Term Paper Assignment
Possible Books for Term Paper:
Dugard, J. L. (2011).
A stolen life: a memoir.
Array New York: Simon & Schuster.
Bellini, A. (2013).
Anelisse: A true story of child abuse.
Monarch Publishing House.
Pemberton, S. (2012).
A chance in the world: An orphan boy, a mysterious past, and how
he found a place called home
. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.
Perry, Bruce. (2007).
The boy who was raised as a dog
. Basic Books
Peters, J. (2008).
The heartbreaking survival story of a small mute boy who overcame
unbearable suffering and found his voice again.
Harper Element.
Instructions:
1. The general goal for this term paper is for you to learn to apply concepts from the
field of child abuse and neglect to a particular case. This is not a book report,
in which you review what happened. It is your job to critically examine what
is reported in the book in terms of the material you learn about during the
semester.
2. Select one from the above list of books to read. They are all available through
www.amazon.com, and almost all are available in paperback. You should get
the book and begin reading it immediately, to get an overall sense of the
account. It is likely that you will have to reread the book as you learn more
about the field of child abuse and neglect and begin to apply concepts you
have learned to this particular account.
3. You are expected to
read at least four additional scholarly articles
(
from peer-
reviewed journals, not from newspapers or magazines
), in addition to the
assigned readings for this course, in order to complete this paper.
4. You will use these outside readings, as well as your required reading and notes
from class discussions, to complete the sections of the paper discussed below.
5. You may choose to focus your outside research (scholarly articles) on one or
more of the following:
a. causes/risk factors for the type of maltreatment you are reading
about –
Possible instances of neglect, physical, sexual and
psychological abuse suffered by the main character/ writer and
whether abuse/ neglect are terms that can be applied to the character’s/
writer’s situation. Students are expected to also identify risk factors for
abuse/ neglect (i.e. temperament, age, Stockholm Syndrome, etc.)
b. the effects of such maltreatment and/ or the sources of resiliency
within the child and within the child’s environment
c. interventions for such maltreatment and/ or the missed
opportunities for systemic interventions (police, school, neighbors,
etc.).
6. Papers will include sections consistent with the above requirements or they
may include three sections: Introduction (including the introduction of the
topic and the causes and risk factors for maltreatment), the second section
which should highlight the impact and effects of maltreatment described in the
book, and the third section which should include the interventions and/ or the
missed opportunities for effective intervention. These three sections are
described below in detail:
7. This first section focuses on introducing the maltreatment described in the
book and the characteristics of maltreatment. This section should include the
following information:
a. Full book citation (author, name of book, publisher, date of
publication) in
APA-style
. See APA formatting resources in the
Modules in CHAD 210 on Canvas.
b. Identification of the writer as the child victim, a therapist, or someone
to whom the story was told.
c. Identification of the child: sex, ages covered in the book, cultural
group, socioeconomic status, family constellation (e.g., mother,
grandparents, 3 children), living circumstances covered in the book.
d. Characteristics of Maltreatment:
i. Identify the types of maltreatment described in the book
(neglect, physical, sexual, psychological). Give specific
examples.
ii. Discuss the role of family and community risk factors that
played a role in the child maltreatment.
e. Your discussion should include references to the journal articles that
you have found, as well as to the required readings.
8. The second section of your paper focuses on the impact of maltreatment and
should include the following information:
a. Impact of Maltreatment. Discuss the impact that the maltreatment had
on the child. Think about the way the child behaved and thought.
Think about symptoms the child reports or that you identify based on
what the book describes.
b. Discuss the cycle of violence and resilience. Is this child likely to go
on to maltreat children or not? Is this child likely to have long-term
problems in adulthood? What factors can you identify that are likely
to lead down one road or the other? Be sure to examine evidence of
strengths in the child, in the family, and in the environment that might
be the bases of resiliency.
c. Discuss and identify the sources of resilience in the child. What
internal (e.g. child’s temperament) or external factors (e.g. sources of
support to the child) contributed to the child’s survival
d. Your discussion should include references to the journal articles that
you have found, as well as to the required readings.
9. The third section of your paper focuses on the opportunities for intervention. In
the final section, you will discuss:
a. Opportunities for Intervention and Missed Opportunities. Discuss
whether there were opportunities for helping people to become
involved that were never taken or opportunities for helping people to
become involved earlier than they did if they eventually became
involved. Discuss why those opportunities were lost. Were there
mandated reporters who failed to report? If so, why do you think they
did not do this? If helpers eventually became involved, discuss what
factors seem to have been present that made those helpers available
and made them act. Use a systemic approach in this discussion
focusing not only on the child’s close circle, but also on the familial,
social, legislative, etc. layers that were/ or were not effective in
rescuing the child.
b. Your discussion should include references to the journal articles that
you have found, as well as to the required readings.
10. Your final paper should be a minimum of 6 pages in length.
11. See “Term Paper Outline” for a detailed template of this paper.
