodlands Conference on Sustainable Societies. In 1987, he was elected President of the American Psychological Association's Division on Child, Youth and Family Services. In 1988, he received the American Humane Association’s Vincent De Francis Award for nationally significant contributions to child protection. In 1989, he received the American Psychological Association's Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Public Service, and in 1992, the Society for Psychological Study of Social Issues prize for research on child abuse. In 1993, he received the Brandt F. Steele Award from the Kempe National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, and in 1994 the American Psychological Association’s Division on Child, Youth and Family Services’ Nicholas Hobbs Award. Also in 1994, he received the Dale Richmond Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Behavioral and Developmental Pediatrics. In 1995, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by St. Lawrence University. In 1999, he received the Humanitarian Award from the University of Missouri’s International Center for Psychosocial Trauma. In 2000, he received the President’s Celebrating Success Award from the National Association of School Psychologists, and, in 2003, the Outstanding Service to Children Award of the Chicago Association for the Education of Young Children.

Policies and ethics