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PubMed1989

Adult male report of childhood sexual abuse by mothers: case descriptions, motivations and long-term consequences.

Sexual abuse of male children by their mothers is rarely reported. However, it may not be as rare as commonly believed. Eight case histories are presented which exemplify mothers' sexual abuse of their sons to satisfy the mothers' own needs. In no case was the mother psychotic. In seven cases the mother began the seduction and sexual abuse while the son was prepubescent and continued until at least early adolescence. As adults, each of these sons experienced difficulty maintaining an intimate emotional and sexual relationship with one person, and most presented with some degree of depression. Substance abuse was present in five of eight cases.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1989

The family environment of sexual abuse: a comparison of natal and stepfather abuse.

Data from 17 states, drawn from the 1983 National Study on Child Neglect and Reporting, were used to compare families in which a daughter had been sexually abused by a natal father or stepfather. While broad comparisons are made in terms of age and race of victims, as well as household composition, the primary focus is on familial stress factors. Given the lower incidence of natal father abuse and the assumption that natal fathers have stronger emotional links to their children and greater commitment to the father role, we predicted that when they did engage in sexual abuse, it would be in a family environment characterized by relatively high levels of personal, social, and economic stress. This was confirmed to the extent that natal father abuser families showed significantly higher levels of drug and/or alcohol abuse, marital problems, and insufficient income than did stepfather abuser families.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1989

Factors influencing mothers' reactions to intrafamily sexual abuse.

A mother's question of whether to believe her child's disclosure of intrafamily child sexual abuse is complex, with many factors influencing her conclusion. Variables related to the abuse and to the family's functioning are examined to determine if particular circumstances are too threatening to mothers, resulting in their disbelief. The findings indicate that the age of the victim, nature of the abuse, presence of the mother in the home during the abuse, relationship of the victim to the offender, prior physical abuse of the child, and alcohol abuse by the offender all contribute to mother's conclusion regarding the reported abuse. The majority of mothers do believe their child, with difficult situations and other family stressors occasionally detracting from a mother's willingness to accept the report.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1990

Mental representations of physically and sexually abused latency-aged females.

The mental representations and self-concept of 20 sexually abused, 20 physically abused, and 20 nonabused but distressed females, ages 7-12, were studied using the TAT and the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale. Results were analyzed both statistically from objective scoring systems, and clinically from direct observations and from an analysis of the interaction of abused children with the examiner. The results show that while the mental representations did not statistically differ between the sexually and physically abused children, the abused groups did differ in their internal images compared to nonabused but distressed children. Also, abused children tended to split off from consciousness the more negative aspects of their perceptions. The results demonstrate that it is abuse per se, and not simply family distress, that results in impaired object relations. Implications of these results are discussed.

Child↗
PubMed1990

The process of victimization: the victims' perspective.

Twenty-three child victims (aged 10-18 years) of childhood sexual abuse were interviewed about the victimization process, the person who abused them, and how abuse might have been prevented. Specific questions obtained information about the quality of the relationship between victim and offender, the offender's pre-abuse behavior, the explanation for the behavior given by the offender, and the child's understanding of the behavior. Results suggest that the victimization process involves three overlapping processes: sexualization of the relationship, justification of the sexual contact, and maintenance of the child's cooperation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Child sexual abuse: factors affecting victims' removal from home.

This study was conducted to examine factors associated with children's protective service workers' decision to remove sexually abused children from the family home. The decision to remove was analyzed relative to the following six factors: (1) nature of the abuse, (2) severity of abuse, (3) frequency of abuse (4) mothers' employment status, (5) mothers' compliance with a recommended treatment plan, and (6) mothers' belief of the victim. Discriminant function analysis revealed that the discriminant function containing mothers' compliance, mothers' belief, severity of abuse, mothers' employment status, and frequency of abuse, in order of importance of contribution, was significantly related to victims' removal from the home.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1990

Child sexual abuse: who goes home?

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the factors which influence custody change in cases of children who have been sexually abused. Of 180 children admitted to La Rabida Children's Hospital and Research center with a suspicion of having been sexually abused, 138 met the state's criteria for proven sexual abuse, and 30% of those children had a sexually transmitted disease. One-third of the children with proven abuse were under 4 years of age. Of the children with proven abuse, ultimately 40% had a custody change. Only an initial outcry of abuse was associated with an increased probability of a change in custody. A change in custody was not found to be related to the patient's age, sex, the perpetrator's relation to the child or access to the home, the presence of sexually transmitted disease, whether the child was also physically abused, or whether the child had had developmental delay. These data suggest an absence of any discernible guidelines in the juvenile court's decision concerning custody change of a sexually abused child.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Professionals' adherence to mandatory child abuse reporting laws: effects of responsibility attribution, confidence ratings, and situational factors.

This study investigated the relationship between responsibility attribution and tendency to report child sexual abuse among practicing psychologists. Two hundred ninety-five licensed psychologists from two states completed vignettes in which the sex of the child and the father's admission or denial of alleged sexual abuse were systematically manipulated. Subjects assigned relative percentages of responsibility to the father, mother, child, and society for the abuse and indicated their tendency to report and their level of confidence that abuse was occurring. Results indicated a significant effect for responsibility to the mother which varied as a function of the father's response to the allegation of abuse. Mothers were blamed significantly more for the abuse when the father denied being abusive. Responsibility attribution did not predict reporting, while confidence in the occurrence of abuse did. Also, sex differences were found among participants where male subjects assigned significantly more responsibility to the abusive father than female participants, and the females blamed the mother more than the males. Results are discussed in the context of previous research on responsibility attribution in child abuse.

Attitude↗
PubMed1990

Perpetrator status and the personality characteristics of molested children.

The personality and intellectual characteristics of three groups of children, one molested by a teacher (n = 16), a second group (n = 16) where the offender was a member of the child's family, and a non-molested control group (n = 16) were contrasted. The children were evaluated using the Personality Inventory for Children (PIC), the Children's Personality Questionnaire (CPQ), and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-R). There were few differences between the two molested groups or between boys and girls. However, comparisons of molested and non-molested children showed significant differences on 23 of 34 scales on the PIC and CPQ combined. WISC-R verbal IQs were also lower for the molested groups. While the lack of differences between the two molested groups may have been due to the parent-like relationship between the teacher and the children he molested, the results suggest that a relatively noncoercive style of abuse can still produce significant psychological impairment.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1992

Factors associated with treatment completion and progress among intrafamilial sexual abusers.

Thirty-six father-daughter/stepdaughter sexual abusers, classified as regressed according to Groth's typology (1978b), were followed over the course of a 2-year outpatient treatment program. All were in treatment through a juvenile court ordered treatment plan. Twenty-five of the 36 were also criminally charged. Degree of personality disturbance, stress level, and substance abuse potential were recorded before beginning treatment. Twenty-three subjects completed the 2-year program and 13 did not. Completing subjects were rated on progress at posttreatment in terms of (a) emotional congruence, (b) sexual arousal, (c) blockage, (d) internal inhibitors, (e) acceptance of responsibility, and (f) empathy with the victim. The more personality disturbed subjects showed lower rates of program completion and attainment of empathy for the victim. Criminal prosecution was unrelated to completion and attendance, but was related to improved empathy and trends towards slightly higher progress ratings. The results support the importance of careful pretreatment personality assessment. In addition, involvement of the criminal justice system does not seem to interfere with therapeutic progress, and may actually be of limited therapeutic value.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Countertransference in the family therapy of survivors of sexual abuse.

As family therapy of sexual abuse survivors has become more common, theoretical and technical issues have received considerable attention. Less attention has been devoted to the countertransference experience of the therapist. Unexamined therapist countertransference is a critical element in the treatment of these families, which markedly influences the nature and direction of treatment. Particular types of countertransference are presented here. In addition, the contention is made that countertransference is not only evoked by the particular presentation of the family members, but also by the therapist's unexplored political and moral beliefs.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Early indicators of pathological dissociation in sexually abused children.

Although reported cases of adult multiple personality disorder (MPD) are increasing, confirmation of MPD and related dissociative disorders in children remains rare. Since MPD can cause severe impairment and psychological distress, and is thought to originate in childhood, early recognition of pathological dissociation and predictors of MPD is critical. Sexual abuse in childhood has similarly been under-reported until recently, and is highly associated with the development of dissociative disorders. This paper reviews factors in the professional neglect of these syndromes as well as recent diagnostic developments in childhood dissociative disorders. The identification of subtle dissociative symptomatology in children is illustrated and two case examples are presented.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Modern history of child sexual abuse awareness: cycles of discovery and suppression.

In the last century and a half, public and professional awareness of sexual abuse has emerged and been suppressed repeatedly. The 20th-century suppression of the problem has been linked to Freudianism, sexual modernism, and gender politics. Recent awareness of sexual abuse differs from awareness in the past because of the significant amount of current research attesting to the prevalence of sexual abuse and its injurious impact on human development. However, in the contemporary mental health professions, the courts, and the media, there has emerged an influential backlash against the latest discovery of child sexual victimization that utilizes arguments employed during earlier periods of suppression. Knowledge of the earlier cycles of discovery and suppression can assist professionals in understanding and countering present attempts to deny or minimize the problem of child sexual abuse.

Awareness↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Clinician responses to sexual abuse allegations.

We conducted a survey using an experimental design to identify how and to what extent specific personal and case factors affect clinicians' judgments about sexual abuse allegations. We drew a stratified random sample of 1,635 United States clinicians from national directories of clinical social work, pediatrics, psychiatry and psychology. Six hundred and fifty-six completed questionnaires were obtained, yielding a 42% response rate. We asked each subject to read and rate, on a 6 point scale, 16 vignettes alleging sexual abuse. The scale ranged from 1 (very confident it did not occur), to 6 (very confident it did occur). On average, respondents were "slightly confident sexual abuse had occurred" (M = 4.03; SD = 0.6). This finding was significantly different from a mean of 3.50, which is the expected null result. Seven case factors affected credibility ratings at the .01 level; perpetrators' race (Caucasians viewed as perpetrators more than minorities); perpetrators' relationship to victim (family members more often seen as perpetrators); victims' race (minorities more credible as victims); victims' affect (those showing negative affect more believable); age (younger victims more often seen as victimized); behavioral changes in the victim; and perpetrator's history of substance abuse. Six clinician factors were significant at the .05 level: age (younger clinicians were more credulous), gender (females more credulous), discipline (clinical social workers more credulous), theoretical orientation (family systems oriented more credulous) and personal history of sexual or physical abuse (abuse history more credulous).

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Comparative psychopathology of women who experienced intra-familial versus extra-familial sexual abuse.

The Diagnostic Inventory of Personality and Symptoms (DIPS) was used to assess psychopathology in a clinical sample of 30 women with histories of intra-familial sexual victimization, 22 women with histories of extra-familial sexual victimization, and 30 women with no victimization experiences. The present study examines whether the relative/nonrelative issue is significant to the impact of sexual victimization experiences. A clinical comparison of two point code types indicated that both sexually abused groups could be characterized as suffering an Affective Depressed-Dissociative Disorder. However, profile shapes produced for the intra- and extra-familial abused groups differed. A discriminant function developed via step wise selection procedures incorporated 12 of the 14 scales, correctly classifying 94% of the individuals (49 of 52) as members of the extra or intra-familial groups. Profile analyses, discriminant analyses, clinically descriptive comparisons, and post hoc analyses of individual scales all revealed that psychopathology is much more evident in those who have experienced sexual abuse. Methodological considerations are highlighted and implications for treatment and research are addressed.

Adolescent↗