Zero Abuse Project would like to congratulate Dr. Pearl Berman on the release of her new textbook entitled “Violence Across the Lifespan.” Dr. Pearl Berman is a Full Professor, the Chair of the Psychology Department at Indiana University of PA (IUP), and the President of the National Partnership to End Interpersonal Violence (NPEIV). She has also been a member of the National Committee to Prevent Elder Abuse, the Academy on Violence and Abuse, and the American Psychological Association. Dr. Berman worked extensively to expand the Child Advocacy Studies Program (CAST) into a Child and Adult Advocacy Studies Program (CAAST) that covers violence across the lifespan. She is the Pennsylvania Coordinator for ChildFirst PA, a forensic training program in 2018. She has published 3 doctoral-level textbooks, one advanced undergraduate textbook, book chapters and newsletter articles focused on violence across the lifespan. She has presented her work nationally and internationally.
Her newest book was developed for the capstone course of the CAAST program at IUP. It has a unique format of integrating the story of two children who grow through childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and older adulthood into the research literature on violence across the lifespan.
The opening unit introduces key theories from the fields of criminology, psychology, and sociology used in understanding violence. Later units progress through the lifespan, beginning with examining interpersonal violence and children, moving to interpersonal violence and adolescents, adults, and finally, older adults. The readings address all forms of interpersonal family violence including emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect. They also cover abuse that occurs in educational settings such as bullying and sexual assault. Finally, issues of financial exploitation and self-neglect occurring in older adulthood are covered. The collection concludes with strategies for collaborating within multidisciplinary teams to increase effectiveness and for developing effective self-care strategies to prevent secondary traumatic stress. Violence Across the Lifespan is an ideal resource for courses in criminology, psychology, counseling, and social work that prepare students to support or interact with individuals who have endured acts of violence. The textbook takes a multidisciplinary and contextual approach to understanding interpersonal violence across the lifespan. It will emphasize skill building in mandated reporting, forensic interviewing, documentation of violent incidents, working as a member of a multidisciplinary team, and being an advocate for violence prevention.
More information regarding the textbook can be found through the Cognella website: cognella.com
