"Johnston, Roseby, and Kuehnle take you behind the child's eyes, into their heads...[they] flesh out the familial context, and bring it all back into the larger social world....When you are done reading, you know who these families are, what the children need, and -- as a clinician -- how you can help them."Marsha Kline Pruett, PhD, MSLMaconda Brown O'Connor ProfessorSmith College School for Social Work"This book addresses problems that arise for children of conflicted and violent divorce....It provides a good base for beginning to treat children in this situation as well as good information for understanding the legal and community services available."Doody'sThe fully updated and revised edition of In the Name of the Child examines both the immediate and long-term effects of high-conflict divorce on children. By combining three decades of research with clinical experience, the authors trace the developmental problems affecting very young children through adolescence and adulthood, paying special attention to the impact of family violence and the dynamics of parental alienation.The authors present clinical interventions that have proven to be most effective in their own clinical work with families. With a new emphasis on the need for prevention and early intervention, this edition examines how defensive strategies and symptoms of distress in children can consolidate into immutable, long-standing psychopathology in their adult lives. This book contains the policies and procedures that can preempt these high-conflict outcomes in divorcing families.Key Features:Contains a new chapter examining the effects of violent divorce on a sample of young adults, tracking their developmental changes from adolescence through adulthoodDiscusses the developmental threats to both boys and girls of different ages and stages, along with therapeutic interventions and guidelines for parenting plansProposes principles and criteria for decision-making about custody, visitation, and parenting plans based on individual assessment of the developing child within his or her familyMental health professionals, educators, family lawyers, judges, and court administrators will find this book to be an essential read, with all the knowledge and insight needed to understand the short- and long-term effects of violent divorce on children.

PrefaceAcknowledgmentsPART 1. THE PROBLEM AND THE CHALLENGE1. The Family Crucible of High-Conflict and Violent Divorce2. The Prism and Prison of the ChildPART II. THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN HIGH-CONFLICT FAMILIES3. Infants and Toddlers: Problems in Separation-Individuation4. Preschoolers: Separation, Gender, and Sexualized Anxiety5. School-Age Children: the Struggle to Feel LovableGood, and Competent6. Adolescents: Toward Resolution or Stalemate7. Young Adults: Struggling with the LegacyPART III. INTERVENTIONS ON BEHALF OF CHILDREN IN HIGH-CONFLICT AND VIOLENT DIVORCE8. Building Multidisciplinary Partnerships between the Family Court and Community9. Co-Parenting Counseling and Parenting Coordination10. Treatment of Children in Conflicted and Violent FamiliesPART IV. SPECIAL ISSUES IN DIFFICULT CUSTODY-DISPUTING FAMILIES11. Domestic Violence: Differential Assessment and Parenting Plans12. Parental Abduction: Risk Factors and Preventive Interventions13. Parental Alignments and Alienation: Differential Assessment and Therapeutic Intervention14. Child Sexual Abuse Allegations in Custody DisputesAppendixReferencesIndex