"In this riveting and deeply troubling book, Maia Szalavitz
shows that we don't have to go to Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo to find examples of
harsh violations of human rights: frighteningly similar abuses are inflicted on
American teenagers today, in programs ostensibly established to help them. Help
At Any Cost vividly illuminates the human costs of these 'treatment'
programs, and the urgency of challenging their misleading claims before more of
our children are irreparably harmed" -- Elliott
Currie, Ph.D., Professor
Criminology, Law and Society, University of California-Irvine.
"A piercing, incisive look at an out of control industry that
puts profits ahead of children and wreaks havoc on families. The violence of
the Tough Love credo that has dominated youth rehabilitation for decades will
shock you to rage and tears. A must read for anyone concerned with the welfare
of our children today." -- Stephen
Elliott, former ward of the state and author of Happy Baby and A Life
Without Consequences.
How
much of the industry that provides residential drug treatment for teenagers
consists of institutionalized child abuse? I don't know, but Maia
Szalavitz makes a strong case that the answer is 'too much of
it,' and that no system is now in place to detect and remedy
those abuses." -- Mark Kleiman,
Director, Drug Policy Analysis Program, University of California-Los Angeles
"In this long awaited study of the booming 'teen
help' industry, Szalavitz bravely takes on an important issue impacting
teens more today than ever before. In this thorough and riveting example, she
calls for parents, educators and mentors of teens to take a closer look at the
"help" their teens are receiving. In fact, the lives of many teens
depend on it!"-- Lynn Ponton, MD,
author ofThe Romance of Risk:
Why Teens do the Things They Do,Professor
of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco.
"Help at Any Cost is the fascinating,
disturbing story of an AmericanAbu Ghraib that preys on
troubled teens and their unwitting parents.Maia
Szalavitz's meticulously researched account lays bare one of themost under-reported injustices occurring in America today. It is achilling portrait of the dehumanizing effects of the war on drugs
andof lives wasted by a teen help industry run
amuck." -- Evan Wright, best-selling author of Generation Kill and PEN award recipient.
"Maia Szalavitz has written a brave and independent
book. In an era when we believe children are regularly dying due to
drugs, sex, suicide, and crime, parents are ready to try any solution to
"save" their children. Szalavitz has discovered that the
tough-love programs many parents resort to do more harm than good, and she
writes with facility about research while presenting on-the- ground reportage
that puts flesh on the often-horrifying stories of children caught in the maws
of tough love therapy. Finally, she presents parents with tools with which to
evaluate these programs and to otherwise make sound decisions to help their
troubled children." -- Stanton Peele, Ph.D.,
J.D., author of 7 Tools to Beat Addiction.
"This powerful book describes with sensitivity and clarity how
fear, ignorance, greed and inhumanity converge to create a 'therapy' industry
that humiliates, degrades, deprives and tortures our own children sometimes to
death. This amazing, sad, hopeful book is a clarion call to all who value
children: every parent and every professional working with adolescents should
read this book. And then give it to any
policy maker, legislator, clinician, educator or caregiver you know." -- Bruce
D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Fellow, The ChildTrauma Academy, former chief of psychiatry,
Texas Children's Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine.
"As a survivor of a teen boot camp, I was stunned by
Szalavitz's brilliant expose of the "teen help" industry. A
book-length investigation into the dark side of this booming business was long
overdue, and Szalavitz nailed it on the head. It's a landmark study
of a business that frequently hurts -- and sometimes kills --teenagers. This
book deserves a wide audience." -- Julia
Scheeres, author, Jesusland, attended Escuela Caribe, located in the Dominican Republic.
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