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Student Alienation Syndrome: A Paradigm for Understanding the Relation Between School Trauma and School Violence

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Abstract

In the school setting, children too often are victimized by peers, educators, and other school staff. The frequent and often unrecognized abuse in the school may cause pervasive emotional, social, and academic problems in children. This paper posits a theoretical construct, Student Alienation Syndrome (SAS), which may result from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms experienced by some victimized students. This article describes the Student Alienation and Trauma Survey (SATS), an alternate version of the My Worst Experience Scale (MWES), as a psychometrically sound instrument constructed to assess symptoms of PTSD and SAS in children who have been victimized at school. This article also includes an overview of a comprehensive treatment model called TREAT for children with PTSD/SAS and a case study illustrating assessment and intervention using the paradigm.

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Correspondence to Irwin Hyman.

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Hyman, I., Cohen, I. & Mahon, M. Student Alienation Syndrome: A Paradigm for Understanding the Relation Between School Trauma and School Violence. Contemp School Psychol 8, 73–86 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03340897

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