Trauma-Organized Systems: Physical and Sexual Abuse in Families

This book is about the experience of individuals who have been abused or who have abused others, but it also traces the way an abusive experience can organize a family or professional system so that changes are difficult to achieve. Arnon Bentovim has been in the forefront of the child abuse field for many years, and he discusses in this volume the way his thinking has changed to incorporate the ideas from the feminist movement and the constructionist family therapists. He looks at the way victimizing actions and the traumatic effects of abuse combine to create a trauma-organized system, which includes the individual, the family, the professional helpers, the community, and the cultural values.

The author describes the characteristics of these systems and a diagnostic procedure to help the workers plan the treatment. In order to help such a family, he proposes that interventions need to be made at the different levels of this system, and the book outlines various treatment approaches, such as group work for victims and perpetrators, marital and family therapy, and individual work, particularly to clarify the issue of personal responsibility. The book is illustrated by case studies and transcripts from therapy sessions to clarify the specific techniques Bentovim uses to treat such families.