General

The Structure of the Blog:

The blog will tell the story of Claire and her son Davy; it will give the reader a window into Claire’s thoughts, feelings, and behavior. She isn’t perfect. She will make mistakes. There will be times when people try to help Claire and the reader will be introduced to some great strategies that have been found to work in preventing mistakes that lead to violence. As the reader, you will have an opportunity to share your thoughts about whether Claire can find a way out of the violence that has plagued her family for generations. You will have a chance to consider whether there are any steps you might want to take to help prevent interpersonal violence. The people in this blog were created by Dr. Pearl Berman based on her thirty years of experience in the field of child abuse, neglect, sexual abuse, and exploitation. Any similarities between the people discussed in the blog and actual people who are living or deceased is coincidental.

Specific posts from the blog highlight different issues such as: impact of childhood trauma on adolescent and adult behavior; the intergenerational transmission of violence; the interrelationship between victimization and perpetration; factors that support resilient development and healing; trauma-informed care; personal, social, and political advocacy; and self-care.

The major characters in the blog are Claire (she enters the blog as a 15 year old giving birth alone at a community hospital);  Davy who grows from infancy through his early childhood years; Larry, the father of Davy and “long-time love” of Claire who started his relationship with her by rescuing her from sexual assault at school but who then uses coercive sexuality, emotional abuse, and physical abuse to control her; and Mr. and Mrs. Carson who become extended foster care parents for Claire and Davy.

The blog can be used to demonstrate the difference in outcomes for Claire–who receives extraordinary support for herself–and Davy versus Larry who gains no help and becomes quickly involved in the criminal justice system and drug gangs. Specific blog posts can be used for assignments on any of the above topics through using the search command on names of characters or type of issue.