Book Review: Psychological Assessment of Sexually Abused Children and Their Families

• Author: Jesse L. Cale
• Published date: 01 September 2006
• Date: 01 September 2006
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0734016806292899
• Subject Matter: Articles

qualitative ethnographic, focus group, and interview data as sources of information to shed

light on the validity of specified aspects of the theory.

As might be expected from the emphasis on the combined effects of individual activities

and the context, Wilcox, Land, and Hunt feel that policy must attend to how an interven-

tion at one level (e.g., the individual) will influence the other level (e.g., the environment).

Also, policies can perhaps be most effective when they make changes at both the individ-

ual and the contextual levels to interrupt illegal activity.

Despite the synthesis of much prior research and related theory, there are some disap-

pointments in the book. Individuals who think that human agency and the human character

are relevant to social science will be troubled to discover that the authors purposely ignore

individual differences and motivations that can lead to illegal behavior. In fact, they claim

that individual differences are causally irrelevant. Also, because the elaborated model is

untested, readers may find that the book raises questions but does not provide answers. It

may therefore be most useful for students and scholars who are looking for ideas for a

research project relevant to opportunity theory or who are sympathetic to the routine activ-

ities perspective to start with and want to see how far it can be taken given the existing lit-

erature. It also may be useful to people who want to think through policy interventions to

reduce crime and delinquency.

Kaan Boke

Michigan State University, East Lansing

Friedrich, W. N. (2002). Psychological Assessment of Sexually Abused Children and Their

Families. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

DOI: 10.1177/0734016806292899

Considerable research has established that sexual abuse contributes to a wide range of

negative behavioral psychopathology in children, including internalizing, externalizing,

and mixed syndromes. It is also evident that child abuse, and specifically sexual abuse, typ-

ically occurs in a familial context characterized by a multitude of adversities. The efficacy

of individual-level treatment, therefore, is often mitigated by factors beyond the individual

characteristics of the child. In Psychological Assessment of Sexually Abused Children and

Their Families, William N. Friedrich presents a comprehensive assessment process of not

only the sexually abused child but also the ecological factors that are necessary to address

to enhance the efficacy of treatment. This book is extremely useful in assisting and enhanc-

ing the ability of clinicians to apply innovative assessment strategies to treat sexually

abused children and their families. This utility is assisted greatly through Friedrich’s excel-

lent use of case studies to demonstrate his comprehensive assessment process.

Friedrich begins by outlining a theoretical framework for assessment based on the key

concepts of attachment, dysregulation, and self-perception. This approach provides a solid

conceptual framework for the reader as Friedrich then proceeds to elaborate on the assess-

ment process in the first half of the book. He also addresses the fundamental treatment issue

concerning the variability in psychopathology generally exhibited by sexually abused

262 Criminal Justice Review