Special Intervention Programs for Child Witnesses to Violence (From Violence in the Home - Interdisciplinary Perspectives, P 193-216, 1986, Mary Lystad, ed. - See NCJ-100818)

• NCJ Number: 100827
• Author(s): R S Pynoos; S Eth
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 24 pages
• Sale Source: Brunner/Mazel, Inc.
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Professionals who work with children who have witnessed extreme acts of violence should understand the posttraumatic stress disorder and how it operates in children and should use this understanding when working directly with children or their relatives, in interventions at school, and in mental health consultation with law enforcement agencies.

Abstract

Almost 80 percent of 100 uninjured child witnesses of a parent's murder, the mother's rape, or a parent's suicide had signs of posttraumatic stress. A therapeutic plan for intervention with such children must recognize the posttraumatic stress disorder, address the child's early efforts to master the anxiety or avoid its recurrence, examine factors that may affect the resolution of the trauma, and anticipate the impact on the child of the efforts to master the trauma. Intervention should occur as early as possible. Open discussion of the trauma will offer immediate relief, not distress, to the child. Special interview techniques are needed to allow the child fully to describe the subjective experience and make efforts to offset the helpless feelings resulting from the trauma. Work with the family, liaison with the school, and liaison with the judicial system also need careful attention. Further research should examine the consequences of trauma, coping processes, and effectiveness of treatments. 55 references.