The fully updated and revised edition of "In the Name of the Child" brings together extensive research and clinical experience to examine the immediate and longer-term effects of high-conflict divorce on children. The authors trace the developmental problems affecting very young children through adolescence, with special attention paid to the impact of family violence and the dynamics of parental alienation. Johnston and Roseby present the clinical interventions that have proven to be most effective in their own clinical work with individual families and groups. Also discussed are principles for custody decision making and service programs in the courts and communities. This new edition also discusses how defensive strategies and symptoms of distress can consolidate into immutable, longstanding psychopathology. This title outlines specific policies and procedures that can preempt high-conflict outcomes in divorcing families. It presents intervention and treatment approaches that are based on the developmental needs of the child. It proposes principles and criteria for decision-making about custody, visitation, and parenting plans based on individual assessment of the developing child within his or her family.

Table of Contents

PART 1. THE PROBLEM AND THE CHALLENGE; 1. The Family Crucible of High-Conflict and Violent Divorce; 2. The Prism and Prison of the Child; PART II. THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN HIGH-CONFLICT FAMILIES; 3. Infants and Toddlers: Problems in Separation-Individuation; 4. Preschoolers: Separation, Gender, and Sexualized Anxiety; 5. School-Age Children: the Struggle to Feel Lovable, Good, and Competent.