Bruce Perry Blog

Chapter 7 of The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog, Satanic Panic, describes Bruce Perry's experiences working with a group of children in the foster care system who had supposedly experienced abused by members of a satanic cult.  Through this complicated and twisted tale, Bruce Perry discovers that after the first sibling group was removed from abuse, "therapy" was used within their foster care setting in order to coerce the children to make outcries that did not hold validity.  These outcries ultimately led to the removal and abuse at the hand of this "therapy" of many more children within the community.  Bruce Perry uncovers an elaborate web of lies that ultimately led children to be put in danger at the hands of those who were supposed to keep them safe.  Reading this chapter, my initial reaction was disgust.  I found myself needing put down the book and reread pages as the story of Satanic Panic evolved into an elaborate conspiracy with  many moving parts.  I f

Chapter 6 of The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog discusses two unique, yet similar cases.   First, Bruce Perry describes his experiences working with a young boy named Justin, who is the inspiration for the name of this book.   Justin was raised among dogs in a cage by his then-caretaker and was unknowingly neglected for multiple years of his early childhood.   Second, Bruce Perry explores his experiences working with a teen named Connor, who was left alone by his babysitter for hours per day for the first eighteen months of his life.   Both boys experienced developmental delays and difficulties relating to others and engaging in social situations.   Additionally, Bruce Perry frequently revisited the subject of chapter 5 (The Coldest Heart), Leon, in order to provide comparison for what seemed like three individuals very similar experiences and drastically different outcomes.   I found these comparisons fascinating, frightening and hopeful.   These comparisons particularly stuck out to

In Chapter 5 of The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog, The Coldest Heart, Bruce Perry visits with 18 year old Leon in prison in order testify at Leon's sentencing after Leon brutally assaulted and murdered two teenage girls.   Perry explored Leon's background and attempted to find answers as to why Leon would commit such a crime and ultimately linked the murders to Leon's attachment (or rather lack thereof) growing up as a child.   Leon was raised with frequent prolonged periods of being left alone, which triggered adverse attachment responses later on in his life.   I truly appreciated the amount of compassion Perry held for Leon throughout his exploration of the case.   Perry very carefully took the time to understand Leon's background beyond diagnosis and gathered information that could assist Perry in depicting an accurate timeline of the events that took place leading up to Leon's crime.   I specifically appreciate Perry’s perspective in working with Leon becaus

Bruce Perry’s Chapter 4 of The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog, Skin Hunger, depicts the story of Laura and Virginia, a mother and daughter duo who both struggled with attachment trauma associated with Virginia’s past history moving from home to home within the foster care system.   My first reaction as I was reading this chapter was anger and frustration due to the marveling that took place from all of the medical professionals that Laura encountered.   For the first four years of her life, she was subjected to unnecessary medical procedures all in the name of looking for something facsinating.   Beginning at the age of infancy, the child who was already experiencing neglect (although not with ill intention) from her mother, was used as a stepping stone of curiosity and career fufillment by those who were supposed to be protecting her.   Due to this, Laura endured trauma after trauma with each medical procedure at the hands of medical professionals looking to get an edge up in their car