Auswahl der wissenschaftlichen Literatur zum Thema „Children of hoarders“

Abstract This is a call for action to protect and assist children of hoarding parents. Action that minimises harm to children living in hoarded homes also promotes family safety and health. Optimal care involves the whole family system, both children and parents. Prevention of harm through early identification and intervention for hoarding can reduce the burden of a disorder that often increases in severity over a lifetime and deprives humans of a full and safe life. Helping children and their parents severely affected by hoarding disorder is for the public good. Public policy and funded programmes can reduce long-term and immense costs to children, families and the many systems hoarding affects. Specifically, public policy can facilitate and fund outreach, education, coordination of providers of health, social and public services, and research-driven methods for assessment and intervention on behalf of children, individuals and families. Releasing people from the grips of hoarding disorder can enable them to devote generative resources to themselves, their families and their communities. Ultimately, prevention of hoarding through early assessment and intervention for minors and young adults is the most efficient, long-term and cost-effective method for minimising harm. When unidentified, hoarding disorder intensifies, people go into hiding, risk increases and opportunity for detection and intervention decreases. Informing the public about hoarding disorder must be followed with sufficient resources to address it, otherwise, helplessness ensues, and people will likely remain in the hidden world it governs.

Abstract The perspective herein is based upon the lived experience of adult Children of Hoarding Parents (COHP). The weight of parental hoarding on COHP is not derived solely from the physical adversity of living within a hoarded home but also comes with the social and psychological challenges they carry into adulthood. The view of hoarding as a family disorder with lasting impact evokes research questions including the exploration of the relationship between childhood adversity and parental hoarding, and the application of attachment theory to hoarding behaviours and family relationships. These types of research studies may lead to policy adoption and programme development for early identification of and intervention within families where parental hoarding represents a threat to child welfare.

Abstract Children raised in animal hoarding situations experience both short- and long-term physical and emotional hazards. Far too often, the needs of children are under-served due to lack of interagency cooperation, societal misperceptions and other mitigating factors. These issues are discussed as they relate to the effects of animal hoarding on children in the home. Content is drawn from the lifelong experience of a humane law enforcement and animal care professional. A sampling of case studies is offered, and observations are presented regarding the immediate and long-term risks and trauma experienced by children in the hands of people who hoard animals. Included are a universal definition of animal hoarding, an explanation of animal behaviour in hoarded homes, information about humane law enforcement agencies and problems associated with a lack of interagency cooperation.

Abstract Hoarding is a complex and persistent mental illness that may pose significant threats to the health, safety and optimal functioning of the sufferer and their family members. Children and youth who live in hoarded environments are especially vulnerable to safety hazards and the negative social and developmental impacts that can result from this challenging behaviour. Some educational, health and protective service organisations are compelled to act on legal and regulatory mandates that necessitate interventions for hoarding in cases where children and youth are residing and may be at risk. Striking the balance between individual rights and protection of some of society’s most vulnerable citizens is a significant challenge. Carefully executed multidisciplinary interventions grounded in an ecological system’s approach offer some hope for minimising adverse impacts on youth and families while reducing the potential for harm caused by hoarding behaviour.

Background With rapid industrialization, urbanization, and population explosion in sub-Saharan Africa including Uganda, the population has experienced increased exposure to environmental lead subsequently causing elevated blood lead levels. Mean blood levels of 332µg/dL,120µg/dʟ, 25µg/dL,11µg/dL, and 10µg/dL in children under 18 years of age in Nigeria, DR Congo, South Africa, Sudan, and Uganda respectively. Susceptibility to lead toxicity correlates with one’s nutrition status, age, and genetics. This study expounded susceptibility to lead toxicity by relating blood lead levels, delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD) enzyme activity, and genetic variations of proteins that code for ALAD in urban children of Uganda aged between 6 and 60 months. Methods A total of 198 blood samples were analyzed for blood lead levels (BLL), on an atomic absorption spectrophotometer whereas hemoglobin (Hb) levels, and ALAD enzyme activity, were analyzed on a spectrophotometer before DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction, and restriction fragment length digestion for ALAD polymorphism. Results Geometric means of BLL (10.55µg/dL, SD = 7.4), Hb (7.85g/dL, SD = 1.3) and ALAD enzyme activity (37.15 units/L BLL, S.D = 9.7), corresponded to samples that coded for ALAD1 allele (99.05%) compared to the 0.05% that coded for ALAD2 with BLL (14.5µg/ dL, SD = 4.7), Hb (6.1 g/ dL), ALAD enzyme activity (33.8 units/L, SD=1.45). There was a significant relationship with a negative linear correlation between BLL, Hb (status, and ALAD enzyme activity in the three isozymes (ALAD1-1, ALAD1-2, and ALAD2-2) in the strength of ALAD1-1 (r = 0.42, p-value = 0.02) ˂ ALAD1-2 (r = 0.62, effective size = 0.43, p-value = ˂ 0.001) ˂ ALAD2-2 (r = 0.67, effective size = 0.86, p-value = ˂ 0.001). Conclusions Most of the study participants coded for the ALAD1 allele hence hoarded blood lead, which could result in delayed exposure and adverse effects later in their lives.

The trefoil – a magical object?In 1997, a trefoil was found in a cremation pit at Bilstrup near Skive in Viborg county. The other grave goods, comprising fragments of arm rings and smaller rings, the stem of an iron pin, a small handled vessel etc., gave no hint as to the trefoil’s function and I have therefore searched ever since for information on these small ornaments (figs. 1 and 3).Trefoils are relatively rare finds, but are known from across most of Denmark (fig. 2 and catalogue) and large parts of Europe: Norway, Germany, Slovenia, Hungary, France and Italy, as well as possibly Serbia and Greece. They were also around for a remarkably long period of time, from c. 900 to c. 400 BC. As the trefoil has never been subjected to an independent study and analysis, but only described and discussed in minor notes, I will investigate here how it was used and the functions it had, based on finds from various European areas.A trefoil consists of three rings soldered together to form a triangle, but a few examples are cast in one piece. Its size varies from c. 2.5 to 5 cm. There are some special versions, for example where the rings are joined together by short bars, but these are not included here. In Germany and a few other countries the trefoil is referred to as the Dreipass, but in Denmark these objects have been recorded under various different names and are therefore difficult to trace in the archives. Trefoils are usually made of bronze, but there are some versions carved in sandstone or even made from human skulls. They tend to be found in graves, but are also recorded from hoards. In Denmark, they fall within a dating range extending from Bronze Age period V up to and including Pre-Roman Iron Age period I.The Scandinavian finds are presented in figure 2 and in the catalogue. As can be seen from these, the trefoil has been recorded from a number of graves, but has also been found in two hoards – at Voldtofte in Funen and Falling in eastern Jutland. Trefoils were presumably produced locally, as an example has been found in a pit together with casting waste at Otterup on Funen (cat. no. 11).With the aim of determining the trefoil’s function, an analysis was first carried out relating it to gender. An examination of finds combinations from Scandinavia shows that the trefoil occurs exclusively in graves containing ornaments such as neck and arm rings (table 1). It is possible that a few of these could be child graves, as suggested for example by the oath ring from the grave at Gåsdal, which has an internal diameter of only c. 5 cm (fig. 4).The other graves are in Germany, France and Italy (table 2). Even though the trefoil occurs in a large number of German graves, it is combined with other finds in only three cases, and in only one of these is a female ornament involved, i.e. an arm ring. As one of the other graves contains a knife, together with two twisted rings and two accessory vessels, this could be the grave of a man (table 2). Two of the graves in France have both neck and arm rings, whereas the third merely contains perforated animal teeth and a ceramic bead. France is also where the trefoils carved from human skulls were found, but there is unfortunately no information on their context. Two of these bone trefoils are now in the Corel Collection at the British Museum; one of them is illustrated in figure 5, together with a rounded disc perforated by three holes. The second example was apparently found together with two blue glass beads. Finally, mention should be made of a third example where the trefoil was attached to a necklace (fig. 6). Examination of the Italian graves, several of which contain particularly rich grave goods, reveals that three of these differ from the others by containing more than one trefoil (table 2). However, only grave 31 also has neck and arm rings. The grave at Padova can be interpreted as that of a man, because it contains an iron axe and an ornamented belt of sheet bronze. The other two graves contain glass beads and, according to Ludwig Pauli, these are characteristic of female and child graves.The result of the analysis is, accordingly, that trefoils are found primarily together with grave goods characteristic of women and possibly also children.The next question relates to how the trefoil was worn, and stray finds and finds from hoards are also included in this an­alysis. In one of the Italian graves, the trefoil is a pendant on a fibula and two metal chains are attached to one of its rings (fig. 7). A trefoil from Bömitz in Pomerania is fitted with a small eye, thereby confirming its use as a pendant. A necklace from the Voldtofte hoard on Funen incorporates several rings and a trefoil in a small spiral, and the same arrangement is seen on a neck ring from Juvigny, where the trefoil is made of human skull (figs. 8 and 6). In one of the Danish finds, the trefoil hangs from a long string of organic material (cat. no. 13). As metal neck rings are rare finds in graves, this was perhaps the usual way in which the trefoil was worn.It must be concluded that the trefoil was a form of ornament, more precisely a pendant, and there are several examples showing that it was worn suspended on neck rings of either metal or organic material, or alternatively attached to a fibula.Considering that the trefoil was in existence for about 500 years and was the only ornament that survived the extensive societal changes that took place in the period c. 800-400 BC, it presumably had great symbolic significance. It was, however, rare as an iconographic motif as it has only been found in this form on one artefact: a razor from Fousing, western Jutland (fig. 9).Due to its distribution as a plastic ornament and its association with female and possibly also child graves, it is presumed that the trefoil functioned as an amulet. Amulets are generally understood as being small objects that are worn on the body and which protect the individual wearing them from supernatural forces, misfortune and illness, as well as ensuring the successful delivery of children. They can also have curative powers if worn on the affected part of the body.In Central Europe in the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, a variety of amulets emerged that existed for a long period of time: wheels, waterfowl, jingle plates and trefoils. Classical sources reveal that a number of small objects, such as corals, amber, perforated animal teeth, glass beads and so on, were also perceived as amulets at this time. The most significant analysis of amulets has been carried out by Ludwig Pauli on the basis of a large number of finds from graves in Central Europe, dating from the period relevant here. Pauli classifies a range of objects that cannot be considered as either ornaments, weapons or tools into five categories: a. noise-generating objects such as ceramic rattles and jingle plates, b. externally sensuous objects, such as human and animal figures, and less readily recognisable objects, such as trefoils, c. unfinished objects, casting waste and bent objects, d. abnormal or curious objects such as scrap metal, e. natural materials such as stone, amber, animal teeth, but also glass beads.His classification shows that these objects occur primarily in the graves of women and children, which corresponds to the use of trefoils in Scandinavia.It must therefore be concluded that the trefoil was most probably an amulet, regardless of whether it was made of bronze or of human skull, as there are several examples clearly showing its use as a pendant. The trefoil was a relatively rare artefact and its presence in the, by Scandinavian standards, richly-furnished Bilstrup grave and in elite graves in Central Europe shows that it possessed several layers of significance. Consequently, it was not merely a magical object but presumably also possessed symbolic importance, at the same time as being an ornament reserved for individuals from the uppermost strata of society.According to Ludwig Pauli, the use of amulets increased in periods of political and economic unrest, for example around 500 BC, and in Scandinavia there were violent societal upheavals from c. 800-400 BC. However, despite the many changes that took place during this period, the tradition of wearing this specific type of amulet prevailed across large parts of Europe.Karen Margrethe HornstrupMoesgaard Museum

Medieval ring brooches from Denmark – Typology, dating and use Ring brooches are one of the most common types of jewellery from the Middle Ages. They consist of a closed frame with a fixed pin (fig. 1). The metal detector activity of recent years has increased the number of these brooches. They have not previously been dealt with separately in Denmark. This article is based on the collection and typological classification of 215 ring brooches from present-day Denmark. These brooches can be classified into seven types with 23 sub-types (fig. 2). Nine of the brooches have no Danish parallel. The frames are most often circular, but their form varies. The circular brooches (types 1-3) are the most common. They make up 83% of the Danish brooches, whereas other frame shapes are less common (fig. 3). The use of ring brooches arose simultaneously with the Byzantine fashion of dress from the 12th century. The fashion dictated long coats or kirtles for both sexes (fig. 4). The neck opening of the kirtles was equipped with a slit which was fastened with a ring brooch (fig. 5); the brooches were also used to fasten cloaks. The ring brooches can be dated to a period extending from the 12th century until some time in the 15th century. In the beginning, functionality had priority, but later ring brooches appeared which were solely for decoration or were used to attach other items to the clothing. Dating of the individual types is based on stylistic and archaeological criteria together with numismatic dates from hoards. The latter two dating methods in particular provide a narrower dating framework for some of the types; this applies to, for example, types 3 and 4.1 (fig. 8). The earliest example in Scandinavian art of the use of ring brooches is from around AD 1200 (fig. 15), whereas there are archaeological finds from Denmark from the second half of the 12th century. Fig. 8 provides an overview of Danish and foreign dates for the ring brooch types. Types 1 and 2 both occur in the 12th century, whereas the other types appear from the 13th century. Some of the types are seen across large parts of Europe. This applies, for example, to types 1.1, 1.3, 2.1 and 2.6. Others have a more limited geographical distribution, which reflects cultural and trade-related links. This applies to types 1.4, 2.5 and 3. Some brooches are unique to Denmark but all have parallels in other countries. This underlines the fact that there are, by and large, no unique brooches, but that they all have a greater or smaller distribution (figs. 12 and 13). The ring brooches are often made from various types of copper alloy, while precious metals are more rarely used (fig. 14). They occur in a series of social contexts and this underlines the applicability of this type of jewellery. Most of the types occur as precious metal as well as alloy, and the same decorative elements are seen on brooches of very different quality (figs. 7 and 10). Ring brooches were worn by both men and women and probably also by children. Their size can give an indication of who wore them and how. The visual arts are a good source in this respect (fig. 5). Other sources include wills and, in rare cases, inscriptions on the brooches themselves, revealing the sex of the person who wore them. The greatest diameter of the ring brooches lies typically between 20 and 29 mm. A group comprising 12 brooches differs in this respect, having a diameter of between 13 and 19 mm, and eight medium- sized brooches have a diameter of between 50 and 59 mm. A group comprising 10 brooches has diameters of between 60 and 96 mm. These large brooches were probably cloak-fasteners. Medieval jewellery was often associated with great symbolism. This could be through the material from which they were made, in the form of metal and precious or semi-precious stones which was ascribed special significance. The symbolic value becomes clearest through the many inscriptions of a religious or amorous nature (fig. 9). Ring brooches were, like finger rings, a symbol of fidelity and love, and their function as a fastener for a cloak became, in a figurative sense, a picture of chastity. Mette Højmark SøvsøSydvestjyske Museer

Dear Readers,As an avid book collector, I derive great pleasure from deciding what kinds of books should be acquired for my personal library. I collect books that I love in a few subject areas, and over the years my library has grown into a carefully curated collection.My collecting habit began early in life when I hoarded picture books in my dresser drawers. Regrettably, I did not have a proper bookshelf or even a set of bookends to stand my books upright on a flat surface, but I had plenty of drawers for storage. Assembling my little library of picture books was great fun and the experience taught me that a personal book collection can provide a lifetime of enjoyment. Indeed, I still enjoy buying picture books from time to time for my library.I am always delighted when I see children who are keen to build their own book collections. In fact, developing a home library for your child is a great way to demonstrate that books are extensions of our interests and passions, and they can enrich our lives in manifold ways. Now of course I am not advocating that parents should rush out, spend a small fortune on children’s books, and immediately install a room full of bookcases. Building a library for young readers can be easy and inexpensive, and you can have fun helping young readers gain a deep appreciation for print books in their homes.If you want to encourage your child to have a compelling selection of books at home, you can stretch your book budget by taking your child to garage sales, thrift stores, flea markets, book fairs, and library sales. All of these venues are great places to pick up piles of books at a significant discount. As your child’s library begins to grow, you could suggest that s/he add a bookplate to each book to indicate its rightful owner. Bookplates are the decorative labels that are pasted down inside the cover of a book to give us some information about the owner, and they usually have the title Ex Libris, meaning “from the library of.” There are many websites that offer bookplate designs for children that are free to download and use, and they are a great way to customize a growing library.Of course, one of the best ways to build a child’s library is to begin by checking them out at the local library, and if your children find a personal favourite, a book that they enjoy reading over and over, then go ahead and buy a copy for their library. Supporting their library will show your commitment to investing in knowledge, and children who grow up with books are well positioned to make tremendous gains in educational attainment.Our new issue has many excellent books that would be well suited to a personal library, so I hope you’ll consider adding one or two to your child’s bookshelf.Happy reading!Robert DesmaraisManaging Editor