Lost childhoods
Subtitle: the plight of the parentified child
By: Gregory J. Jurkovich.
Publisher: Brunner/Mazel
Published: 1997
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 252
Subjects: Parental influences; Stress in children; Problem families; Helping behavior in children; Role playing in children
Description: Lost Childhoods is a pioneering exploration of the complicated individual, family, sociocultural, and existential-ethical forces at work in the lives of parentified children - and treatment strategies that systematically address different layers of the parentification process.

Dr. Jurkovic begins by guiding the reader from an integrated conceptualization to possible causes, transgenerational transmission patterns, and manifestations of parentification, facilitating a clear understanding of how and why this scenario is so common - even in very young children. Drawing from therapeutic experience and research, he presents the startling consequences of parentification through the eyes of parentified children, other family members, and the succeeding generation.

The second part of the book introduces methods of assessment, treatment, and prevention of destructive forms of parentification. Blueprints for the construction of systemically and ethically sound individual, family, couple, and community interventions are provided. This part of the text also includes thought-provoking insights into the professional, ethical, and personal challenges faced by therapists who themselves have a history of pathological parentification.

Interviews with two such therapists bring these insights to life. For therapists at any level of practice and investigators from various disciplines, Lost Childhoods puts a huge piece of the family puzzle into place.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 223-243) and indexes.