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PubMed1994

Attorney attitudes regarding behaviors associated with child sexual abuse.

There appears to be a good deal of disagreement between professionals as to what constitutes child abuse. Attorneys as a group have been found to judge behaviors associated with child abuse more leniently than other abuse professionals. However, no one has discriminated between defense and prosecuting attorneys in these areas. It was hypothesized that because of divergent roles in child sexual abuse cases attitudes toward adult-child behaviors associated with sexual abuse would differ among attorney groups. Two prosecuting and two defense attorneys from every county in the state of Indiana were sent questionnaires. Participants were asked to indicate if a behavior was acceptable, inappropriate, or sexual abuse if it occurred on one or on multiple occasions. Prosecutors had more severe judgements than the defense attorneys on 32 of the 42 behaviors. They were more likely to indicate that a behavior was inappropriate or abuse. Cognitive dissonance theory is proposed as a possible explanation for these findings.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Parenting and family stress as mediators of the long-term effects of child abuse.

Child abuse is known to be associated with a variety of adult psychological difficulties. However, the level and types of such difficulties may be influenced by variation in other nonabusive aspects of the child-rearing context. This study examines whether variation in perceived parental warmth and in nonabusive family stressors influenced the strength of relationships of women's psychological difficulties to their childhood sexual and/or physical abuse. Child abuse, family stress histories, and perceived parental warmth, as well as current psychological functioning was gathered from a community sample of 259 working women. Perceived parental warmth, childhood stress, and abuse were each separately associated with current functioning. However, as expected, multiple regression analyses showed that parental warmth strongly influenced or mediated the relationship of intrafamilial child abuse to depression and self-esteem levels. In contrast, abuse was associated to PTSD independently of variation in perceived parenting. Finally, parenting mediated initial relationships of childhood stress to each of the adjustment measures. The Discussion focuses on the possibility that there may be several developmental pathways that lead to the array of symptoms associated with child abuse. Some symptoms, such as PTSD, may be most influenced by the abuse itself, while others, such as depression, and low self-esteem may be more impacted by lack of parental warmth. Treatment implications are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1994

A multi-dimensional model of groupwork for adolescent girls who have been sexually abused.

This paper describes a treatment approach for sexually abused adolescent girls using a group work model. The model incorporates three treatment modalities: a skills component, a psychotherapeutic component, and an educative component. The group ran for 16 sessions over a 6-month period and each girl was assessed prior to joining the group. The girls were again assessed at the end of treatment and a 6-months follow-up; all of them showed improvement on self-statements (outcome) and on behavioral measures assessed by others (follow-up). Girls who had been sexually abused demonstrated difficulties in many areas of their lives following abuse. These problems related to their feelings of guilt and helplessness in relation to both themselves and their abuser. Sexually abused children often have poor knowledge of sexual matters and demonstrate confusion over their own body image. Using a multidimensional model the problems following abuse can be addressed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1994

Re-examining the efficacy of child sexual abuse prevention strategies: victims' and offenders' attitudes.

Current sexual abuse prevention programs have been forced to rely on anecdotal clinical information to guide curriculum development. Recent evidence that suggests that sexual abuse offenders can reliably offer information regarding their modus operandi implies that sexual abuse offenders can be important sources of information about the victimization process. However, only one study to date has examined offenders' attitudes about sexual abuse prevention topics, and methodological problems limit the applicability of that study. The current study asked 16 intrafamilial victims, 16 intrafamilial perpetrators, and 15 extrafamilial perpetrators of child sexual abuse to rate the efficacy of various prevention strategies on a Likert-type scale. Results indicated that there were no differences between the three groups and that both victims and offenders appeared to have difficulty discriminating the value of 12 prevention topics, perhaps because the items were too global or because they engendered socially desirable responses. Open-ended questions that asked offenders to identify factors that would dissuade them from pursuing the abuse of particular victims indicated that different prevention skills or strategies may be effective at different stages of the victim-offender "relationship." Overall, the findings suggest that when questioning offenders or victims about the victimization process, investigators need to utilize specific (rather than global) questions and need to separately analyze each stage in the victim-offender relationship. These methodological improvements may offer greater potential for enhancing our knowledge of how to reduce child sexual abuse.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Intrafamilial child sexual abuse: intervention programs for first time offenders and their families.

Traditional legal and therapeutic interventions in child sexual abuse cases are often unsuccessful and can be especially counterproductive for intrafamilial assaults. Many communities responded with innovative programs. Three strategies that integrate treatment with legal procedures are described. They include a Pretrial Diversion program in which incarceration time is reduced if the offender attends a treatment program; a Post-Plea Diversion program that postpones the felony hearing pending the successful completion of an offender treatment program, and a Pre-Legal Diversion program in which there was no legal intervention if the accused successfully completed treatment. The programs are described and then compared across professional activity variables. It was found that: (a) Case processing was timely and equitable across the three programs; (b) victim medical examinations were uncommon; (c) counseling was the predominant type of service provided; and (d) services were not routinely provided to families. It appears that the most promising strategy for first offense, intrafamilial assaults, may be the Pre-Legal Diversion program because it provides the most protection to children through routine medical exams and juvenile court petitions, and it provides the most equitable distribution of services to the victims and offenders.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Preverbal sexual abuse: what two children report in later years.

This paper details two case studies of preverbal abuse in which children later gave detailed accounts of their abuse, indicating that their memories were still intact despite lacking sufficient language to report the abuse when it occurred. A series of issues about preverbal abuse are discussed while integrating cognitive-developmental research about children's early memory: How early can children remember? Does memory change with maturity? What effect does trauma have on memory? What surfaces early memories? What are the long term effects of very early sexual abuse? Implications for practice and prosecution of this early abuse are listed.

Child↗
PubMed1994

Child sexual abuse by uncles: a risk assessment.

Using a sample of 982 mothers who reported on child care and living arrangements involving uncles, and case records documenting the sexual abuse of 171 children by 148 uncles, this study examined the ways uncles ordinarily become involved with children, the conditions under which that involvement becomes associated with sexual abuse, and the role gender plays in this dysfunction. Among the findings, it was noted that although aunts were responsible for 28 times more child care than uncles, uncles were responsible for 48 times more child sexual abuse. Although female children do not have more exposure to uncles than do males, they appeared four times more likely to be victimized. About 19% of the abusive uncles lived with the children they abused, and most of the remainder came into contact with them as child care providers or during overnight visits. Implications for practice are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Sexual dysfunctions: relationship to childhood sexual abuse and early family experiences in a nonclinical sample.

Studies investigating a possible relationship between childhood sexual abuse and adult sexual dysfunction have reported highly discrepant results. The purpose of the present study was to examine 202 female university students for early familial experience and childhood sexual abuse in relation to adult sexual disorders. Each student was asked to complete three questionnaires on victimization, sexual dysfunction, early familial experiences. Results indicated that: (a) victims of multiple CSA more frequently reported sexual desire disorders and orgasm disorders than did single-incident victims and nonvictims; (b) single-incident victims and nonvictims reported no significantly different rates for any kind of sexual dysfunction; (c) negative early familial experiences were significantly related to any kind of sexual disorder; and (d) women who reported orgasm disorders more often reported an inadequate sex education than did women with another or no sexual dysfunction. The data suggest that both family dysfunction and sexual victimization contribute to sexual disorders in adulthood, and that later sexual disorders are to a large extent the result of sexual abuse-related factors in particular and family dysfunction in general.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Characteristics of childhood sexual abuse among female survivors in therapy.

Characteristics of the abuse experience by 135 women entering an outpatient treatment program for survivors of childhood sexual abuse were assessed utilizing a structured clinical interview. Areas assessed included: nature, frequency and duration of the abuse; participant's age at onset of abuse; perpetrator characteristics; childhood physical abuse experiences; and circumstances leading to abuse cessation. Participants who had been molested by more than one perpetrator were administered questions about the abuse committed by each perpetrator separately. Abuse by the first individual to molest a participant was found to be more likely to be incestuous, of higher frequency, and more extensive and invasive than that by later perpetrators. Survivors seeking therapy indicated experiencing considerably more severe abuse, at a younger age, for longer duration, and at the hands of more perpetrators than previously reported in the literature on nonclinical samples of survivors.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Psychological aspects of sexual functioning among cleric and noncleric alleged sex offenders.

Cleric sexual misconduct with minors is a problem receiving increased attention from the media, victims groups, and church authorities. Mental health professionals are increasingly being asked to assist church and civil authorities to help better understand the problem of cleric sexual misconduct with minors. In the current study we compared self-reported sexual functioning among cleric alleged child molesters, noncleric alleged child molesters, and normal control subjects. We hypothesized clerics would differ from nonclerics and normals in reported sexual functioning. Our sample included 30 Roman Catholic clerics and 39 nonclerics who were alleged to have engaged in sexual misconduct with minors, and 38 normal control subjects, all of whom took the Derogatis Sexual Functioning Inventory (DSFI) as part of their forensic psychiatric evaluation. Our results indicated clerics were more likely to report fewer victims, older victims, and victims of male gender than noncleric alleged child molesters. Clerics differed from nonclerics and normal control subjects on several dimensions of self-reported sexual functioning. Lower offense rate histories among clerics suggest that, as a group, clerics may be less seriously psychologically disordered than noncleric child molesters. Low DSFI scores among Roman Catholic clerics may be accounted for in part by their unique training and socialization process. Future studies should attempt to study the influence of social desirability on DSFI scores. Normative data from nonoffending celibate clergy are needed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Early sexual activity of delinquent adolescents.

Sexual experiences of 1255 adolescents admitted to a juvenile detention facility were assessed through their responses to a health history questionnaire. More than 80% reported sexual experience. Age at first intercourse acknowledged by females was early (mean 13 years) but rarely prepubertal and was similar for blacks and nonblacks. Males commonly reported beginning sexual experience before age 10 years (40% in blacks and 20% in nonblacks). Sexual activity continued in most, with 73% of the sexually experienced teens reporting intercourse in the month prior to admission. Reports of recent sexual activity increased with age in all race/gender groups. For females, 26% reported sexual misuse compared to 2% of the males. Willingness to answer questions about sexual experiences varied with the question and increased with age. Prepubertal sexual activity is a more common phenomenon than is generally acknowledged. To what extent the experiences reported in our study represent the norm for behavior among individuals of similar background requires further study.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

'The stumbling disease': a case study of stigma among Azorean-Portuguese.

There exists among Azorean-Portuguese a biological malady that is inherited. First recognized by biomedicine in 1972 as a distinct disease entity, it has been in existence in the United States and the Azores Islands since at least the mid-1800s. The malady is generally known as the 'stumbling disease' among the Azorean-Portuguese; the current biomedical literature refer to it as Machado-Joseph disease. Historically an aura of stigma has surrounded affected individuals, their families, and primary ethnic group in which the malady is currently found. Drawing heavily on the work of Erving Goffman Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1963) and labelling theory, this paper explores the nature of this stigma. The cultural contexts of a small, face-to-face, homogeneous island setting is contrasted with that of the heterogeneous, anonymous setting of the United States to illuminate various aspects of the stigma configuration. The cultural context has important implications for stigma definitions, modes of social control, and management strategies of the stigmatized.

Azores↗
PubMed1995

Child sexual abuse in Matabeleland, Zimbabwe.

The extent, nature, causes and consequences of child sexual abuse in Matabeleland. Zimbabwe, are explored by an intersectoral working group consisting of health, legal and AIDS prevention workers who were struck in the course of their work by the regularity with which they saw sexually abused children infected with HIV and STDs. Methods used in this study are record review, focus group discussions, structured and in-depth interviews. Child sexual abuse cases form between 40-60% of the rape cases brought to the attention of hospitals, police and court and many more are believed to remain unreported. Half of the sexual abuse in children is detected through STDs and some have HIV. The majority of offenders are mature men known to the child. Factors influencing child sexual abuse are male dominance in society, men's professed inability to control sexual desire, and magic beliefs. Victims are traumatized by the abuse itself as well as by subsequent problems in family, health and in court. Since child sexual abuse may endanger the life and well-being of the child, it is a serious problem that requires urgent action.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗