Handbook of social work in child and adolescent sexual abuse /

This reviewer has worked in the area of child sexual abuse for 30 years, and has not come across such a succinct, single-source overview of this complicated issue from theory through treatment. The editors do a good job of providing information from an unusually wide range of perspectives. One can, for example, get a historic view of child maltreatment as far back as early civilization and in the same text read about current empirical assessment methods and treatment dynamics. In addition, there are chapters on the needs of nonoffending family members as well as on prevention endeavors and policy implications. Anyone being introduced to the issue of child sexual abuse should consider reading this excellent, comprehensive overview of virtually every aspect of the issue. This wonderfully concise introduction to such a broad and complex issue is for students just learning about child abuse as well as professionals in the field. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. D. A. Mathews Salisbury University