Child Abuse Quick Reference 3E

Child abuse and neglect are complex issues and may be difficult to distinguish from typical childhood injuries. In the third edition of Child Abuse Quick Reference, leading researchers and clinicians provide up-to-date, comprehensive information for easy identification and reporting of child abuse and neglect. It is particularly exciting to see a section on prevention included in a text of this type, because many families come into contact with various service sectors before child abuse and neglect occur, and professionals equipped to assess factors that put families at risk may have the opportunity to prevent abuse and neglect. Health care, social service, and law enforcement professionals will find this text an important resource in preventing, identifying, and responding to child abuse and neglect.

The new third edition of Child Abuse Quick Reference: For Health Care, Social Service, and Law Enforcement Professionals is an easy-to-use guide to the assessment and care of the child abuse victim. The book covers a comprehensive list of topics that must be considered when confronted with child abuse cases. It focuses on methods for assessment, evaluation, treatment, and prevention that can be utilized across professions. Key images in radiology provide a quick guide to injuries in abused children, stressing differences across age groups. An in-depth discussion of the sexual abuse interview for children is a major strength, from which any clinician can glean important techniques for trauma-informed care in the process of interviewing a child. This is a handy guide for all child care professionals.

Child Abuse Quick Reference, Third Edition is an invaluable resource that offers detailed guidance for the assessment and care of suspected or confirmed victims of child abuse and includes useful information for providing expert witness testimony in court. I applaud the authors for devising a text intended to assist a variety of multidisciplinary team members in the assessment and interpretation of medical findings in cases of suspected abuse. This text will allow health care providers, social workers, law enforcement personnel, and their colleagues in related fields to answer questions that may arise in the course of their work without having to search through several sources.

Child Abuse Quick Reference: For Health Care, Social Service, and Law Enforcement Professionals, Third Edition provides readers a comprehensive overview of child maltreatment in a quick reference format. The extensive definitions of terms provided throughout the book are very useful for quick review. While every chapter is very informative, the chapters “Neglect, Abandonment, and Failure to Thrive,” “The Chemically Abused Child (Poisoning),” and “Prevention” were particularly instructive. Written by leading experts in the field, this field guide is highly recommended for professionals from a broad array of disciplines who are committed to identification, treatment, and prevention of various forms of child maltreatment.