For Our Own Safety: Examining the Safety of High-Risk Interventions for Children and Young People

"For Our Own Safety" is devoted entirely to the subject of, and risks associated with, restraint and seclusion of children. This book is a collection of the diverse viewpoints presented at the international symposium, "Examining the Safety of High-Risk Interventions for Children and Young People" (Ithaca, New York, June 1-4, 2005). It presents frank examination of the legal, ethical, and historical uses of physical restraints and seclusion. Also addressed in this collection are issues of safety, the psychological and emotional impacts of restraint, guidelines for development and use, as well as clinical and organizational strategies likely to reduce use. Intended for use by professionals who want to address the impact of aggression and violence in residential care, this volume contributes to the discussion of the appropriate use of high-risk interventions and the ways to improve the general quality of child residential treatment services though safe and harm-free environments. Following a foreword by Jaap E. Doek, the book contains six parts. Part I, Young People and Physical Restraints, presents: (1) Young People's Experiences of Physical Restraint in Residential Care: Subtlety and Complexity in Policy and Practice (Laura Steckley and Andrew Kendrick). Part II, Theoretical and Historical Issues, continues with: (2) Literature on the Therapeutic Effectiveness of Physical Restraints with Children and Youth (David M. Day); and (3) Modernizing Seclusion and Restraint (Kim J. Masters). Part III, Ensuring Safety and Managing Risk, contains: (4) Physical Restraints: Are They Ever Safe and How Safe Is Safe Enough? (Wanda K. Mohr); (5) Risk and Prone Restraint: Reviewing the Evidence (David Allen); and (6) Learning from the Research (Martha Holden and Dale Curry). Part IV, Reducing Restraints through Organizational Change, contains: (7) Adopting a Public Health Model to Reduce Violence and Restraints in Children's Residential Care Facilities (Brodie Paterson, David Leadbetter, Gail Miller, and John Crichton); (8) Leadership's and Program's Role in Organizational and Cultural Change to Reduce Seclusions and Restraints (David Colton); (9) A Case Study Organizational Intervention to Reduce Physical Interventions: Creating Effective, Harm-Free Environments (Ronald W. Thompson, Jonathan C. Huefner, Dennis G. Vollmer, Jerry L. Davis, and Daniel L. Daly); (10) Beyond a Crisis Management Program: How We Reduced Our Restraints by Half in One Year (Jeff Carter, Judy Jones,