Casualties of Childhood
Developmental Perspective on Sexual Abuse Using Projective Drawings

In this book, two therapists, skilled in interpreting artwork by abused children, present and analyze over 150 house-tree-person and kinetic family drawings that reveal the effects of sexual abuse on the development of latency-age children.

In this book, two therapists who are skilled in interpreting artwork by abused children present and analyze over 150 house-tree-person and kinetic family drawings that reveal the effects of sexual abuse on the development of latency-age children. Normative latency goals and tasks are examined with an eye toward understanding the consequences of sexual abuse and incest. After setting forth paradigms of trauma and sexual abuse and principles of projective drawing analysis, the authors explore the impact of sexual abuse on the child's ego and superego and the influence of the incestuous family on the development of object relations during latency. Concluding chapters focus on the long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse in adult survivors.