The Child Catcher - Book Review
The Child Catcher
Author:
Andrew Bridge
Genre: Non Fiction - Memoir Publisher: Regalo Press Date Published: September 24, 2024
ISBN-10: N/A
ISBN-13: 979-8888450420
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Book Review of : The Child Catcher
Andrew Bridge is a lawyer and children’s advocate who is the author of “The Child Catchers: A Fight for Justice and Truth.” Bridge’s personal experience as a foster child imparts his nonfiction narrative with insight and passion. The author’s introduction briefly relates his childhood history and sets the theme and tone of the book.
The opening chapter introduces David Dolihite, an inpatient at Eufaula Adolescent Center for mentally challenged youth, those with discipline
problems, and/or foster kids in state custody. Although literary license is taken with David’s experiences, the secrecy surrounding the disciplinary actions David endured are factual. Drugged on Thorazine, David was locked in a seclusion room, or cell, called the vocational rehab. The courts of Alabama had convinced his parents that a “voluntary” commitment was in his best interest. Beaten, psychologically abused, and refused counseling or therapy, David attempts suicide.
Author Bridge juxtaposes his personal experiences and painful memories of his own mother’s struggles with mental illness and commitment with the atrocities and conditions being discovered at state mental institutions. Hired as a lawyer with a class action suit against the state of Alabama involving the Eufaula Adolescent Center in the 1970s, Bridge began with his investigation into the history of Bryce Hospital, established in 1861. The hospital was exposed as a veritable dumping-ground for unwanted people. The law firm’s investigation expanded to interviews of uncooperative staff at Eufaula, supervised visits with some young patients, and the introduction of testimony from other named patients that were included in the lawsuit. Bridge's book discusses the lazy or incompetent staff members who turned a blind eye to gangs that brutalized other children, thereby perpetuating cycles of violence against their charges. It highlights shocking practices such as using dogs to track down runaway children and treating these vulnerable youths with contempt, which ultimately led to the children losing all trust and respect for adults. These staff members, who should have been protectors, actively contributed to an environment of fear and mistrust. The book delves into the systemic failures and the long-term impact of such treatment had on the children, exploring the broader implications for society as a whole.
The effects of childhood trauma and neglect can have lasting impacts on individuals, leading to a myriad of social and psychological problems. Bridge's book sheds light on the consequences of institutional abuse and the long-term effects it has on children. It also raises important questions about accountability and responsibility, as those who were supposed to provide care and protection failed to do so.
The heartbreaking, documented children’s stories are not for the fainthearted. Bridge relates the head shaking and appalling medical procedure of a lobotomy. Take a deep breath in disbelief as he describes a transorbital lobotomy using an ice pick through the patient’s eye socket.
As other hidden atrocities are discovered, it is blatantly revealed that the more beds that were occupied in the state faculties, the more state money they received. Although inadequately funded through donations, the law firm was successful in bringing the class action case to court and causing significant changes to the healthcare system.
Well-written and superbly researched with an extensive bibliography, this book should be required reading for social workers, children’s advocates and school counselors who are tempted to send an unruly student into the child welfare system.
Reviewed by: Carole W
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About Andrew Bridge
Andrew Bridge spent 11 years in Los Angeles County foster care before earning a scholarship to Wesleyan University and graduating from Harvard Law School. He is a Fulbright Fellow and a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Writing Resident. His work has been featured in The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Showtime, The Observer, The CBS Early Show, NBC Nightly News, Time Magazine, PBS, Psychology Today, NPR, and Observer Magazine. His legal career began representing children against the State of Alabama, resulting in the closure of one of the most notorious psychiatric institutions in the country, the Eufaula Adolescent Center. After that, he returned home to Los Angeles as CEO of The Alliance for Children's Rights, defending children at MacLaren Hall, where he was once confined. He won the right for every foster child to speak with their social worker at least once a month. Andrew chaired Los Angeles County's Blue Ribbon Foster Care Task Force, which called for an end to the disproportionate removal of African American babies from their parents. He is the co-founder of National Adoption Day and led California's largest recruiter of LGBT+ foster and adoptive parents. He advises senior federal and state officials on reforming our foster care system. His educational work established New Village Girls Academy, California's first all-girls high school for pregnant and parenting teens. He regularly consults with child welfare systems, children's facilities, and private foundations. As a member of Arizona's Foster Care Review Board, Andrew also advises Arizona's Juvenile Court on the safety and well-being of individual children in the state's care.
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