Hope Under Siege: Terror and Family Support in Chile (1991)
"Michele Ritterman has immersed herself in a complex and frightening reality, to discover its secrets and capture its deepest essence. Through the families of political prisoners, she tells us of an abused continent, of a time of horror, and of the incredible extent of human evil. But this book is not a retelling of death and pain. It is above all a testimony of hope. In this book, Michele Ritterman gives us a formidable lesson in life."
-Isabel Allende (from the foreward)
"Michele Ritterman transcended the boundaries of family therapy when she went to Chile. Meeting tortured political prisoners and their families, she began to react as a human being passionately committed to social justice. Her experience as a family therapist informed her tracking of the families of the prisoners, using their life tragedy as a universal mirror of political terror, but the book speaks with the voice aof a witness compelled to tell the stories she has seen. It must be read."
-Salvador Minuchin, M.D. the father of Structural Family Therapy.