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An Approach to Childhood Stealing with Evaluation of 45 Cases
Author(s) -
Seymour Fred W.,
Epston David
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of family therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.297
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1467-8438
pISSN - 0814-723X
DOI - 10.1002/j.1467-8438.1989.tb00757.x
Subject(s) - distressing , psychology , project commissioning , family therapy , developmental psychology , publishing , psychotherapist , political science , chemistry , law
Childhood stealing is a distressing problem for families and may have wider community costs since childhood stealers often become adult criminals: This paper describes a therapeutic ‘map’ that emphasises direct engagement of the child, along with his/her family, in regrading the child from ‘stealer’ to ‘honest person’. Analysis of therapy with 45 children revealed a high level of family engagement and initial behaviour change. Furthermore, a follow‐up telephone call made 6–12 months after completion of therapy sessions revealed that 81% of the children had not been stealing at all or had substantially reduced rates of stealing.