Childhood and Trauma: Separation, Abuse, War

244 Pages·1999·1.73 MB·English

by  Elisabeth Ullmann

CHILDHOODANDTRAUMA– SEPARATION, ABUSE, WAR
Our thanks to the SOS-Kinderdorf – Hermann-Gmeiner-Akademie for its support.
Editors:
Elisabeth Ullmann, born 1966, is a psychologist at the Hermann Gmeiner Academy in Innsbruck, Austria.
Dr. Werner Hilweg, born 1950, is a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist with his own practice. He also works for
the Hermann Gmeiner Academy in Innsbruck, where he has organized pedagogic quality assurance since 1995.
Translated from the German by
Mary Heaney Margreiter ([email protected]) and
Kira Henschel ([email protected])
Cover illustration:
Drawing by a five-year-old boy from Croatia entitled “Spring”.
The photos in this book were made available by SOS Children’s Villages Croatia.
For further information please contact:
SOS Children’s Villages UK
32a Bridge Street
Cambridge CB2 1UJ
United Kingdom
Phone: ++44-(0)1223-365589
e-mail: [email protected]
Typeset in Austria by vanillapaint.
Childhood and Trauma
Separation,Abuse,War
EDITED BYELISABETH ULLMANNANDWERNER HILWEG
SOS-Kinderdorf – Hermann-Gmeiner-Akademie
Translated by Mary Heaney Margreiter and Kira Henschel
Ashgate
Aldershot • Brookfield USA • Singapore • Sydney
© Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Werner Hilweg/Elisabeth Ullmann (Hg): Kindheit und
Trauma, Göttingen, 1997, 1999
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
First published by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen, 1997
This edition published by
Ashgate Publishing Ltd
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Croft Road
Aldershot
Hants GU11 3HR
England
Ashgate Publishing Company
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USA
Ashgate website: http://www.ashgate.com
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Childhood and trauma: separation, abuse, war
1. Childhood psychology 2. Children – Legal status, laws, etc.
3. Children and war 4. Traumatism
I. Ullmann, Elisabeth II. Hilweg, Werner
362.7
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 99-76353
ISBN 0 7546 1074 8
Contents
List of Figures vii
List of Contributors xi
Foreword xiii
Preface xv
PART I:TRAUMA
The Rights of the Child and the State of the World’s Children
Helmut Wintersberger 3
Children and Youth in the Spotlight. SOS Children’s Villages –
Providing for Children in Need
Richard Pichler 15
What is Psychological Trauma? Methods of Treatment
Elin Hordvik 23
PART II: SEPARATION
“..and I didn’t even know who I was anymore.” Children of Divorce
Helmuth Figdor 33
“If I could become anyone else in the world...”
Traumatization through Separation and Loss
Karl Hrdina 57
Coping with Grief after Separation and Loss. ACase Study
Gertrude Bogyi 75
Separation as Trauma, Relationship as Therapy
Régis Thill 87
PART III: SEXUAL ABUSE
Child Sexual Abuse. Challenges Facing Child Protection and
Mental Health Professionals
David Finkelhor 101
v
vi Childhood and Trauma
Early Crisis. On Dealing with Sexually Abused Children and
Adolescents at SOS Children’s Village Facilities in Germany
Wolfgang Grassl with a Commentary by Peter Jakob 117
Sexual Abuse in the Family. ACase Study
Christa Wagner-Ennsgraber 131
Child Prostitution and Sexual Abuse in Latin America,
with a Special Look at Paraguay
Peggy Perez,Anna Aldrian,Heike Stender 139
PART IV:WAR
Children in War. Experiences from Croatia
Dubravka Kocijan-Hercigonja 157
The Work of SOS Children’s Villages in War Zones 173
Childhood Dreams Lost. War-Traumatized Children in Rwanda
Elisabeth Ullmann 175
SOS Children’s Villages in the Bosnia-Herzegovina War Zone
Kre`s´imir Sokolic´ 183
“Who killed her?”
SOS Children’s Villages Lebanon During the War
Helga Zündel 193
PART V: PROFESSIONAL HELPERS
The Importance of Professional Helpers’Mental Health
Marina Ajdukovic´ 201
Training – Continuing Education – Reflection on Practice
Christian Posch 215
Index 225
List of Figures
Figure 1 Prevalence of Child Sexual Abuse 103
Figure 2 Drawing by Bojan B., 6 years old, 1993 160
Figure 3 Drawing by Ivana I., 8 years old 168
Figure 4 “My House”, drawing by Mladen J., 6 years old, 1992 168
Figure 5 SOS Children’s Villages and its major partners 216
vii

List of Contributors
MARINAAJDUKOVIC´is a professor at the School of Social Work, Department
of Law, University of Zagreb, Croatia.
ANNAALDRIAN is a pedagogic advisor at the SOS-Kinderdorf International
Regional Office for Southern Latin America in Paraguay. She has lived in
Latin America (Ecuador, Honduras, Bolivia, Paraguay) since her marriage in
1972.
GERTRUDE BOGYI practices as a clinical psychologist at the University
Clinic for Neuropsychiatry for Children and Adolescents in Vienna, Austria,
and has her own private practice. She is a psychoanalyst and board member
of the Austrian Society for Individual Psychology.
HELMUTH FIGDOR is a psychoanalyst, pediatric psychotherapist, supervisor
and educational consultant, as well as an instructor at the Department of
Special and Curative Pedagogics, University of Vienna, Austria, and is
chairman of the “Working Group for Psychoanalytical Pedagogics”
(“Arbeitsgemeinschaft Psychoanalytische Pädagogik,” APP).
DAVID FINKELHOR is a Professor of Sociology and Director of the Family
Research Laboratory and the Family Violence Research Program at the
University of New Hampshire, USA.
WOLFGANG GRASSL is trained in pedagogics and social pedagogics and is a
family therapist. He is an SOS Special Advisor for Pedagogics of the
German SOS Children’s Village Association in Munich.
ELIN HORDVIK is a psychologist at the Center for Crisis Psychology in
Bergen, Norway. She works with war-traumatized children in Iraq, Yemen,
former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda on behalf of UNICEF.
KARLHRDINA is a psychologist and psychotherapist and currently works as
a quality development specialist in the field of pedagogics for the Austrian
SOS Children’s Village Association.
ix
x Childhood and Trauma
PETER JAKOB is a clinical psychologist, family therapist and supervisor. He
works at a Munich, Germany, child guidance counseling office which
concentrates on sexual abuse and violence. He also has his own private
practice.
DUBRAVKA KOCIJAN-HERCIGONJA is Director of the Department of Child
and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotrauma at the General Hospital in
Zagreb, Croatia.
PEGGY PEREZ is a lecturer in Pedagogics at the Catholic University in
Asunción, Paraguay. She founded the Psycho-Pedagogic Institute of
Therapy, Training and Research (CEFAP). She is also director of the
Regional Training Center for SOS Children’s Village staff from Paraguay,
Uruguay and Argentina.
RICHARD PICHLER was the personal assistant to the President of SOS-
Kinderdorf International (Helmut Kutin), Regional Director of SOS-
Kinderdorf International in Southeast Asia, and has been Secretary General
of SOS-Kinderdorf International since 1995.
CHRISTIANPOSCHis a clinical psychologist, psychotherapist and Director of
Pedagogics of the Austrian SOS Children’s Village Association.
KRES`´IMIR SOKOLIC´ is a psychologist and pedagogic advisor for SOS-
Kinderdorf International.
HEIKESTENDERis an interpreter and staff member of the Regional Office for
Southern Latin America of SOS-Kinderdorf International in Paraguay.
RÉGIS THILLis the Director of the diverse SOS Children’s Village facilities
in Luxembourg.
ELISABETH ULLMANN is a psychologist at the Hermann Gmeiner Academy
in Innsbruck, Austria.
CHRISTAWAGNER-ENNSGRABER is a psychiatrist and neurologist as well as
a psychotherapist. She practices at the University Clinic for Neuropsychiatry
for Children and Adolescents in Vienna, Austria.
HELMUT WINTERSBERGER is a social scientist and lecturer at the School of
Social and Economic Studies, University of Vienna, Austria. He directs the