Children and AIDS edited by Margaret L.Stuber, M.D.; Washington, D.C., American Psychiatric Press, 1992, 226 pages, $28.50
Abstract
nately, they also present a detenministic point of view that presupposes that a child who has been sexually abused will âdevelop dysfunctional ego structures that have the potential to cripple him on her.â If this is the case, then victims ofchild sexual abuse may be correctly perceiving themselves as âdamaged goods.â A less deterministic frame of reference would encourage readers to recognize that different children may respond differently to sexual abuse. From the outset, Kaufman and Wohl write in a style that assumes the reader is familiar with psychoanalytic concepts. The concept of latency is not explicated beyond a descniption as âa difficult time charactenized by many demands that are simultaneously placed upon the child.â At times, their language is jargony and cumbersome, as in the statement âThe cathexis of the child shifts from the family to the parental introject, enabling the youngster to begin to relate to the larger society.â Careful editing that promoted more reader-friendly language would have improved the book. Although they may be slowed down by the language and the deterministic point ofview, art therapists and other mental health professionals who work with children and with adults who have experienced child sexual abuse may