Greenwood Publishing Group This book confirms the reality of evil in the world. The anecdotes and accounts of children slaughtered round the world and long lasting effects of violence on those who survive make it impossible for anyone to maintain romantic illusions about innate goodness in humanity. This is the chief benefit of the book. It shatters our complacency about human nature and shows us the necessity to work hard to control our capacity for evil and direct and shape our ability to do good things. The authors are primarily psychodynamic, Freudian-oriented mental health professionals. The explanations given for the violence to children and the effects that are described are drawn from Freudian theory and rhetoric. This limits the utility of the book to those who believe psychoanalytic concepts and postulates. Others who believe the scientific evidence falsifies psychoanalysis will not find the conceptualization persuasive. Reviewed by Ralph Underwager, Institute for Psychological Therapies.
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