Help at Any Cost
LC Class | HV1431 .S97 2006 |
Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids is a
The book received positive reviews in
Background
Teenagers have been participating in
Author
Maia Szalavitz is a senior fellow at the Statistical Assessment Service (stats.org),[4] a media watchdog organization which monitors news coverage of statistics and science.[6] She has served as a researcher for journalist Bill Moyers,[7] a part-time contributor to Psychology Today,[3] and has written articles for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Reason, and The American Prospect.[8] Szalavitz is the co-author of Recovery Options: The Complete Guide with Joseph Volpicelli,[9] and The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog with Bruce D. Perry.[10]
Contents
In Help at Any Cost Szalavitz investigates the teen rehabilitation industry and focuses on four programs:
Szalavitz notes that according to a 2004 statement released by the
An emotional story in the book recounts the death of 16-year-old Aaron Bacon.
In addition to these first-person accounts, she also incorporates court reports and testimony in her research.
Reception
In his book Emotions: Mystery or Madness, psychologist and psychiatrist Robert John McAllister highly recommended Help at Any Cost, and called it "an excellent and informative book on the subject of the 'troubled-teen industry' ", and "important reading for any parent who is considering sending a teenager to a tough love program, a boot camp, or a wilderness program."[2] In a review of the book in Library Journal, Linda Beck commented: "This book is excellent owing to its whistle-blowing approach: it exposes an unregulated industry and alerts adults to the severe harm inflicted by these 'schools.' "[4] She called the book "chilling" and "Highly recommended for public libraries."[4]
In a review in Mother Jones, Nell Bernstein highlighted the sources given for parents at the back of the book, commenting: "Help at Any Cost winds up with an appendix that helpfully outlines "evidence based" alternatives to the tough-love approach."[5] Steve Weinberg of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch gave the book a positive review, and described Szavalitz as "a talented, relentless investigator".[11] He noted: "Her outrage surfaces frequently as children die, as once-loving families are atomized and as troubled-teen entrepreneurs escape criminal prosecution while using legal maneuvers to prevail in civil court lawsuits seeking damages", and characterized Help at Any Cost as "an important book about an industry that sometimes helps troubled youth but causes harm way too often."[11]
A review in Psychology Today called the book "An alarming exposé of the burgeoning business of boot camps and drug rehab centers that promise to reform troubled teens", and described Szalavitz's work as "a meticulously reported and thoughtful investigation".[3] Vanessa Bush of Booklist characterized the book as "a revealing, at times horrifying look at the troubled-teen industry."[15] Publishers Weekly noted: "With a useful appendix discussing when and how to get responsible help for a troubled teen, this book, filled with first-person accounts, should be required reading in Parenting 101", calling the work "a courageous—if horrifying—study of the tough-love industry".[12]
Karen Karbo, author of The Stuff of Life, gave the book a positive review in Newsday, writing: "Maia Szalavitz's brisk investigation of America's so-called 'tough love' treatment programs, which bill themselves as the last hope for out-of-control, drug-taking teens, would be the stuff of a bad TV movie, if it weren't so smart, well-researched and even-handed."[7] Mark Sauer of The San Diego Union-Tribune noted: "Some of the stories reveal physical and psychological abuse that rivals tales from Iraq's Abu Ghraib Prison."[6]
Aftermath
Help at Any Cost succeeded in bringing attention to deaths related to
After the book's publication, Szalavitz continued to write about the controversy surrounding the troubled-teen industry for Statistical Assessment Service, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Reason, and The American Prospect.[8] The House Committee on Education and Labor held additional hearings on the matter on April 24, 2008, again chaired by Representative George Miller.[16]
See also
- Troubled teen industry
- Élan School
- Judge Rotenberg Educational Center
- Scared Straight!
Notes
- ^ Eichel 2006
- ^ a b McAllister 2007, p. 157
- ^ a b c Psychology Today staff 2006, p. 36
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Beck 2006, pp. 107–108
- ^ a b c Bernstein 2006, pp. 79–82
- ^ a b c d e Sauer, Mark (February 19, 2006). "PRISONERS OF WAR - In 'Help at Any Cost,' Maia Szalavitz gets tough with 'tough-love' camps for teens". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Union-Tribune Publishing Co. p. BOOKS-8.
- ^ a b c d e f Karbo, Karen (February 8, 2006). "The business of tough love". Newsday. Newsday Inc. p. C37.
- ^ a b c d e f Center for Media and Public Affairs 2007
- ISBN 0-471-34575-X.
- ISBN 978-0-465-05653-8.
- ^ a b c Weinberg, Steve (February 26, 2006). "Book exposes teen tough-love camps". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. F10.
- ^ a b c Publishers Weekly staff 2006, pp. 51–52
- ^ a b c d e Werner, Nick (October 22, 2006). "Author: 'Tough-love' programs prey on parents' fears". The Star Press. Gannett Co., Inc. p. 5A.
- ^ Potter, Cherry (February 22, 2006). "Train them like rats: Boot camps for badly behaved teenagers are mistaking conformity for emotional growth". The Guardian. p. 29.
- ^ Bush 2006, p. 27
- ^ Butterworth, Trevor (April 22, 2008). "Congressional Hearings on "Tough Love" Child Abuse - Spurred by STATS Maia Szalavitz research, the House Education and Labor Committee holds the second round of hearings this Thursday into the widespread abuse of children at residential treatment facilities". www.stats.org. Statistical Assessment Service. Archived from the original on October 4, 2008. Retrieved August 29, 2008.
References
- Beck, Linda (March 1, 2006). "Szalavitz, Maia. Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids". Library Journal. Vol. 131, no. 4. pp. 107–108.
- Bernstein, Nell (March–April 2006). "Arrested development". Mother Jones. Vol. 31, no. 2. pp. 79–82.
- Bush, Vanessa (February 15, 2006). "Szalavitz, Maia. Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids". Booklist. Vol. 102, no. 12. p. 27.
- Center for Media and Public Affairs (October 9, 2007). "Congress Holds First Hearing on Abuse in Unregulated 'Troubled Teen' Industry; Statistical Assessment Service Author Exposed Quackery and Torture Across America". AScribe Newswire.
- Cultic Studies Review. Vol. 5, no. 2. International Cultic Studies Association. Archived from the originalon October 4, 2008. Retrieved August 17, 2008.
- McAllister, Robert John (2007). Emotions: Mystery Or Madness. AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1-4259-8244-7.
- "Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids". Psychology Today. 39 (2): 36. March–April 2006.
- "Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids". Publishers Weekly. Vol. 253, no. 1. January 2, 2006. pp. 51–52.
Further reading
- Szalavitz, Maia (January 29, 2006). "The Trouble With Tough Love". The Washington Post. p. B01. Retrieved August 17, 2008.
- Szalavitz, Maia (January 30, 2006). "Outlook: "Tough Love" Programs for Teens Often Counterproductive - Tactics of Harsh Rules, Confrontation Questioned". Washington Post. Retrieved August 20, 2008.
- Szalavitz, Maia (January 2007). "The Trouble with Troubled Teen Programs: How the "boot camp" industry tortures and kills kids". Reason. Retrieved August 17, 2008.
External links
- Help At Any Cost ~ by Maia Szalavitz, official website
- Szalavitz, Maia; Evan Wright (April 20, 2006). "Help at Any Cost". Cato Institute. (Video of discussion with author)
- Dickinson, Amy (October 11, 2007). "'Ask Amy' Weighs In on Teens and Tough Love". National Public Radio. Retrieved August 17, 2008.