Child sexual abuse : the search for healing /

Bagley (an established researcher) and King (a practitioner) review the information presently available regarding child sexual abuse. Their book differs from Louise Armstrong's Kiss Daddy Goodnight (1978), Eleanore Hill's The Family Secret (CH, Oct'85), Diana Russell's The Secret Trauma (CH, Oct'86), and a number of similar books that rely on the impressionistic case history approach. Rather, Bagley and King report the findings of a wide range of studies that have used various methodologies in addition to analyzing specific case studies. Although the authors do not offer new research, they cover much of what is currently known. The result is an easy-to-read, concise, objective book that focuses on treatment/remediation in the broadest sense. The work is exceptionally well referenced and indexed, and makes effective use of appendixes by placing them at the end of relevant chapters. Recommended for libraries serving undergraduate and graduate programs in criminology, criminal justice, psychology, sociology, and social work. -R. T. Sigler, University of Alabama