THE ABUSE OF CHILDREN AND ADULTS WHO STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL AND THE CHALLENGE TO AVOID BLAMING THE VICTIM Unfortunately, many children in the United States are raised under less than ideal conditions. Many children are born to unwed mothers and never even know their fathers. Still others are abandoned by one or both of their parents when they are young. They often live in households subsisting below the poverty level where drug and alcohol abuse is rampant. Some are lucky and are taken to live with grandparents or other caring relatives. Others end up in foster homes that may or may not be much better. Even so, most continue to live in an environment where they are not properly cared for and many are neglected, abused and damaged, physically and emotionally. In this series of books the authors, using vignettes of actual case histories from their own professional experiences, chronicle what happens to children and youth who are abandoned or live in situations where they are unable to flourish and develop into contributing members of society. As the authors point out, many children from such backgrounds grow up to abandon, neglect, and abuse their own offspring. The past does not need to be prologue. The authors make the case that under the guidance of skilled and caring professionals, such as teachers and counselors, the cycle can be broken. In this respect they issue a clarion call to lawmakers, policymakers, and others charged with the welfare of children to examine the conditions that have allowed far too many children to grow up in environments where they are not nourished and cannot thrive, physically or emotionally, and take corrective action. Volume 1: Some Consequences of the Absence of Care presents the contributions made to protect children by Etta Angell Wheeler, Henry Bergh and Dr. C. Henry Kempe and his Associates. The volume includes an illustration of how the behavior of a damaged mother affects the development of her son, who is also physically, emotionally and socially damaged. This vignette is emotionally powerful, sad, and terrifying in that a child could experience such behavior, and demonstrates how fragile some adults can become when so overwhelmed they are willing to meet the demands of a boyfriend at any price. Before concluding with a vision for the future defining children and their universal developmental requirements and the roles of those responsible as care providers, the volume speaks of the efforts of advocates to gain better educational opportunities for children with disabilities.
About the Author: Dr. Philip A. DiMattia is a retired faculty member of the Boston College Lynch School of Education and was also the Director of the Boston College Campus School serving children with significant disabilities and major health care issues. Prior to going to Boston College as a full time faculty member in 1988, he was employed by the Massachusetts Department of Education as a Principal and Educational Director of a Bureau of Institutional School for students with significant emotional and behavior disorders. His career spans a period of fifty-four years in public and private settings. Dr. DiMattia received his doctorate from Boston College in 1974. Dr. Allan G. Osborne, Jr. retired as the principal of the Snug Harbor Community School in Quincy Massachusetts. He was a visiting professor at Bridgewater State College, Bridgewater Massachusetts where he taught courses in special education. He received his doctorate from Boston College in 1984 and served as an elementary school teacher, administrator and director of special education for the Quincy Public School System. Dr. Osborne has written extensively about special education law and has served in major leadership roles in several educational organizations.