Cry Softly!: The Story of Child Abuse [Hardcover]

Margaret O. Hyde (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1986

Discusses child abuse, its history in England and America, ways to prevent and stop it, and how to report suspected cases.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5 Up In her revision of the 1980 title, Hyde discusses the various forms of abusephysical (including neglect), sexual, and emotionaland provides non-sensational examples of each. She includes stress and parental kidnapping as newer forms of child abuse. Three chapters are devoted to an extensive history of child abuse. The final two chapters discuss what young adults and adults can do to prevent child abuse. Hyde's "Suggestions for Further Reading," which includes both fiction and nonfiction, is one of the best lists available. This edition is more specific than the original title, with newer statistics, more examples, and a longer list of helping agencies. Elaine Landau's Child Abuse (Messner, 1985) is written for the same age group and contains much of the same information in a similar format. The major difference is that while Landau discusses adolescent abuse, the runaway, and suicidal reactions, she does not cover the history of child abuse. Both are excellent report books and smooth reading for browsers. Cry Softly! is especially appropriate for teens who are interested in community involvement, since Hyde recommends several ways in which individuals can help prevent child abuse. Karen Radtke, Milwaukee Public Library
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 117 pages
• Publisher: Westminster John Knox Pr; Rev Enl edition (June 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0664327230
• ISBN-13: 978-0664327231
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,200,119 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Cry Out about Abuse, February 10, 2012

By 

Bradley P. Hayton - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cry Softly!: The Story of Child Abuse (Hardcover)

Margaret O. Hyde has recently revised and expanded her book on child abuse. Although the publishers claim it is for children, most of its content is not for children. She loosely uses statistics as most do, contending that one in four females are sexually abused and one in six males, and then goes on to say that sexual abuse is probably the least common kind of abuse. Thus, she appears to indicate that almost every child is abused! Her examples of abuse justify her claim: they are extremely loose, ranging from physical abuse to making excessive demands upon a child. I am sure that the courts would have a good time interpreting and prosecuting such cases, and indeed they are. Who are the child abusers? Again, almost everyone everywhere. Yet her examples usually come from broken homes, alcoholic homes, live-in boyfriends, adulterous relationships, single-parent families, and foster homes - not your everyday homes, at least I hope not.

Nevertheless, Hyde is unusual for most Christian treatments of the subject. She adds an historical perspective on the problem by including several chapters on the history of child abuse. She does, however, fail to give a class analysis of abuse and child care, which marrs her treatment since not all abused their children the way she contends. She also appears to think that working children are abused children. Child labor of any sort is abuse of their childhood. In one of her examples, she calls a child who gets dirty and sweats while working abused! Yet she adores forced government education programs which children themselves resist. She examines and criticizes history through her own middle-class, twentieth century ethics, which are themselves changing: children now want to work, and to work at earlier and earlier ages. Work can be good for children to teach them responsibility, a trade, and earn money. Students are dehumanized by being forced to go to school to learn meaningless subjects, at least meaningless in their perspective.

Hyde also contributes to the child abuse literature by examining prevention issues in abuse, something that most psychological treatments ignore. She encourages parental skill training, self-esteem training, education in human development and abuse, legal changes, court changes, prosecution changes, increased reporting, helplines, shelters, crisis care centers, foster homes, guardianships, and day care centers. Her suggestions are very practical. It is interesting, tough, that as the number of books, therapists, foster homes, community awareness, and so forth increases, the amount of abuse, divorce, adultery and the like has also been increasing. Some, like Lasch, think that there is a cause and effect relationship here. If this is true, many of Hyde's suggestions are actually part of the problem rather than a solution. In any case, Hyde includes a list of some national hotlines and organizations, as well as a bibliography of fiction and nonfiction books on abuse for both adults and children that might be useful.