Table of Contents

About the Authors
Foreword
Preface and Introduction
Acknowledgments
Source Credits
Chapter 1. School Violence: Range and Complexity of the Problem
Chapter 2. The Family-School-Community Connection
Chapter 3. Providing Mental Health Consultation to Agencies Intervening With Violent Children
Chapter 4. Case Studies in School Violence: A Staging Paradigm
Chapter 5. Bullying Is a Process, Not a Person: Inviting the Community Into the School
Chapter 6. Children Need to Feel Safe to Learn
Chapter 7. Assessment of At-Risk Children
Chapter 8. Activating Community Resources Through Therapeutic Mentoring
Chapter 9. Role of Medical Leadership in Unlocking Resources to Address School Violence
Chapter 10. Risk and Threat Assessment of Violent Children
Chapter 11. Effortless Wellness and Other Afterthoughts
Index

Promotional Information

Twemlow and Sacco clearly and brilliantly address the crucial educational and social problems in schools today. Their truly interdisciplinary theoretical amalgam of psychiatric, psychological, sociological and philosophical data comes with practical case examples. This invaluable book shows how mental health professionals and schools can collaborate so as to systematically take the school climate beyond the illusory perpetrator-victim divide through understanding the crucial role of bystanders in what is in reality a triangular system. It further proposes the cultivation of mental attitudes and qualities that include mentalization and altruism, which will help promote a safe and secure school environment without bullying. Douglas Kirsner, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy and Psychoanalytic Studies, Deakin University, Melbourne Twemlow and Sacco's engaging and easy to read book deals with the alarming problem of violence in our schools. Casting their net wide, the authors discuss not only school bullying but the role of compliciy bystanders and the potential amelioration of the attendant crises via a system based approach. Deftly blending psychoanalytivc insights on mentalization and altruism with informed social activism, Twemlow and Sacco offer us a treatise of solid theoretical foundations, great practical value, and deeply felt humanitarian values! Salman Akhtar, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. This brilliant, socially responsible book is a prescription for saving our youth -- and their families. Twemlow and Sacco, dedicated pioneers in experience-based applications of a sound psychodynamic understanding of the triadic social scourge: "bully victim passive bystander(s)", address communal constructive strategies for rational, readily applicable solutions to prevent the misery it creates. This book is a must for all of us, all those responsible for the family, the school, the neighborhood -- a must for government, for society. One of the most important books for today! Henri Parens, M.D., Professor Psychiatry, Thomas Jefferson Univ; Training & Supervising Analyst, Psychoanalytic Ctr Philadelphia; Former Director Early Child Develop Program, EPPI/MCP

About the Author

Stuart W. Twemlow, M.D., is Professor of Psychiatry in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, and Senior Psychiatrist, The Menninger Clinic, Houston, Texas; Faculty Member, Houston-Galveston Psychoanalytic Institute, Houston, Texas; and Honorary Professor of Psychoanalytic Studies, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia.

Frank C. Sacco, Ph.D., is President of Community Services Institute in Boston and Springfield, Massachusetts; and Adjunct Professor at Western New England College in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Reviews

This is truly an impressive book with a pragmatic focus that aims to provide the reader with a conceptual framework to address the daunting problems of school violence and bullying. It offers an in-depth perspective on the topic, which will be of value to all mental health clinicians involved in school consultations... Each chapter is replete with complex case examples that ring true as actual cases with which those of us involved in this field often struggle... Preventing Bullying and School Violence is an important book on a compelling topic. The authors provide a masterful approach and set the standard for thoughtful psychiatric consultation on the pervasive problem of violence in our schools. Deborah M. Weisbrot, M.D., The American Journal of Psychiatry Preventing Bullying and School Violence delivers concise, well-organized, and hands-on guidance for professional dealing with school violence and bullying. Robert Horst, MD, University of California School of Medicine, Sacramento