STANDARD COMPETENCIES:

 

 I.      Identify historical perspectives of how societal attitudes toward children influence responses to child maltreatment.

 II.     Describe the responsibilities of parents to their children and ramifications for children when their parents fail to fulfill their responsibilities.

 III.    Learn how functional families differ from dysfunctional families in terms of roles, generational boundaries, communication patterns, etc.

 IV.     Learn how child maltreatment impacts the developing child in terms of the development of attachment relationships and the successful negotiation of Erickson's developmental stages.

 V.      Compare and contrast legal definitions of each form of child maltreatment, explanatory models for each form, as well as family dynamics and relationships in each form.

 VI.     Learn how neglect, non-organic failure to thrive, psychosocial dwarfism, and Munchausen's by proxy impact the cognitive, physical, emotional, and social development of the child at different ages (e.g., infancy, preschool, school age, adolescence).

 VII.    Learn how physical abuse impacts the cognitive, physical, emotional, and social development of the child at different ages (e.g., infancy, preschool, school age, adolescence).

 VIII.   Learn how intra-familial sexual abuse impacts the cognitive, physical, emotional, and social development of the child in relation to gender of the victim and perpetrator.

 IX.     Learn how extra-familial sexual abuse affects the child's cognitive, physical, emotional, and social development at each chronological age (e.g., infancy, preschool, school age, adolescence).

 X       Learn to be open to the possibility of false allegations, especially in cases of sexual abuse (e.g., during a custody dispute when young children are the alleged victims, with adolescents, etc.).

 XI.     Learn the characteristics that define an appropriate forensic interview process for children at different chronological ages.

 XII.    Discuss federal and state law concerning reporting, investigation, and court processes, with specific attention to the legal requirements in Colorado for mandated reporting, the investigation process, and the civil and criminal court procedures.

 XIII.   Evaluate assessment techniques for assessing family dynamics and relationships with a focus on parenting issues and parent-child attachment relationships.

 XIV.    Contrast treatment modalities used for adults and children as well as for different forms of child maltreatment.

 TOPICAL OUTLINE:

 

 I.      Historical and Contemporary Overview of the Maltreatment of Children

 II.     Abuse of Children:  Physical, Sexual, Emotional, and Psychological

 III.    Child Neglect

 IV.     Profiles:  Perpetrator and Victim

 V.      The Legal System:  Treatment and Punishment

 VI.     Assessment, Intervention, and Prevention