Child-Abuse conference features talks on filicide, terrorism, pet abuse

The conference, designed for medical, forensic, mental-health and social-work professionals involved in the investigation, evaluation and treatment of abused and neglected children, will feature more than 40 lectures and workshops by child-protection experts from throughout the country.

Co-author of the book "Mothers Who Kill Their Children: Understanding Acts of Moms from Susan Smith to the �Prom Mom'," Michelle Oberman will hold three different workshops on issues involving parents whose children die tragically. She will discuss purposeful filicide -- a parent who kills his or her own child -- and how it is marked by more than a broad spectrum of mental illnesses. The Depaul University law professor will also talk about how mothers whose children die from neglect are typically overwhelmed by their circumstances, offering professionals opportunities for prevention. She will also discuss deaths of newborns within the first 24 hours of life, generally following unattended birth by relatively young mothers and how these cases are marked by a profound denial of the need to act.

Kenneth V. Hardy, a family therapy professor at Syracuse University, will deliver a keynote address on how children, the most vulnerable and impressionable members of society, are often exposed to the most brutal and blatant expressions of aggression, condemnation and violence. The results may produce bruises, breaks and scars, but often the effects are hidden.

Another keynote speaker, John Briere, associate professor of psychiatry and psychology at Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, will look at child maltreatment and global terror. He will explore the parallels between terrorist attacks and child abuse by looking at social phenomena and perpetrator characteristics and their underlying issues. In addition to his keynote address, Briere will also conduct a workshop on why children's trauma is often misidentified as resilience.

Other experts will discuss a range of timely child abuse and protection topics.

*University of Minnesota researcher Byron Egeland will talk about a 26-year investigation of high-risk families, called the Parent-Child Longitudinal Study. From detailed studies of good and poor parenting outcomes, this study identified both protective and major risk factors for child maltreatment. These risk factors will be discussed with special emphasis on the cycle of maltreatment across generations and the reasons for breaking the cycle.

*A panel of foster-care youth will share personal stories of growing up in foster care, sharing experiences in recovering from sexual and physical abuse, neglect, attaching to new foster parents, dealing with multiple placements, adjustment to school issues, parental visitations and developing into young adulthood. Another panel of experts will discuss how to help foster-care youth to transition into self-sufficient adults and how one local program, the Independent Living Program, is assisting.

*Lynn Loar, president of the Pryor Foundation in La Granada, Calif., will talk about the role of pets in a dysfunctional family. Seventy-five percent of families with children own pets, and these animals play a pivotal role in family life. That role can turn horrific when abusers leverage these animals to gain power and control.

*One of California's prominent experts on juvenile dependency law and member of San Diego County's office of counsel Gary Seiser will lead a discussion highlighting major trends affecting the juvenile dependency system, including sibling relationships, children's advocacy, concurrent planning and the Indian Child Welfare Act. In a separate workshop, Sacramento County Juvenile Court referee Susan Aguilar will discuss decisions about reunification, which can have profound impact on the lives of children. She will discuss factors from the juvenile court judges' perspective that go into the decision.

Organized and presented by UC Davis Children's Hospital Child and Adolescent Abuse Resource and Evaluation (CAARE) Center, the conference is also sponsored by UC Davis Extension, California Department of Health Services, California Office of Criminal Justice Planning, California Department of Justice, California Department of Corrections, California Department of Mental Health, California Department of Social Services, California District Attorneys' Association, California Medical Training Center, Child and Family Institute, UC Davis Health System Continuing Medical Education and Sacramento Child Advocates.

Cost of the three-day conference is $315. Single-day registration is $145. For additional registration information, contact April Tang at (916) 734-4719 at the UC Davis Children's Hospital CAARE Center.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Reporters may attend this conference free of charge. Please contact Martha Alcott, Public Affairs, (916) 734-9027 or e-mail, [email protected] to arrange to attend or to interview presenters.

Copies of the conference program are available on the Web at http://cme.ucdavis.edu/confrnce/finalcan.pdf

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