Treating Families and Children in the Child Protective System: Strategies for Systemic Advocacy and Family Healing (Family Therapy and Counseling, 4)

296 Pages·2004·1.82 MB·English

by  Wes Crenshaw

TREATING FAMILIES AND CHILDREN IN
THE CHILD PROTECTIVE SYSTEM
THE FAMILY THERAPY AND COUNSELING SERIES
Consulting Editor
Jon Carlson, Psy.D., Ed.D.
Ng Global Perspectives in Family Therapy: Development, Practice, Trends
Erdman and Caffery Attachment and Family Systems: Conceptual, Empirical, and
Therapeutic Relatedness
Crenshaw Treating Families and Children in the Child Protective System
TREATING FAMILIES AND
CHILDREN IN THE CHILD
PROTECTIVE SYSTEM
Strategies for Systemic Advocacy and
Family Healing
WES CRENSHAW, Ph.D., ABPP
BRUNNER-ROUTLEDGE
NEW YORK AND HOVE
Cover Art: Katie Vickers, Self Portrait (2002). The piece was begun as a
collage of magazine page material and photographic images ripped by hand,
giving it the fractured lines and dark edges. Extracted from this
background is a self-portrait of the artist using Nevr-Dull wadding polish to
lighten the areas by removing ink from the collage. Details were then added
to the face and other areas of the piece with oil paint and china marker. The
building and other background objects were then sketched with china
marker and oil paints were used to add color to the piece. The entire
process took 5 weeks, with an additional 6 to 8 weeks for refinement. When
she created the piece, Ms. Vickers was a high school senior under the
direction of Patricia Numchock, art instructor at Lawrence (Kansas) High
School. At the time of publication Katie was studying on scholarship at
Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design.
Published in 2004 by Brunner-Routledge 29 West 35th Street New York, NY 10001
www.brunner-routledge.com
Published in Great Britain by Brunner-Routledge 27 Church Road Hove, East Sussex
BN3 2FA www.brunner-routledge.co.uk
Copyright © 2004 by Taylor & Francis Books, Inc.
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in
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invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Crenshaw, Wes. Treating families
and children in the child protective system/Wes Crenshaw. p. cm. —(The family
therapy and counseling series) Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN0-415-94870-3 (Hardback) 1. Child welfare. 2. Family counseling. 3.
Family psychotherapy. 4. Abused children—Services for. 5. Family social work. I. Title.
II. Series. HV713.C72 2004 362.76–dc22 2003022219
ISBN 0-203-50180-2 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-203-57830-9 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-415-94870-3 (Print Edition)
Dedicated to my father Howard Crenshaw,
who lived his life humbly but fully in ministry to young
people.

Contents
Series Editor’s Foreword x
Foreword xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
1. Turning Points 5
2. Justice Themes in Family Therapy 17
Early Thinking in Family Injustice 17
Systems and the Therapist as Advocate 19
Social Action and Strategic Humanism 21
Restorative Justice and the Family Therapist 23
Conclusion: An Approach in Context 25
3. Curative Factors and Obstacles to Change 27
Personal Influence 28
The Belief in Free Will 39
Utilization 47
Contextual Change 55
4. Contrition, Forgiveness, and the Restoration of 65
Justice by
Wes Crenshaw and David Barnum
Level 1: Isolated 67
Level 2: Artificial 70
Level 3: Illusory 74
Level 4: Symbolic 77
viii
Level 5: Substitute 80
Level 6: The Complete Contrition Process 83
Conclusion: Contrition in Context 95
5. The Power of Apology 97
Leia and the Terrible Childhood Experience 97
To Heal Me Also: Justin’s Case 107
6. I Never Heard You Cry Before 125
What Hurt Worse 126
To Fail at Failing 129
Looking into the Eyes of Your Daughter 132
7. Navigating the Child Protective System 143
Officers of the Court 144
The Child Protective System (CPS) 149
The Fundamental Flaw 164
A Tale of Two Placements 165
Conclusion: The Baby and the Bathwater 166
8. Family-Friendly Therapy and Evaluation: Priorities 169
and Process
Therapist or Evaluator 169
A Hierarchy of Priorities 171
Levels of Family Reconstruction 175
Testing and Evaluation 178
Working with the CPS “Team” 183
Conclusion: Best Interests, Best Practices, and Best Outlook 185
9. Tracks and Strategies in the Foster Care Crisis 189
The Pygmalion Complex 190
The Ransom of Red Chief 191
The Stockholm Syndrome 193
ix
The Unconditional Surrender 194
When All Else Fails: Aging Out 196
Conclusion: Foster Care and the Journey Toward Justice 198
10. You Can’t Fight the System 201
Red Chief Emerges 204
Capitulation and Redemption 205
Risk and Reunification 212
11. Defending September 215
Into the Fray 216
The Labyrinth 219
In Exile 228
Dead Ends and Deadbeats 235
Today Well Lived 240
12. Ringing the Bell: Integrating Contrition into an 243
Existing Program of Treatment for Offenders and
Victims of Abuse
by Wes Crenshaw, David Barnum and Bruce Laflen
The Kansas City Project 243
Overview 245
Toward a Paradigm Shift 247
Integrating and Evolving the Contrition Model 249
Case Examples 256
Conclusion: A Program Changed 259
13. Epilogue 261
References 267
Index 273