CJ—623, Fall 2005 REVISED 9-20-05 page 1
Criminal Justice 623--- CHILD MALTREATMENT
Tuesdays 7:00 pm – 9:20 pm—Fall 2005
Mahoney 111
Dr. Linda M. Williams Professor, Department of Criminal Justice
University of Massachusetts Lowell
870 Broadway Street
Lowell, MA 01854
e-mail:
phone: 978-934-4118
office: Mahoney 213 (South Campus)
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This is a graduate seminar designed to analyze and critically examine the maltreatment of children in society. Empirical research and theoretical perspectives on the maltreatment of children and youth will be studied. The course covers theories of and risk factors associated with child maltreatment; the physical, social and psychological consequences of maltreatment; and the response by the criminal justice system and other agencies and organizations. Topics include a historical and cultural context for understanding definition of and response to child maltreatment, prevalence of child abuse and neglect in the U.S., consequences of maltreatment, and system responses. We will focus on child physical and sexual abuse, neglect, psychological maltreatment, child abuse in the context of partner violence, sex trafficking and prostitution of youth, and child fatalities. We examine the legal response in the U.S., role of professionals in responding to child maltreatment, children and professionals in court, and interventions for the prevention and treatment of child maltreatment. While the course will primarily focus on child maltreatment in the U.S., understanding the abuse of child in social context and literature from research conducted internationally will foster a global perspective.
Requirements: The success of a seminar depends on each student's active participation, and on completion of the readings. Your grade for this class will reflect these expectations. Students should obtain a working knowledge of the subject matter through class participation, assimilating the lecture materials, class presentations and assigned readings (supplemented by reading for the research paper).
EVALUATION:
Attendance & Class Participation10%
Brief/ Weekly Assignments 15%
Class Presentation20%
Book Review10%
Abstract Assignment15%
Final Paper 30%
Attendance & Class participation. (10%).
Class participation means speaking in class, as well as, listening to fellow students and helping others to understand the material. Regular class participation is an important element for success in this course. Students should come to each class prepared to respond orally to questions posed about the readings. This class meets only once a week, and is a seminar, which means that student participation is what makes the class successful. Therefore, every student needs to attend every class. If you are too ill to attend, you may miss one class without questions – however, please let me know you are out sick, before the class meets. If you need to miss more than one class please let me know before the class meets (except in emergencies).
Brief Assignments (15%).
There will be a variety of additional weekly assignments during the semester. Summaries of articles and brief written reactions to readings or guest presentations will also be assigned.
Class presentation. (20%)
At the beginning of the semester, each student will sign up for a presentation topic related to one of the weekly topics. Each student will then take responsibility for leading 45 minutes of a class session on this topic. The syllabus readings serve as a starting point; the inclusion of materials outside the syllabus is strongly encouraged. Your presentation can be in the form of a lecture or leading a group discussion. You may also use video clips, web resources, role plays or other activities as aides to the discussion. Your grade for the class presentation will reflect how well you are able to help fellow students learn the material. The better prepared you are, the better the class session is likely to be.
Abstract Assignment(15%).
Due date Tuesday October 11th (8 pages double spaced).
For this assignment, students must choose three (3) articles that document research related to the topic they have chosen for their research paper and then, for each article, write an abstract summarizing it. The abstracts will then be followed by a commentary, as described below. Articles that are simply literature reviews of a topic or in which the authors are presenting their own beliefs or opinion about the effectiveness of certain policies are not acceptable for this assignment. Articles must be in a peer-reviewed journal. Assistance in distinguishing academic journals from other periodicals is available from . A partial list of CJ-related peer-reviewed journals is attached, but if a journal you want to use is not on the list, this does not automatically mean that the journal is not peer-reviewed.
For each abstract, begin with a citation of the article at the top of the page, written in APA form (see attached information about citations).
After giving the citation, you should then summarize the article in 2-3 paragraphs, including answers to the following questions:
1. What question were the researchers attempting to answer?
2. What method did they utilize to achieve their objective (e.g. did they interview people? if so, who? did they use official records? if so, which ones? what were they measuring?)?
3. What were their findings?
4. What are the implications of the study?
Do this for each of the three articles. After writing the summaries, write your own comments about the research, comparing and contrasting the methods, findings and conclusions of the researchers. Questions you might want to think about answering for this part of the assignment include: did the researchers ignore something important? did this information confirm or contradict what you knew about this subject? what other research should be done on this subject? what differences and similarities did you find among the articles? Your commentary should also include a discussion of the implications the research has for policy.
Be prepared to discuss these articles and commentaries in class on 10/11.
Research paper. (30 %) Due date December 13th
Each student will write a research paper on some aspect of child maltreatment causes, consequences or system response. Some suggested topics are attached. The paper will be based on the best available empirical evidence and include a review of the literature, a critical analysis of theoretical issues, and (based on available research evidence) the implications for criminal justice policy or other intervention. Include a discussion of future research needed. The research paper must be 15-20 pages long (1 “ margins all around, double-spaced, in Times New Roman, Arial or Century Gothic).
There are several steps for completing this assignment;
On Tuesday 9/20 submit a 1-2 page summary of your paper topic for approval—please e-mail this (as well a providing a hard copy in class.) E-mail submissions will permit fast turn around/ approval.
On Tuesday 9/27 turn in a list of 5 references (books or journal articles) to be used in researching your paper (3 will be the peer reviewed articles you will use in the “abstract” assignment.) The references should be typed in accordance with the APA or ASA rules for references appearing in a bibliography
By Tuesday 10/4 send an e-mail with the links to3 web sites that you plan to use in researching the paper.
On Tuesday 10/11 abstract assignment due (see above)
On Tuesday 10/25 submit a detailed outline of the planned research paper. At a minimum, the outline should cover 1.) Introduction and overview of the problem and its significance 2.) Causes of the problem (review empirical evidence) 3.) Prevention Strategies (e.g., can this child maltreatment be prevented?) 4.) System response to the problem, and 5.) Policy implications, next steps and future research needed.
Submit final paper. DUE: Tuesday 12/13The paper is due the no later than the last class of the semester (earlier submission is encouraged). Reminder: be sure to use your own words when writing and when you take an idea or words from another person, you must give credit for it by citing them.
Book Review (10%) Due 10/25 Complete a two page typewritten book review on one of the two recommended books (or an approved alternate) and be prepared to discuss your review in class on October 25th.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
The university’s academic integrity policy, which can be found on-line, will be enforced in this class. Students are also encouraged to read the policy on plagiarism
Also see the following site-- It offers good suggestions:
If you are in doubt about what might constitute plagiarism in a written or oral assignment, please check with me. Any attempt to represent the work of someone else as one’s own, or any other form of academic dishonesty will result in an F (0 points) on that assignment. So please don’t cheat, plagiarize, fabricate, or help anyone else do these things
REQUIRED TEXTS:
John E. B. Myers, Lucy Berliner, John Briere, C.TerryHendrix, Theresa Reid and Carole Jenny (2001) APSAC Handbook on Child Maltreatment. Second Edition Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. (AHCM)
Inger Sagatun & Leonard P. Edwards (1995) Child Abuse and the Legal System. Belmont CA: Wadsworth. (CA&LS)
Gelles, Richard J. (1997) Intimate Violence in Families(3rd edition) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
(IVIF)
RECOMMENDED TEXTS: (read one of these books or an approved alternate)
Richard Gelles (1997) The Book of David. How preserving families can cost children's lives.Basic Books
Jennifer Toth (2002) What Happened to Johnnie Jordan? The Story of A Child Turning Violent. The Free Press.
REQUIRED DOWNLOADABLE DOCUMENTS:
Human Rights Watch (1999) Promises Broken: An assessment of Children’s rights on the 10th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Baum, K. (2005)Juvenile victimization and offending, 1993-2003. Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report. National Crime Victimization Survey. 10 pages.
Bragg LH (2003) Child Protection in Families Experiencing Domestic Violence Child Abuse and Neglect User Manual Series Office on Child Abuse and Neglect pages 7-33.
Richard Estes & Neil Weiner (2001) The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in U.S., Canada and Mexico. UPENN School of Social Work visit the report site:
And read the executive summary at
LESLIE KAUFMAN (2004) Determining the Future of a Girl With a Past; Is the Answer to Child Prostitution Counseling, or Incarceration? New York Times (September 15).
(will post pdf on website)
Finkelhor, D & Ormrod (2004) Prostitution of Juveniles: Patterns from NIBRS Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. U.S. Department of Justice. (June) 12 pages.
U.S. Department of State (2005) Trafficking in Persons Report. (June)
(read portions as specified)
John Jay College of Criminal Justice (2004) The nature and scope of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests and deacons.
Walsh, Bill (2005), Investigating Child Fatalities. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. U.S. Department of Justice. (August) 37 pages.National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information (2004) Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities: Statistics and Interventions
Child abuse and neglect: Fact Sheet (child fatalities)
State of Washington Office of the Family and Children’s Ombudsman (2005) Sirita Sotelo Fatality Review. (August) available at the website below:
State of Washington Office of the Family and Children’s Ombudsman (2005) Justice and the Raiden Robinson Fatality Review(April) available at the website below:
O’Donnell, D. (2004) Child Protection: A Handbook for Parliamentarians. UNICEF
Zevitz, R.G. & Farkas, M.A. (2000) Sex offender community notification. Research in Brief. National Institute of Justice (December) 11 pages
English, K, Pullen, S & Jones, L (1997) Managing adult sex offenders in the community—A containment approach. Research in Brief. National Institute of Justice (January) 12 pages
Smith, B. (1995) Prosecuting child physical abuse cases. National Institute of Justice Update. 2 pages.
Required articles provided by Dr. Williams:
Williams, L.M., & Finkelhor, D. (1990). The characteristics of incestuous fathers: A review of recent studies. In W.L. Marshall, D.R. Laws and H.E. Barbaree (Eds.), The handbook of sexual assault: Issues, theories and treatment of the offender. New York: Plenum. (pp. 231-255).
Williams, L.M. (1994). Recall of childhood trauma: A prospective study of women’s memories of child sexual abuse. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62 (6), 1167-1176.
Pdf on-line
DeArellano, M et al. (2005) Community outreach program for child victims of traumatic events: A community based project for underserved populations. Behavioral Modification, 29 (1), 130-155.
DeArellano Community TMT.pdf
SESSION TOPIC / READINGS and ASSIGNMENTS9/6 / The Discovery of Child Maltreatment / Introduction to course and class participants.
Sagatun & Edwards (CA&LS)—Chapter 1: Scope and Historical Overview (pages 4-13).
Human Rights Watch (1999) Promises Broken: An assessment of Children’s rights on the 10th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
UNICEF
see also
9/13 / Historical legacy of child maltreatment; definitions, prevalence; effects of child maltreatment. / Gelles (IVIF) Chapters 1, 2 and 3: Introduction, Violence Between Intimates, and The Youngest Victims (pages 1-69).
Assignment: Find an article on child abuse associated with the Hurricane.
Baum, K. (2005)Juvenile victimization and offending, 1993-2003. Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report. National Crime Victimization Survey. 10 pages.
Sagatun & Edwards (CA&LS) – Chapter 2: Types of Child Abuse and Neglect (pages 15-33).
Select class presentation topic and date tonight.
9/20 / Readings from Handbook
Physical Abuse
Hidden Victims
Child Neglect
Emotional Abuse and Psychological Maltreatment / Myers et al. (AHCM)—Introduction (Finkelhor) xi-xvi
Myers et al. (AHCM)—Chapter 3 (Kolko) Child Physical Abuse (pages 21-54) and Chapter 13 (Johnson) Physical abuse: Accidental versus intentional trauma in children (pages 249-268).
Gelles (IVIF)—Chapter 5 (partial) Hidden Victims (pages 96-108)
Myers et al. (AHCM) Chapter 1 (Erickson and Egeland) Child Neglect (pages 3-20).
Myers et al. (AHCM) Chapter 4 (Hart et al.) Psychological Maltreatment (pages 79-102).
Today: turn in 1-2 page summary of your research paper topic for approval—please e-mail this (as well a providing a hard copy in class.).
9/27 / Child Sexual Abuse / Myers et al. (AHCM) Chapter 3 (Berliner and Elliott) Sexual Abuse of Children (pages 55-78).
Myers et al. (AHCM) Chapter 11 (Chaffin) Adults, adolescents, and children who sexually abuse children: A developmental perspective (pages 205-232).
Myers et al. (AHCM) Chapter 17 (Lanning) Criminal investigation of sexual victimization of children (pages 329-347).
Williams, L.M., & Finkelhor, D. (1990). The characteristics of incestuous fathers: A review of recent studies. In W.L. Marshall, D.R. Laws and H.E. Barbaree (Eds.), The handbook of sexual assault: Issues, theories and treatment of the offender (pp. 231-255). New York: Plenum.
Turn in a list of 5 references to be used in researching your paper.
10/4 / Teen Prostitution
Sex Trafficking / Guest Speaker – Teen Prostitution Prevention Project
Richard Estes & Neil Weiner (2001) The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in U.S., Canada and Mexico. UPENN School of Social Work visit the report site:
And read the executive summary at
LESLIE KAUFMAN (2004) Determining the Future of a Girl With a Past; Is the Answer to Child Prostitution Counseling, or Incarceration? New York Times (September 15).
(will post pdf on website)
Prepare 2 questions to ask the speaker or for class discussion from the above readings.
Finkelhor, D & Ormrod (2004) Prostitution of Juveniles: Patterns from NIBRS.Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. U.S. Department of Justice. (June) 12 pages.
U.S. Department of State (2005) Trafficking in Persons Report. (June)
Read the first 40 pages and then read details of trafficking issues for one of the countries discussed in the remaining pages of the report (or from materials you find on-line.) Write a brief (2 page) analysis of the factors contributing to trafficking in children in one country.
Send an e-mail with the links to 3 web sites that you plan to use in researching your paper.
10/11 / Abstract Presentations
Institutional Abuse
The legal response to child abuse / Abstract Assignment due in class today.
Presentations by students of abstracts and commentary on articles selected for the abstract review assignment.
John Jay College of Criminal Justice (2004) The nature and scope of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests and deacons
see also:
Sagatun & Edwards (CA&LS) Chapter 5 Juvenile Court: the Child Protective Function (pages 67-88); Chapter 6 Domestic Relations Court (pages 90-105); Chapter 7 Criminal Court and Child Abuse (pages 108-120); Chapter 8 Civil Court: Recovering Damages and Changing the System (pages 122-137).
Myers et al. (AHCM) Chapter 16 (Myers) The legal system and child protection (pages 305-327).
10/18 / No Class Tonight / Read and prepare for discussion next week
Richard Gelles (1997) The book of David. How preserving families can cost children's lives.
OR
Jennifer Toth (2002) What Happened to Johnnie Jordan? The Story of A Child Turning Violent.
OR
an approved alternate and prepare to lead discussion of these books on October 25th
10/25 / Child Maltreatment in Society
Discussion of:
Richard Gelles (1997) The book of David. How preserving families can cost children's lives.
Jennifer Toth (2002) What Happened to Johnnie Jordan? The Story of A Child Turning Violent.
Child Abuse in Family Context / Book review due today.
Submit a detailed outline of the planned research paper.
Gelles (IPVF)-- Chapter 6 Explaining Intimate and Family Violence (pages 123-140).
Myers et al. (AHCM) Chapter 6 (Graham-Bermann) Child abuse in the context of domestic violence (pages 119-129).
Bragg LH (2003) Child Protection in Families Experiencing Domestic Violence. Child Abuse and Neglect User Manual Series. Office on Child Abuse and Neglect (read pages 7-33).
11/1 / Role of professionals
Child Fatalities / Sagatun & Edwards (CA&LS) Chapter 3: Roles of professionals involved with child abuse and neglect (pages 35-47) and Chapter 4: Who speaks for the child? (pages 49-63).
Myers et al. (AHCM) Chapter 15 (Block) Child Fatalities (pages 293-301).
Read the 2 fact sheets available on-line:
Walsh, Bill (2005), Investigating Child Fatalities. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. U.S. Department of Justice. (August) 37 pages.
Read the following reports on investigations into child fatalities and be prepared to discuss the following: How do these cases fit with the fact sheets and the assigned readings? What is new? Do you agree with the recommendations? Why or why not?
State of Washington Office of the Family and Children’s Ombudsman (2005) Sirita Sotelo Fatality Review. (August) available at the website below:
State of Washington Office of the Family and Children’s Ombudsman (2005) Justice and the Raiden Robinson Fatality Review (April) available at the website below:
11/8 / No Class (Friday schedule)
11/15 / The child in court / Sagatun & Edwards (CA&LS) Chapter 9:The relationship of different legal proceedings (pages 139-153); Chapter 10: The child witness (pages 155-173); Chapter 11: Confrontation: The rights of the accused versus protection of the victim (pages 175-188)
Myers et al (AHCM) Chapter 18 (Saywitz, Goodman and Lyon) Interviewing children in and out of court: current research and practice implications(pages 349-377)
11/22 / Testimony in child abuse cases. Controversial issues related to child abuse. / Myers et al (AHCM) Chapter 19 (Myers & Stern) Expert testimony (pages 379-401)
Sagatun & Edwards (CA&LS) Chapter 12: Hearsay evidence and the child witness (pages 189-208); Chapter 13: Expert witnesses in child abuse cases (pages 209-228); Chapter 14: “Fetal Abuse”: The case of drug-exposed infants (pages 231-243); Chapter 15: Other developments in child abuse and the legal system (pages 245-262).
Williams, L.M. (1994). Recall of childhood trauma: A prospective study of women’s memories of child sexual abuse. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62 (6), 1167-1176.
11/29 / Interventions and Community Response: Compassion and Control / Gelles (IPVF) Chapter 7 Prevention and treatment: Society’s response and responsibility (pages 141-168).
Zevitz, R.G. & Farkas, M.A. (2000) Sex offender community notification. Research in Brief. National Institute of Justice (December) 11 pages
DeArellano, M et al. (2005) Community outreach program for child victims of traumatic events: A community based project for underserved populations. Behavioral Modification, 29 (1), 130-155.
Myers et al. (AHCM) Chapter 23 (Abney) Cultural competency in the field of child maltreatment (pages 477-486); Chapter 24 (Landsverk, Garland & Leslie) Mental health services for children reported to child protective services (pages 487-507)
12/6 / Prevention of Child Maltreatment in US and Global Context / Myers et al. (AHCM) Chapter 21 (Daro & Donnelly) Child abuse prevention: Accomplishments and challenges (pages 431-448); Chapter 22 (Zellman & Fair) Preventing and reporting abuse (pages 449-475); Chapter 25 (Chadwick) Community organization of services to deal with and end child abuse (pages 509-523).
O’Donnell, D. (2004) Child Protection: A Handbook for Parliamentarians. UNICEF (Read pages 1-40 and then select and read one of the chapters on specific child protection issues (chapters 6-15). Be prepared to discuss proposed solutions)
12/13 / Innovative responses to Child Maltreatment / Discuss an innovative response to Child Maltreatment that you learned about in writing your Research Paper
English, K, Pullen, S & Jones, L (1997) Managing adult sex offenders in the community—A containment approach. Research in Brief. National Institute of Justice (January) 12 pages
Smith, B. (1995) Prosecuting child physical abuse cases. National Institute of Justice Update.
Research Paper due TODAY.
Some relevant peer reviewed journals in Criminal Justice: