Saving Beauty from the Beast : How to Protect Your Daughter from an Unhealthy Relationship

by Crompton, Vicki; Kessner, Ellen Zelda

• ISBN13: 9780316090582
• ISBN10: 0316090581
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-03-05
• Publisher: Little Brown & Co

Summary

For parents who are concerned that their daughter is in an unhealthy or abusive relationship, here at last is a book based on personal experience and authoritative research that provides answers. Dating violence affects a huge number of teenage girls -- one in three girls between the ages of ten and eighteen reports having been assaulted by a boyfriend -- and can run the gamut from possessiveness to stalking to outright physical abuse. Often it is the girls with the highest selfesteem, those who believe they are in control of their lives and can bring out the best in their boyfriends, who find themselves in the grip of a relationship in which the tables have been turned. This essential and timely book incorporates the insights and advice of experts in the fields of education, adolescent psychology, criminal justice, threat assessment, and sociology. Authors Crompton and Kessner also include the voices of teenagers and parents to provide an in-depth portrait of the dynamics of controlling behavior. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Vicki Crompton became an advocate for teen dating violence education after the murder of her daughter by a boyfriend in 1986. As a consultant to the Office of Violence Against Women in the U.S. Department of Justice, she has worked to strengthen antibattering and antistalking laws nationwide. She lives in Davenport, Iowa. Ellen Zelda Kessner is the author of a number of parenting books. She lives in Valley Stream, New York

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Prelude: Jenny's Story	3	(10)
PART ONE: LOVE THAT HURTS
The Roots of Abuse in American Society	13	(5)
The Black-and-Blue Soul: Emotional Abuse	18	(13)
Prove That You Love Me: Sexual Abuse	31	(10)
Kissed and Choked on the Same Date: Physical Abuse	41	(16)
Trapped and Trying to Tear Free	57	(19)
Why Some Boys Choose to Abuse	76	(17)
PART TWO: WHAT A PARENT CAN DO
Warning Signs: How to Spot an Abusive Relationship	93	(7)
Learning All You Can About the Relationship	100	(10)
Early Intervention	110	(9)
Strategizing with Common Sense and Creativity	119	(14)
Actively Confronting the Violence	133	(18)
Helping Your Daughter Break Away Safely	151	(19)
Terror/Counterterror	170	(14)
Aftermath of Abuse: The Healing Journey	184	(19)
If Your Child Is a Witness to Abuse	203	(10)
When You Suspect Your Child May Be an Abuser	213	(14)
A Pound of Prevention: How to Bring Up Girls and Boys to Have Relationships of Trust and Respect	227	(11)
EPILOGUE: I Confront Jenny's Murderer in Prison	238	(14)
APPENDIX
Recommended Reading	246	(1)
Help-Giving Resources	247	(3)
Education Programs and Curricula Available to Schools	250	(2)
Index	252