Skills for Safeguarding
casebound
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*affiliate partner
The Only Textbook on Safeguarding for Faith-Based Ministries and Seminaries
Christians are called to care for the vulnerable, but churches have not always led the way in becoming places safe from abuse. Increasingly, organizations and churches are recognizing the importance of the field of safeguarding: training and equipping people to prevent abuse, act when abuse happens, and promote healing for survivors.
Lisa Compton and Taylor Patterson have edited the first textbook on safeguarding designed specifically for faith-based ministries and seminaries. In Skills for Safeguarding, experts from universities around the world have contributed on topics in their areas of expertise. This book
Safeguarders can be individuals hired by the church in a vocational role, but they can also be pastors and other church leaders, laypeople, mental health professionals, and anyone who desires to promote a safe environment. Ideally, every adult in the church should recognize their responsibility to safeguard and seek to grow in skills to better serve abuse survivors and cultivate a culture that protects the vulnerable. This book provides the essential starting place.
"The church and its ministries will be very grateful for this book! It provides an accessible and thorough account of how we can enact care and protection from abuse in the church. Readers can study the content, learn a great deal, and implement new ideas that will safeguard and then set the stage when healing is needed. I warmly recommend this book for any Christian context where there is a commitment to respond differently to the all-too-common issue of abuse."
"This book covers extensive ground and will serve not only as a training manual for safeguarding officers but also as a text for any leader seeking to make church a safer place and to better respond to survivors and victims. Skills for Safeguarding should be required reading for those training for ministry—both lay and ordained. It is an excellent resource for all safeguarders in the church."
"In Skills for Safeguarding, Compton and Patterson have brought clarity and process to the role of safeguarding that make it much more accessible. They give us key warnings and tie the work of safeguarding to our biblical callings. The applications and reflections ensured that I was thinking about how this all applied to me in my context. A wonderful addition to kingdom work of bringing shalom to a troubled world."
"Skills for Safeguarding is a unique resource that offers an in-depth understanding of abuse from the perspectives of both the abuser and the abused. This book features data and case studies from numerous experts, helping readers comprehend the grooming process used by abusers, which enables them to identify potential issues before the issues lead to victimization. Individuals who are supporting abused persons throughout the healing process can gain insight into the abused persons' thought processes and actions as well. I highly recommend ministries use Skills for Safeguarding as valuable training material for their staff and volunteers."
Introduction
Section I: Reality of Abuse
1. Foundational Knowledge of Safeguarding and Abuse
2. Abuse of Power
Section II: Abuse Systems, Dynamics, and Origins
3. Child Sexual Abuse in the Catholic church
4. A Systems Lens for Understanding Abuse
5. Perpetrator Dynamics
6. Sexual Morality and Sexual Scripts
Section III: Impact of Abuse
7. Impact of Trauma
8. Trauma Survivors and Risk of Revictimization
9. Impact on Children and Adolescents
Section IV: Vulnerable Populations
10. Vulnerability of Children to Grooming Strategies
11. Older Adults and Persons with Disabilities
Section V: Skill Development
12. Empathetic Alliance
13. Listening and Responding
14. Emotion Regulation
15. Complexities of Safeguarding Care
Section VI: Care for Safeguarders
16. Hazards of Providing Care
17. Strengthening the Safeguarder
18. Conclusion: Education, Collaboration, and Resources
Glossary