Nursery Crimes: Sexual Abuse in Day Care by Finkelhor

Product Details

Synopsis

Since the McMartin Preschool case in Manhattan Beach, California, many communities around the country have also been rocked by cases of sexual abuse of very young children in day care. While child welfare workers, prosecutors, and counselors have deliberated about how to respond to such cases, parents, day care staff, and state regulators have wondered whether day care was still a safe place for children. Now a new book addresses this disturbing problem, based on the first nationwide study of 270 cases of sexual abuse in day care. How could children be abused without their parents suspecting? How could trusted day care employees conceal abuse? Can offenders be screened from the ranks of day care employees? Can abusers be brought to justice without further trauma to the children? The authors, well known researchers in the field of child abuse, explore these questions and many others using a wealth of case material and careful analyses. Chapters cover incidence and dynamics, the impact on victims, disclosure and detection, the perpetrators, and the impact on local communities. Over 16 recommendations are forwarded for the prevention, detection, and investigation of these cases. Practitioners, researchers, policymakers, and students will benefit from the information provided in this long-awaited study. "I urge everyone who is concerned about the well being of children, both in day care and out, to obtain a copy of this [book], read it, and to use it. Its recommendations for parents, child care providers, policy makers, and government are both well-based on the researchers' findings and well-reasoned as practical, feasible responses." --John Chafee, United States Senator "Students andprofessionals researching the topic of sexual abuse of preschool-age children will welcome this well-documented study, which discusses the types of people who perpetrate such crimes and the characteristics of the victims (including risk factors). Case studies--with synopses of the abuse incidents--are presented in the search for answers to why these crimes happen, how they can be prevented, and what impact they have on the victims. Final chapters present the authors' recommendations as to how child abuse can be prevented. An excellent piece of research and analysis for larger public libraries." --Booklist "Written by our nation's premier workers in the field of sexual abuse, Nursery Crimes: Sexual Abuse in Day Care is an enlightening and thought-provoking book. . . a scholarly endeavor that culminates with pragmatic and concrete policy recommendations. This book is must reading for all researchers and policy makers interested in this important and timely topic." --Edward Zigler, Yale University "This is an incredibly important source book on the subject." --Journal of the Institute of Health Education "This volume examines the incidence of the problem, describes the perpetrators of this abuse, evaluates screening strategies for limiting their access to children, and describes the victims, abuse dynamics, and whether the characteristics of the facilities minimize the risk of child sexual abuse. The book also discusses the detection and disclosure process and the impact on children. . . . This book is an excellent resource for all professionals working in the child sexual abuse area, ranging from therapists to investigators to judicial personnel." --Contemporary Psychology "This research project marks an important step toward understanding abuse in day care, and the book extends its usefulness to researchers, educators, administrators, and policymakers, as well as parents. . . . In the midst of widespread fear and confusion about sexual abuse in day care, Nursery Crimes provides practical strategies for confronting this problem." --Criminal Justice Review

Biography

Linda M. Williams received her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1979, where she studied at the Center for Research in Criminology and Criminal Law. Dr Williams was appointed in 2005 as Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology, University of Massachusetts Lowell. She was Director of Research at the Stone Center, Wellesley Centers for Women from 1996-2005 and has directed longitudinal research on sexual exploitation of children and youth, the consequences of child abuse, violence against women, family violence, sex offenders and violence prevention for 33 years.

Professor Williams is author of 4 books and numerous scholarly publications on family violence including Partner Violence (1998), Trauma and Memory (1998), Nursery Crimes: Sexual Abuse in Day Care (1988), and The Aftermath of Rape (1979). She served on the National Research Councils' Panel on Violence Against Women and as co-director of the National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center. Dr. Williams has been principal investigator on 13 U.S. federally funded research projects. Current research includes research on child abuse recidivism, human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children. She is principal investigator of a study of prostituted teens and at risk runaways funded by the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Dr Williams is currently co-editing a special issue of the journal Child Maltreatment on "Child maltreatment and adolescent violence: Understanding complex connections."