Showing results by publisher "Recorded Books" in Abuse

Dave Pelzer was brutally abused as a child by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother. She considered him a slave - no longer a boy, but an "it". He was physically and mentally tortured and starved. The outside world knew nothing of the nightmare he experienced behind closed doors, and his father was aware of the abuse but turned to denial and alcohol. The abuse only fueled a determination to survive and become stronger.

Rachael Denhollander's voice was heard around the world when she spoke out to end the most shocking scandal in US gymnastics history. The first victim to publicly accuse Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics team doctor who abused hundreds of young athletes, Rachael now reveals her full story for the first time. How did Nassar get away with it for so long? How did Rachael and the other survivors finally stop him and bring him to justice? And how can we protect the vulnerable in our own families, churches, and communities? 

In the context of a clear and bracing legal history of accountability for sexual assault and the legal recognition of sexual harassment, Nussbaum confronts three "citadels of pride" - the judiciary, the arts, and sports. Exposing prideful privilege in the intellectual world, unpunished narcissism in the arts, and toxic masculinity and corruption in American sports, she discusses egregious cases of male entitlement leading to sexual abuse and exploitation. 

Feeling pressured to forgive their offenders is a common reason trauma survivors avoid mental health services and support. Those who force, pressure, or encourage trauma survivors to forgive can unknowingly cause harm and sabotage their recovery. And such harm is entirely unnecessary—especially when research shows there is no consensus among psychologists, psychiatrists, and other professionals about whether forgiveness is necessary for recovery at all.

Millions of us are desperately trying to rewrite our past by unconsciously repeating it—unknowingly reenacting the traumatic events in our lives in an effort to complete unfinished business or undo what was done to us. These unconscious efforts to undo trauma only bring more pain, more disappointment, and more psychological damage. In Put Your Past in the Past, renowned psychotherapist Beverly Engel offers the first accessible and comprehensive book on emotional reenactments.

Calabasas is a quiet, well-to-do California town often referred to as “The Bubble”. But on September 25th, 2007, that bubble burst with the murder of one of its longtime residents - high school math teacher Hadas Winnick. The upscale community was rocked by her gruesome death, but as shocking as the tragedy seemed, the years of abuse she faced that preceded it were more so. Even more devastating still, was the effort and time it took to sentence her murderer to prison, and the power that our systems-in-place allowed him while on his way there.

From religious communities to therapeutic spaces, the importance of forgiving those who’ve wronged us is often enshrined as an unqualified good. But what about horrifying cases of abuse, predatory behavior, or systemic wrong? Too often, when predators or abusers are exposed, the chorus comes immediately: “What about forgiveness?” In these cases, forgiveness places the onus on victims, diminishes real hurt and anger, lets perpetrators off the hook, and prevents justice from being done. In Not So Sorry, Kaya Oakes tackles these questions with intelligence, nuance, and a bit of righteous anger.

Drawing on examples from around the world—from Uganda, Nigeria and South Africa to Saudi Arabia, the Americas and Europe—Gqola traces the construction and machinations of the female fear factory by exposing its lies, myths and seductions. She shows how seemingly disparate effects like driving bans, higher education rape, sexual harassment and femicide are all premised on the construction of people, mostly women, as female, and thereafter the use of fear as a tool of patriarchal subjugation and punishment.

 The Warmest December is the incredibly moving story of one Brooklyn family and the alcoholism that determined years of their lives. Narrated by Kenzie Lowe, a young woman reminiscent of Jamaica Kincaid's Annie John, as she visits her dying father and finds that choices she once thought beyond her control are very much hers to make.