Brief: Reflections on Childhood, Trauma and Society
By Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD
Reviewed by Lois Svoboda
Houston, TX: The ChildTrauma Academy Press.
2013. ASIN: B00E7A3FTW. $9.99 (Amazon
Kindle). 69 pages. $9.99 (iTunes). 70 pages.
This brief, easy-to-read ebook by the eminent
authority on traumatized children consists of
“invited essays for magazines, prefaces for
others’ books, commentaries, and brief policy
pieces collected over the years” (p. v). Dr. Perry
straddles several disciplines simultaneously: He
is a pediatrician, a child psychiatrist, and a
pharmacologist. He is a researcher into basic
neuroscience and clinical research. His expertise
has been called upon to deal with traumatized
children after the Branch Davidian Waco siege
in 1993 the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995
the Columbine school shootings in 1999 the
September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New
York City and Washington, DC Hurricane
Katrina in New Orleans in 2005 the FLDS
Longing for Zion polygamous-sect raid in 2008
the earthquake in Haiti in 2010 the tsunami in
Tohoku, Japan, in 2011 and the Sandy Hook
elementary school shootings in 2012. He is the
author of more than five hundred journal
articles, book chapters, and scientific
proceedings.
What I respect and warm to the most about Dr.
Perry, however, is his humanity, which shines
through every page of this book. His prodigious
intellect, knowledge, and experience also show,
but they don’t warm me. They awe me. Perry
cuts through peripherals to the core needs of
children—the need for connection, the need to
feel special to someone. The lay public can
easily read this book, but even learned scholars
will learn something.
Each chapter is a short essay, a few pages long.
For example:
Chapter 1—Biological Relativity: Time and
the Developing Child, points out that the hours
of childhood are disproportionately weighted
with respect to their impact on the developing
child relative to the hours of adulthood.
Chapter 2—Touch and Move, discusses the
critical, life-saving importance of touch to the
developing infant.
Chapter 3—Narrative, focuses on the critical
importance to children of knowing their own
story, which the public-welfare and juvenile
systems don’t always acknowledge.
Chapter 4—Image and Emotion, presents why
and how sexual abuse is damaging to children.
Chapter 5—Policy, answers the questions (a)
What does the government need to know about
the developing brain? (b) Why should the
government be involved in early childhood? and
(c) How can the government optimize child
development? Perry’s conclusion is that neglect
and abuse during the first 3 years of life can
result in a lifetime of lost potential safety,
structure, nurturing, and enrichment in these first
3 years can result in a lifetime of productivity (p.
43–44).
The key to understanding traumatized
children is to remember that they will
be, at baseline, in a state of low level
fear—responding by using either a
hyperarousal or dissociative
adaptation—and that their emotional,
cognitive and behavioral function will
reflect this (often regressed) state. The
key points … help a caregiver provide
the structure, predictability and sense of
safety that can help keep traumatized
children from staying in this state of fear
too long. (p. 54)
Chapter 4—First Experiences, in Perry’s view,
are pivotal:
It is our greatest battle with these (foster
children who have been abused) to shift
their world view. To replace the
inaccurate, distorted and destructive
memory templates created by a
maltreated child’s first experiences is
100 International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 6, 2015
By Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD
Reviewed by Lois Svoboda
Houston, TX: The ChildTrauma Academy Press.
2013. ASIN: B00E7A3FTW. $9.99 (Amazon
Kindle). 69 pages. $9.99 (iTunes). 70 pages.
This brief, easy-to-read ebook by the eminent
authority on traumatized children consists of
“invited essays for magazines, prefaces for
others’ books, commentaries, and brief policy
pieces collected over the years” (p. v). Dr. Perry
straddles several disciplines simultaneously: He
is a pediatrician, a child psychiatrist, and a
pharmacologist. He is a researcher into basic
neuroscience and clinical research. His expertise
has been called upon to deal with traumatized
children after the Branch Davidian Waco siege
in 1993 the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995
the Columbine school shootings in 1999 the
September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New
York City and Washington, DC Hurricane
Katrina in New Orleans in 2005 the FLDS
Longing for Zion polygamous-sect raid in 2008
the earthquake in Haiti in 2010 the tsunami in
Tohoku, Japan, in 2011 and the Sandy Hook
elementary school shootings in 2012. He is the
author of more than five hundred journal
articles, book chapters, and scientific
proceedings.
What I respect and warm to the most about Dr.
Perry, however, is his humanity, which shines
through every page of this book. His prodigious
intellect, knowledge, and experience also show,
but they don’t warm me. They awe me. Perry
cuts through peripherals to the core needs of
children—the need for connection, the need to
feel special to someone. The lay public can
easily read this book, but even learned scholars
will learn something.
Each chapter is a short essay, a few pages long.
For example:
Chapter 1—Biological Relativity: Time and
the Developing Child, points out that the hours
of childhood are disproportionately weighted
with respect to their impact on the developing
child relative to the hours of adulthood.
Chapter 2—Touch and Move, discusses the
critical, life-saving importance of touch to the
developing infant.
Chapter 3—Narrative, focuses on the critical
importance to children of knowing their own
story, which the public-welfare and juvenile
systems don’t always acknowledge.
Chapter 4—Image and Emotion, presents why
and how sexual abuse is damaging to children.
Chapter 5—Policy, answers the questions (a)
What does the government need to know about
the developing brain? (b) Why should the
government be involved in early childhood? and
(c) How can the government optimize child
development? Perry’s conclusion is that neglect
and abuse during the first 3 years of life can
result in a lifetime of lost potential safety,
structure, nurturing, and enrichment in these first
3 years can result in a lifetime of productivity (p.
43–44).
The key to understanding traumatized
children is to remember that they will
be, at baseline, in a state of low level
fear—responding by using either a
hyperarousal or dissociative
adaptation—and that their emotional,
cognitive and behavioral function will
reflect this (often regressed) state. The
key points … help a caregiver provide
the structure, predictability and sense of
safety that can help keep traumatized
children from staying in this state of fear
too long. (p. 54)
Chapter 4—First Experiences, in Perry’s view,
are pivotal:
It is our greatest battle with these (foster
children who have been abused) to shift
their world view. To replace the
inaccurate, distorted and destructive
memory templates created by a
maltreated child’s first experiences is
100 International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 6, 2015
