H-T-P & D-A-P  Measures of Abuse in Children

V. van Hutton

This hardcover book provides background on projective drawing techniques and insight into the House-Tree-Person (H-T-P) and Draw-A-Person (D-A-P) techniques. The book describes the development and administration of an objective scoring system for use by clinicians, teachers, and other professionals.

The test administrator asks the child (ages 7-11 years) to complete the two drawings, which are then scored for the presence or absence of particular characteristics within four major constructs: Preoccupation with Sexually Relevant Concepts (SRC); Aggression and Hostility (AH); Withdrawal and Guarded Accessibility (WGA); and Alertness for Danger, Suspiciousness, and Lack of Trust (ADST).

Examples from the author’s collection of actual children’s drawings illustrate item scoring. This system has been empirically tested for use in screening for possible child sexual abuse. Case examples help the reader develop further clinical insight.