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1
Foote, Wendy Lee. "Child Sexual Abuse Allegations in the Family Court." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/1986.
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This research is concerned with decision-making in judgments made in the Family Court of Australia where there are allegations of child sexual abuse. The focus of the research is the identification of the concepts that are relied on in the assessment of these allegations by professionals providing evidence to the court and how judges determine what evidence should be given weight and relied on. This research was undertaken against a historical and current backdrop of scepticism about the veracity of child sexual abuse allegations in family law disputes, despite the heightened risk to children, and in particular to girls, after their parents separate and/or divorce. In this context the Family Court is also increasingly becoming a part of the child protection system as allegations of abuse are raised in hearings. This research has taken place in the period of time after the Reform Act (1995) and before new proposed legislation for 2006 was proclaimed. This research is based on a detailed thematic analysis of 21 judgments of first instance trials between 1997 and 2001 that were selected for the presence of a child sexual abuse allegation and at least two professionals disputing some aspect of the allegation. Twenty-five family members, including 18 mothers and four maternal grandmothers, made allegations about 28 family members, 21 of whom were fathers. Professionals who gave evidence included 11 child protection officers and 20 court-ordered private assessors (including 17 child and family psychiatrists, three clinical psychologists and 11 court counsellors). This research found that the context of the allegation, the family law litigation, had a dominant influence on how the allegations were assessed and interpreted: the impact of two influential paradigms, the separation and divorce and the legal/psychiatric paradigms, resulted in a reticence to test out the allegations of child sexual abuse made against fathers. Concepts from these paradigms were applied by court-ordered assessors and represented the sceptical conceptualisation of allegations of child sexual abuse as the product of the parental conflict, associated maternal anxiety and mental illness. In contrast, fathers were not scrutinised as closely against criteria for sex offending even when they made admissions relating to the allegations. Evidence from and about children was not central to the hearings and professionals who were in a position to present assessments of the child sexual abuse allegations to the court were discredited as a result of concerns about ‘contamination’ relating to criticisms of investigation and other methodological errors. In addition, allegations from children were frequently not fully examined or analysed by assessors or the judiciary. There were glimpses of a child-focused approach in a small number of hearings and, while there was no specialist assessment of the child sexual abuse allegations, there was evidence of specialist knowledge pertaining to domestic violence in cases in which there was a high level of evidence relating to serious domestic violence. This research has shown that there is a continuing influence of a sceptical paradigm in relation to the assessment of child sexual abuse allegations in the Family Court. It suggests that the scope of assessments needs to go beyond the usual scope of parental competencies to include an assessment of the propensity for child sexual abuse perpetration and the dynamics and effects of incest.
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Robinson, Tanya Marie. "An explorative study of false allegations of child sexual abuse in divorce and custody proceedings in South Africa." Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16797.
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Includes bibliographical referencesFalse child sexual abuse allegations in divorce and custody proceedings are a disconcerting problem in South Africa having devastating effects on the family unit going through a divorce, and on society as a whole. Limited research has been done in South Africa on the subject matter (Janse Van Rensburg, 2008; McDonald, 1998; Preller, 2014).This study utilize General System's Theory, the Theory of Reasoned Action, the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Crisis Theory to explore the subject matter. An explorative qualitative approach with a constructivist epistemology was utilised. The participants in this study involved thirty key informants, who included social workers, psychologists, counsellors and other professionals who specialise in divorce, custody and sexual abuse matters. A further five falsely accused parents and five accusing parents formed part of the sample. The data collection method used was that of in-depth interviews and research assistants were trained and appointed to gather the information. Notes were taken and the interviews were recorded to enable the necessary data analysis. Content and thematic data analyses were used to analyse the data and obtain the necessary results. The research findings indicate that false child sexual abuse allegations have a detrimental effect on the accused parent and explain the agony, severe trauma and emotional distress the falsely accused parent go through. There are various factors contributing towards false child sexual abuse allegations and results show that the impact of such allegations is11detrimental to the family system, the child and the falsely accused parent and brings disequilibrium to the family system that is very difficult to restore post-divorce. The mental health perspective on false child sexual abuse paints a rather bleak picture of the legal and social system and on adequately addressing the social issues at hand. Results highlight that false allegations are a complicated phenomenon and not all professionals nor the courts have the necessary skills to deal adequately with these matters. Research recommends amendments to South African Policy and Legislation, changes to the South African court system, and capacity building of mental health professionals. As this research is a ground-breaking study in South Africa, as no scientific research has been published on the subject matter, this study should be used as a basis for future research studies.
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Baker, Heather. "Approaching the language and processes for addressing and evaluating allegations of child sexual abuse in South Africa." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7990.
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Includes bibliographical references (leaves 124-133).The two studies conducted focus on the processes for addressing allegations of child sexual abuse (CSA) in South Africa. A comprehensive literature review revealed some of the pitfalls in South African systems for dealing with CSA allegations including a lack of guidelines for assessing allegations and insufficient research in the area. In the first study, mental health and legal/forensic professionals completed a questionnaire designed by the researcher to investigate the criteria they would use to establish the veracity of an allegation of sexual abuse. An indication of the degree of relevance of certain criteria (e.g. 'medical evidence of abuse') to assessment was established based on these results. In general, the responses of the two groups correlated but there were seven criteria on which they differed. Many of the participants also provided specific criteria in response to qualitative questions asking if there were any criteria they believe indicate that an allegation is definitely true or definitely false, indicating a belief that there are certain factors that conclusively point to sexual abuse and other factors that unambiguously indicate that an allegation is fictitious.
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Amendola, Marcia Ferreira. "Psicólogos no labirinto das acusações: um estudo sobre a falsa denúncia de abuso sexual de pai contra filho no contexto da separação conjugal." Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, 2006. http://www.bdtd.uerj.br/tde_busca/arquivo.php?codArquivo=4910.
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Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível SuperiorEsta pesquisa teve por objetivo compreender como vêm sendo desempenhadas as práticas dos psicólogos que atuam em instituições de referência para atendimentos em casos de alegação de abuso sexual contra a criança. Para este fim, foram analisadas as declarações de dez pais acusados de abusar sexualmente dos filhos, por meio de questionário enviado e recebido por correio eletrônico. Este material permitiu apreender como os pais acusados compreendem a alegação de abuso sexual imputada contra eles e como operam no sentido de provar a inocência. Também foi possível registrar-lhes as impressões, dúvidas e sentimentos eliciados pelas acusações, o que deu subsídio à realização de entrevistas presenciais com psicólogos em etapa posterior. Foram realizadas entrevistas individuais semiestruturadas com cinco psicólogas de cinco instituições diferentes. As informações prestadas permitiram analisar aspectos como a abordagem teórica e os métodos de avaliação psicológica em casos de alegações de abuso sexual contra criança, incluindo uma discussão acerca da ocorrência de falsas denúncias de abuso sexual. A partir dessas informações, foi possível concluir que tais práticas tendem a privilegiar a palavra da criança, esta última, vista, por muitos, como aquela que deverá anunciar e qualificar a denúncia. Nesses termos, os pais são silenciados, enquanto as crianças são colocadas no lugar de responsáveis por decidir questões jurídicas em nome de seus direitos.
This research intended to understand how is being done the work of the psychologists who work in attendance institutions in cases of alleged child sexual abuse. For this purpose, were analyzed the statements of ten fathers accused to abuse the child sexually through questionnaires sent and received by e-mail. This material allowed to apprehend how the accused fathers understand the allegation of sexual abuse inflicted against them and how they work to prove their innocence. It was also possible to get their impressions, doubts and feelings elicited from the indictment, which gave information to raise interviews with psychologists afterwards. Individual semi-structured interviews had been carried through with five psychologists from five different institutions. The given information had allowed to analyze aspects such as the theoretical approach and the psychological evaluation methods in cases of allegations of child sexual abuse, including a quarrel concerning the occurrence of false indictments of sexual abuse. From these information on, it was possible to conclude that such practical tends to privilege the childs speech, who will have to announce and define the indictment. In this order, fathers are silenced while the children are placed as responsible for deciding legal questions on behalf of their rights.
5
Turnbull, K. "Learning disability staff responses towards allegations of sexual abuse." Thesis, University of Salford, 2011. http://usir.salford.ac.uk/26947/.
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Peckham (2007) has argued that people with learning disabilities are at a greater risk of abuse than members of the general population however, no research has investigated paid carers' responses to allegations of sexual abuse. The current research aimed to investigate: factors affecting care staff responses in this situation, the relationship between attributions, emotions and helping responses, and test predictions derived from Weiner's (1985; 1986) cognitive-emotional model of attributions. A vignette methodology was used. Sixty four residential services support staff (32 females, 32 males) answered a questionnaire describing a scenario in which a service user alleged they had been sexually abused. The characteristics of the person making the allegation were varied across eight versions of the scenario according to gender, whether they were known to be sexually active and if they had reported being abused before. Participants were asked to describe what they thought the most likely cause (or causes) of the claimant's behaviour was, and then made judgements on 7- point rating scales as to the cause of the allegation, their own emotional response and their willingness to offer help. The data was analysed using 4-way ANOVAs and correlational techniques. Important results included: 1) the most common causal explanation given overall was that the claimant had been sexually abused and absolute levels of willingness to provide help for the service user were high across all situations; 2) all independent variables affected at least some part of attributions, emotions or helping behaviour; 3) there was evidence for gender differences in the treatment of sexual abuse allegations, with participant gender becoming a unexpected fourth variable; 4) the analysis indicated support for Weiner's (1985; 1986) model with the effects of willingness to help being mediated by emotions and optimism. Implications for learning disability practice, attribution theory and vignette methodology are discussed.
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Tennfjord, Oddfrid Skorpe. "Attitudes towards child sexual abuse." Doctoral thesis, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Department of Psychology, 2008. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:no:ntnu:diva-1922.
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The main purpose of the present thesis was to develop a measurement instrument aimed to reveal attitudes towards child sexual abuse, and to measure attitudes and associating personal, social and cultural factors among three different samples of Norwegian adults. Additional aims were to explore the relation between participants’ knowledge-seeking on the one hand, their experiences, attitudes and actual knowledge about abuse on the other hand.
Three studies are presented based on the same data material collected in Norway in spring 2004. Three samples were included in the survey: A sample of randomly selected adults between 18-67 years (n = 296). A sample of active Christians between 22-65 years (n = 125) and finally a sample of imprisoned child sexual offenders between 21-74 years (n = 36).
Study I was primarily concerned about the development and validation of a new measurement instrument, entitled Attitudes towards child sexual abuse (ACA). The scale consisted of four different attitudinal dimensions. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed the four-factor structure. The four dimensions were entitled 1) Acceptance and responsibility, 2) Fatalism, 3) Damages caused by abuse, and 4) Legal issues. The result showed that there were significant attitude differences across the samples. The differences were in the expected direction e.g. offenders reported more abuse-accepting attitudes than the random adults and active Christians, and men had more abuse-accepting attitudes than women. This confirms the discriminative properties of ACA. Furthermore, the factors hypothesized to be associated with attitudes towards abuse behaved as expected, e.g. high empathy was related to more averse attitudes. Conclusively, the scale was found to be valid and reliable.
Study II further investigated attitudes towards abuse and explored cultural, social and personal factors associated with these attitudes. The results showed that different factors were predictors of attitudes in the three samples. Empathy and normlessness were the best predictors of attitudes among the random sample of adults and the active Christians. The most significant predictors of attitudes among the prisoners were their view of women and femininity. This may imply that different intervention strategies should be chosen depending on the target group.
Study III aimed to explore attitudes towards and knowledge-seeking about child sexual abuse among the samples. It was hypothesized that those who seek more knowledge had more accurate knowledge about abuse, and that the difference in knowledge-seeking and attitudes were related to the respondents’ own experience with abuse. It was furthermore expected that both knowledge-seeking and attitudes were predictors of abusive behaviour. The results suggested that attitudes and knowledge-seeking differed across samples and gender. The active Christians had most aversive attitudes towards child sexual abuse and sought more knowledge about abuse than the comparing samples. The respondents who reported high knowledge-seeking seemed to have more knowledge of abuse as well. However, a more comprehensive measurement of both knowledge-seeking and actual knowledge is recommended in future studies. Knowledge-seeking was related to both direct and indirect experience, e.g. victims of abuse had higher knowledge-seeking compared to non-victims and those who knew a victim had higher knowledge-seeking than those who did not know a victim. Abusive behaviour was predicted by attitudes, gender and sample. Knowledge-seeking did not predict abusive behaviour.
Taken together, the three studies showed that the hypothesized attitudinal differences between the three samples, were confirmed. Furthermore, the expected relation between attitudes on the one hand and social, cultural, and personality factors and knowledge-seeking on the other hand, was supported. The result as a whole may serve as a guide to interventions aimed to prevent abuse.
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Carter, Shevaun Kirsten. "Perpetrators of child sexual abuse." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2017. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/7691/.
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The National Society of Protection and Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) estimate that 1 in 20 children are a victim of sexual abuse (Bentley, O’Hagan, Raff, & Bhatti, 2016). Furthermore, recent figures indicate that there has been a rise in child sexual abuse cases across the UK. Research into perpetrators of child sexual abuse have focused primarily on male offenders. Researchers have explored the cognitive distortions of male offenders and developed theories of sexual offending based on the risk factors associated with this population. More recently, studies have explored the core beliefs and schemas of child offenders to understand the factors that underpin their cognitive distortions. This empirical paper explores the Early Maladaptive Schemas and Implicit Theories of mentally disordered child sex offenders. Historically, societal perspectives of women indicated that females were highly unlikely to perpetrate sexual offences against children. More recent findings suggest that females account for approximately 5% of all sexual offenders across the UK, Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand. However, this statistic varies depending on the data gathering methods employed: self-report studies indicate higher prevalence rates of female perpetrated sexual abuse compared to case report studies. This systematic review explores societal perspectives of female child sex offenders compared to male perpetrators.
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Lyons, Jennifer. "Sexual Abuse Characteristics and Psychological Functioning among Male Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse." Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/37585.
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Childhood sexual abuse among males has been associated with many negative psychological outcomes. Studies have attempted to identify which sexual abuse characteristics (e.g., duration, age of onset) are associated with mental health difficulties. While informative, this research has been mostly limited to variable-centered analyses, which do not capture the heterogeneity in males’ abuse experiences and psychological presentations. This two-part dissertation advances our understanding of how best to measure childhood sexual abuse and how to account for the diversity of sexual abuse experiences and outcomes among men using a person-centered approach. Given that there are few validated measures of childhood sexual abuse, the first study examined the psychometric properties of a commonly-used measure in the sexual abuse literature, the Sexual Victimization Survey (SVS; Finkelhor, 1979). Once the validity and reliability of the SVS were established, the SVS was used to generate profiles on the basis of abuse characteristics (Study 2). Data for both studies were drawn from a sample of 302 males (85% Caucasian) aged 18 to 65 years seeking support for childhood sexual abuse. Participants completed a modified version of the SVS as well as the sexual abuse subscale of the Childhood Experiences of Violence Questionnaire-Short Form (CEVQ-SF; Tanaka et al., 2012). Twenty-one males completed the SVS again one week later for test-retest purposes. The SVS showed high inter-rater reliability on sexual abuse status and sexual abuse characteristics. Most males (85%) who endorsed sexual abuse on the SVS did so on the CEVQ-SF, resulting in fair concurrent validity. The SVS showed perfect one-week test-retest reliability on abuse status, as well as good to excellent agreement on sexual abuse characteristics between the initial and one week time points. Given the strong psychometric properties of the modified SVS, it was then used to generate childhood sexual abuse profiles in Study 2. Once participants with significant missing data were deleted, 215 men remained and were included in the generation of profiles. Latent profile analyses revealed three distinct profiles which varied in the severity of abuse experiences. The Severe profile (n = 56, 26%) depicted sexual abuse which began in mid-childhood and consisted of a one or two time fondling by an unfamiliar extrafamilial perpetrator. Men in the More Severe profile (n = 71, 33%) also experienced abuse in mid-childhood by an extrafamilial perpetrator, but experienced more severe sexual acts that spanned several months to several years. Men in this profile were emotionally closer to their perpetrators prior to abuse onset than males in the Severe profile. The Most Severe profile (n = 88, 41%) depicted abuse which began in early childhood and consisted of very severe sexual acts by trusted individuals both within and outside of the family. Men in the Most Severe were significantly more likely to concurrently have experienced child emotional and physical abuse as well as a greater number of non-victimization adversities, compared with men in the other two profiles. Profiles varied with respect to psychological outcomes. Males in the More Severe and Most Severe profiles reported significantly more internalizing problems than men in the Severe profile, and men in the Most Severe profile reported significantly more trauma symptoms than men in the Severe profile. Certain contextual variables were also associated with greater psychological difficulties, namely greater present-day use of avoidant coping predicted more internalizing and externalizing problems, as well as greater trauma symptoms. Worse childhood family functioning was associated with more internalizing and externalizing problems, and disclosure of the abuse (compared to non-disclosure) was associated with more externalizing problems and trauma symptoms. These results have several research and clinical implications, including tailoring assessment and treatment to meet the individual needs of male survivors.
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Muga, Jerusha Atieno. "Child sexual abuse in Christian families." Berlin Viademica-Verl, 2010. http://d-nb.info/1001930541/04.
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Swanston, Heather Yvette. "Five Years After Child Sexual Abuse." University of Sydney. Paediatrics and Child Health, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/573.
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Introduction Child sexual abuse is a common problem. Psychological and behavioural problems in children and adults who have experienced child sexual abuse have been associated with the abuse. Little research has been conducted which has been long-term, prospective, involved substantiated sexual abuse, included a control group, took into account mediating factors, utilised multiple data sources, relied on standardised measures and had a high follow-up rate. Aim The aims of this study were to compare a cohort of sexually abused young people with a group of nonabused peers and to establish predictors of psychological and behavioural outcome. Method This study was a follow-up which was long-term, prospective, involved a sample of children with substantiated sexual abuse, included a control group, took into account mediating factors, utilised multiple data sources, relied on standardised measures and had a high follow-up rate. Eighty-four sexually abused young people were followed up five years after presenting to Children�s Hospitals� Child Protection Units for sexual abuse and were compared to a group of 84 nonabused young people of similar age and sex. The two groups were compared on the basis of demographic variables, family functioning, mother�s mental health and life events; the outcome measures of depression, self-esteem, anxiety, behaviour, criminal activity, alcohol and other drug use, eating problems, running away, suicide attempts, self-injury, hopefulness, despair and attributional style; and potential mediating factors such as further notifications to the Department of Community Services, receipt of psychological treatment, legal action against offenders and victims compensation. Potential predictors of outcome were (1) demographic variables, (2) sexual abuse characteristcs, (3) intake data and (4) five year follow-up variables. Main findings Follow-up rates were 81percent (n equals 68) for cases and 89percent (n equals 75) for controls. Five years after presenting for the sexual abuse, the sexually abused young people were performing more poorly than their nonabused peers on various measures of psychological state and behaviour. Although the abused children had experienced more negative life events (p<.001), were from lower socio-economic groups (p<.0001), had more changes in parent figures (p<.001) and had mothers who were more psychologically distressed (p equals .03), multiple regression analysis showed that after allowing for these and other demographic and family factors, there were still significant differences between the groups after the 5 years. The abused children displayed more disturbed behavior (p equals .002), had lower self-esteem (p<.001), were more depressed or unhappy (p<.001) and were more anxious (p equals .03) than controls. Sexually abused children had significantly higher levels of bingeing (p equals .02), self-injury (p equals.009) and suicide attempts (p equals .03). Significant predictors of psychological and behavioural outcome were significantly related to family and parent functioning variables. Abuse status was not a significant predictor when offered to each of the predictive models. Significant predictors of outcome included the following intake variables: family functioning, mother�s mental health, whether parents were employed or not, behaviour scores, prior notifications for neglect, history of parental discord and whether there were caregiver changes or not prior to intake. The classification of the index sexual abuse event as indecent assault and whether there were notifications for sexual abuse prior to the index event also significantly predicted outcome. Five year follow-up variables which were significant predictors of outcome were the young person�s age, number of negative life events, attributional style, self-esteem, depression, number of parent changes, anxiety, despair, whether there were notifications for abuse/neglect after intake and having a parent with a history of drug/alcohol problems. Conclusions Difficulties associated with child sexual abuse continue for some years after the abuse event. Child sexual abuse needs to be considered as a possible antecedent of behaviour and psychological difficulties in young people. Treatment and monitoring should continue for some years after the abuse. Treatment may need to be directed more towards young people�s psychological states rather than focusing specifically on the sexual abuse. Family and parent functioning may need to be addressed early in order to prevent some of the behavioural and psychological difficulties associated with the long-term outcome of child sexual abuse.
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Turton, Jackie. "Child sexual abuse : understanding female offenders." Thesis, University of Essex, 2003. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.274378.
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MOURA, MIRIAM PERES DE. "CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE: RESPONSIBLES SOCIAL REPRESENTATIONS." PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO, 2004. http://www.maxwell.vrac.puc-rio.br/Busca_etds.php?strSecao=resultado&nrSeq=5931@1.
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CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICOO abuso sexual praticado contra crianças é um crime hediondo que nos remete a uma história de dominação e poder do mais forte contra o mais fraco, e do adulto contra a criança, sejam eles familiares ou estranhos. Atualmente essa questão vem mobilizando autoridades governamentais, profissionais de saúde, de educação e a sociedade, através da mídia, da criação de leis, de campanhas educativas e da academia. Muitos embates têm sido travados visando encontrar as melhores alternativas para o enfrentamento do problema. Com base na noção de que a representação social contém um caráter prático e operacional, voltado para a ação, o presente estudo teve dois objetivos centrais: primeiro, identificar as representações sociais dos responsáveis por crianças vítimas de abuso sexual acerca dos agressores, dos profissionais e dos serviços de atenção à criança vítima de abuso sexual; e segundo, entender como essas representações influenciam a resolutividade dos casos atendidos.Conclui-se que a adesão ao tratamento, primeira condição para a resolutividade, é fortemente influenciada pelas representações sociais dos responsáveis, em particular aquelas relativas à função desempenhada pelas autoridades e à figura do autor do abuso sexual. O estudo mostra ainda que os responsáveis fazem circular essas representações, mas se ressentem do fato de nem sempre elas serem ouvidas, o que demonstra a necessidade de estabelecer uma escuta diferenciada que valorize e compreenda suas representações sociais como fatores determinantes no sucesso do acompanhamento e adesão ao tratamento. Apoiar, sustentar e valorizar a fala dos responsáveis, dar voz a estas representações e frustrações, é pois fundamental para construir ações efetivas na trajetória de enfrentamento da questão de modo a contribuir na resolutividade dos casos de abuso sexual.
Sexual abuse practised against children is a hideous crime which reminds us to a history of domination from the strongest to the weakest, from adults against children; being their relatives or unknown people. Nowadays, this question has been mobilizing governmental authorities, educational and health professionals and society as a whole through educational marketing campaigns, academic institutions, and also the criation of new legislation. Battles have been battled in order to find better alternatives to face this problem.Based on the idea that social representation contains a practical and operational character, which is focused on the action, this study had two principal objectives: Firstly, to identify the social representations from people who are in charge for children who are victms of sexual abuse, in relation to the their aggressors; representations from all the professionals involved and also from children protection programs. Secondly, to understand how these social representations influence the sexual abuse cases solutions.We conclude that the treatment adherence, which is the first condition towards the solution, is strongly influenced by parent social representations. Particularly, those ones related to the function represented by authorities and by the sexual abuse author figure. The study still shows that responsibles make to circulate these representations, although they feel resentful about the fact they are not always listened to. It demonstrates the necessity of establishing a differencial listening service, which understands and makes valuable their social representations as determining facts for the treatment adherence, its accompanying and success. Supporting and sustaining in order to become worthy these responsible clamours, as well as giving the right importance to their representations and frustrations. Therefore, these attitudes are fundamental to build effective actions during the jouney to face this question, in order to contribute to the sexual abuse cases solutions.
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Hatton, Victoria. "Investigating perceptions of child sexual abuse." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2017. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41986/.
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Purpose: The aim of this research was to investigate perceptions of child sexual abuse (CSA), particularly the perceptions held by CSA perpetrators and the public. Given the influence perceptions can have on a CSA victim’s wellbeing and disclosure behaviour, and a CSA perpetrator’s sexual recidivism risk, gaining insight into these perceptions was considered important. Method: To facilitate this investigation, a multifaceted approach was adopted. This commenced with chapter one, a systematic literature review, which aimed to identify which factors influence English and Welsh perceptions of CSA victims. The second chapter comprised an empirical research project which aimed to investigate the influence of a victim’s abuse history, victim-perpetrator relationship and a perpetrator’s gender on British perceptions of CSA. These three factors were selected due to their hypothesised influence on perceptions and lack of investigation. Following this, chapter three was completed which involved a critique of the Gudjonsson Blame Attribution Inventory-Revised (GBAI-R). This was to assess the inventory’s suitability for chapter four and to inform practitioners of its utility. Finally, chapter four entailed a case study which aimed to investigate whether a CSA perpetrator’s offence-specific minimisation could be reduced. This was facilitated by completing a six-session intervention on an individual basis. Results: This thesis revealed various findings. Specifically, chapter one revealed respondent gender influences public perceptions of CSA victims as males perceived CSA victims more negatively than females. Regarding chapter two, a victim’s abuse history, victim-perpetrator relationship and a perpetrator’s gender were not found to influence British perceptions of CSA. However, similar to chapter one, females were significantly more pro-victim compared to males. In chapter three, the critique identified some evidence of the GBAI-R being psychometrically sound and utilising an efficient administration methodology. Despite this, some concerns were raised regarding the representativeness of its normative data and the inventory’s susceptibility to extreme scores. Finally, chapter four revealed some evidence of the intervention reducing the perpetrator’s offence-specific minimisation although it was not possible to firmly conclude this. Conclusion: The findings highlight the need for further research into perceptions of CSA. This should include investigations into why males are less pro-victim compared to females and the impact this might have on CSA. Research should also continue to investigate the influence of a victim’s abuse history, victim-perpetrator relationship and a perpetrator’s gender on perceptions of CSA. As part of this research a more representative sample should be recruited to enable the generalisation of findings. A more comprehensive critique of the GBAI-R should also be facilitated as well as further investigations into minimisation.
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Harwell, Amy. "Gender issues in child sexual abuse." Thesis, Middlesex University, 2002. http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/13592/.
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Academic interest in the field of child sexual abuse remained consistently high during the latter part of the twentieth century. The research undertaken at this time demonstrated the relationship between child sexual abuse and gender; that is to say that men are the primary perpetrators of the sexual victimisation of children. Given this preponderance, it is of central importance to keep the significance of gender focal. Paradoxically, it is for this very reason that gender remains significant in cases where women sexually abuse children - because they represent the minority of cases. It is this disparity which provides a basis for this work. The purpose of this work is to examine and demonstrate that gender is significant in: the way in which an abuse experience is defined and made sense of; the process by which an individual becomes a survivor; and how abuse experiences are responded to by others. The foci of defmition, interpretation, subjectivity and ambiguity led to the utilisation of symbolic interactionism as an appropriate theoretical perspective in which to ground the study and to guide the research analysis. Designed as an exploratory study, the work combines qualitative and quantitative research methods aimed at survivors of abuse and relevant professionals (the latter drawn from both the 'therapy industry' and the criminal justice arena). In-depth interviews were carried out with survivors and analysed to examine survivors' subjective realities and interpretations of their experiences of abuse. Semi-structured interviews and questionnaires were used to explore the significance of gender in the responses of professionals to abuse experiences. The issues that arise from this work have profound implications for the way in which the significance of gender in child sexual abuse can be thought about and understood.
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Swanston, Heather Yvette. "Five Years After Child Sexual Abuse." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/573.
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Introduction Child sexual abuse is a common problem. Psychological and behavioural problems in children and adults who have experienced child sexual abuse have been associated with the abuse. Little research has been conducted which has been long-term, prospective, involved substantiated sexual abuse, included a control group, took into account mediating factors, utilised multiple data sources, relied on standardised measures and had a high follow-up rate. Aim The aims of this study were to compare a cohort of sexually abused young people with a group of nonabused peers and to establish predictors of psychological and behavioural outcome. Method This study was a follow-up which was long-term, prospective, involved a sample of children with substantiated sexual abuse, included a control group, took into account mediating factors, utilised multiple data sources, relied on standardised measures and had a high follow-up rate. Eighty-four sexually abused young people were followed up five years after presenting to Children�s Hospitals� Child Protection Units for sexual abuse and were compared to a group of 84 nonabused young people of similar age and sex. The two groups were compared on the basis of demographic variables, family functioning, mother�s mental health and life events; the outcome measures of depression, self-esteem, anxiety, behaviour, criminal activity, alcohol and other drug use, eating problems, running away, suicide attempts, self-injury, hopefulness, despair and attributional style; and potential mediating factors such as further notifications to the Department of Community Services, receipt of psychological treatment, legal action against offenders and victims compensation. Potential predictors of outcome were (1) demographic variables, (2) sexual abuse characteristcs, (3) intake data and (4) five year follow-up variables. Main findings Follow-up rates were 81percent (n equals 68) for cases and 89percent (n equals 75) for controls. Five years after presenting for the sexual abuse, the sexually abused young people were performing more poorly than their nonabused peers on various measures of psychological state and behaviour. Although the abused children had experienced more negative life events (p<.001), were from lower socio-economic groups (p<.0001), had more changes in parent figures (p<.001) and had mothers who were more psychologically distressed (p equals .03), multiple regression analysis showed that after allowing for these and other demographic and family factors, there were still significant differences between the groups after the 5 years. The abused children displayed more disturbed behavior (p equals .002), had lower self-esteem (p<.001), were more depressed or unhappy (p<.001) and were more anxious (p equals .03) than controls. Sexually abused children had significantly higher levels of bingeing (p equals .02), self-injury (p equals.009) and suicide attempts (p equals .03). Significant predictors of psychological and behavioural outcome were significantly related to family and parent functioning variables. Abuse status was not a significant predictor when offered to each of the predictive models. Significant predictors of outcome included the following intake variables: family functioning, mother�s mental health, whether parents were employed or not, behaviour scores, prior notifications for neglect, history of parental discord and whether there were caregiver changes or not prior to intake. The classification of the index sexual abuse event as indecent assault and whether there were notifications for sexual abuse prior to the index event also significantly predicted outcome. Five year follow-up variables which were significant predictors of outcome were the young person�s age, number of negative life events, attributional style, self-esteem, depression, number of parent changes, anxiety, despair, whether there were notifications for abuse/neglect after intake and having a parent with a history of drug/alcohol problems. Conclusions Difficulties associated with child sexual abuse continue for some years after the abuse event. Child sexual abuse needs to be considered as a possible antecedent of behaviour and psychological difficulties in young people. Treatment and monitoring should continue for some years after the abuse. Treatment may need to be directed more towards young people�s psychological states rather than focusing specifically on the sexual abuse. Family and parent functioning may need to be addressed early in order to prevent some of the behavioural and psychological difficulties associated with the long-term outcome of child sexual abuse.
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Smith, Christa M. "Sexual cognitions of childhood sexual abuse survivors /." View online, 2008. http://repository.eiu.edu/theses/docs/32211131464745.pdf.
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Kobayashi, Juichi 1960. "Parental deviance, parent-child bonding, child abuse, and child sexual aggression." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 1992. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/278178.
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Structural equation modeling was used to test a theoretical model of the etiology of the deviant sexual aggression by adolescents. The subjects were 117 juvenile male sexual offenders who had been referred from either criminal justice or social service agencies to a clinic that treated offenders. The tested theoretical model included several family factors: parental deviance, child physical and sexual abuse history, and children's bonding to their parents. The model as a whole fitted the data very well. As for the specific hypotheses in the model, physical abuse by the father and sexual abuse by males were found to increase sexual aggression by adolescents. Also, children's bonding to their mother was found to decrease their sexual aggression. These results are explained from the social learning perspective and parent-child attachment or social control perspective. Further, the directions for the future research are suggested.
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Worrell, Marcia Lorraine. "The discursive construction of child sexual abuse." Thesis, Open University, 2001. http://oro.open.ac.uk/18986/.
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Currently in the English speaking world adult/child sex and knowledge about it has become firmly located within a taken-for-granted 'child sexual abuse' discourse. My argument in this thesis is that despite being commonly portrayed as a singularity, the discursive arena of adult/child sex is a site of controversy and conflict, invested with meanings that differ over time and place. Child sexual abuse cannot thus be thought of as something that exists outside of the situated knowledge through which its taken-for-granted nature is brought into being and maintained. A stated aim of this thesis is, therefore, to explore some of the complex, heterogeneous and nuanced ways in which adult/child sex is put into discourse as child sexual abuse. The analytics of Beryl Curt and Michel Foucault were applied to Q Methodology, participant observation and a range of ethnographically informed methodologies. The Q Methodological study revealed five explanatory accounts. These were explicated as a Mainstream Professional Account; Boy-Love; A Liberal Account of Child Sexual Abuse; Sexual Abuse as Paraphilia and a Feminist lnformed Account. The Q study also revealed three standpoints on child sexual abuse: Feminist/Child Protectionist; Social Constructionist/Children's Rights; and Childhood Sexuality. Three alternative viewpoints on the social policies that should be adopted in this area were also identified in this study. These were explicated as Libertarian; Control and Protect and Liberal Humanism . Also examined were the performative aspects of the phenomenon of child sexual abuse through an interrogation of the subject position that are available (to survivors of sexual abuse, convicted child sex offenders and those who advocate adult/child sexual contact), to be adopted, resisted or reformed. The thesis ends with a review of the main findings of my research in terms of theory. practice and research in the area of child sexual abuse. It also examines methodological issues and reflects upon my own experiences of conducting this work.
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Sterling, Carolyn Dawn. "Accounting for child sexual abuse : male discourses." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 1990. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13546.
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Bibliography: leaves 48-51.This study explores discourses which relate to child sexual abuse and which seek to excuse or justify it. It is hypothesized that these discourses are wide-spread and are not held simply by a small minority of offenders. Similar discourses emerged in two very different groups of male subjects. The first comprised 45 male second year University of Cape Town students in the Department of Psychology in 1986, who enrolled for a gender socialization course credit option. The second consists of 26 alleged child sexual abusers admitted to Valkenberg Hospital for psychiatric observation in 1988/9. A discourse analysis methodology is used to analyse essays written by the students and transcripts of audiotaped groups in which they participated, as well as accounts of the alleged offence contained in the clinical records of the observation cases. Ten discoqrse1;i, relating to excuses or justifications for child sexual abuse, were identified by their repeated occurrence in the research material. Identified justifications of child sexual abuse are victim blaming, the belief that men are unable to control their sexual drive, the assertion of power, perceived rights over women, and doubting the evidence of girls and women. Illustrations of these discourses, which are present in both students' essays and groups, as well as in the alleged offenders' accounts, are discussed. These five discourses appear to be pervasive and may be indicative of generally held beliefs which relate to the different positions in which men and women are placed in society.
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Worrell, Marcia Lorraine. "The discursive construction of child sexual abuse." n.p, 1999. http://dart.open.ac.uk/abstracts/page.php?thesisid=183.
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Neal, Nina Faye 1955. "Reporting of child sexual abuse among professionals." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 1990. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/291797.
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The purpose of this study was to identify reporting of child sexual abuse among professionals. Forty out of one hundred questionnaires were completed and returned. The population for this study consisted of men and women in the following professions: Pediatricians, nurses, preschool workers, teachers, religious workers, and counselors in a southwestern community. A questionnaire was used to obtain demographic data and general information. Included in the questionnaire were eight hypothetical case vignettes of child sexual abuse. The professionals were asked to answer ten questions pertaining to the cases. Results showed that although professionals are aware of reporting laws, they still are not reporting all the cases of child sexual abuse when they suspect abuse. In certain cases, professionals are reluctant to report following a retraction by the child, or when the parents deny the allegation. Religious workers have the least knowledge of reporting laws of the professionals sampled. Overall, pediatricians report more often when they suspect child sexual abuse than the other professionals in the sample.
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Rahm, Elaine Jackie. "Misconceptions Surrounding Child Sexual Abuse In Durban." Thesis, University of Zululand, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10530/1376.
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Social attitudes towards child sexual abuse (CSA) tend to reflect a wide variety of misconceptions. These not only play a highly significant role in the etiology and maintenance of sexual offending against children, they also contribute to under reporting and promote the silence that generally surrounds CSA. They further predict unfair treatment of victims, and compromise adaptive resolution in both victim and offender.
The main purpose of this study was to investigate the existence of misconceptions surrounding CSA amongst the general public of Durban in South Africa. A further purpose was to explore differences in rates of myth endorsement in this context, firstly between males and females, and secondly between two levels of education.
The research design was conceptualised within a positivist paradigm with the use of quantitative data collected through questionnaire method. The research instrument was developed by the researcher within the framework of four empirical studies, with input from two professors with extensive research experience. The sample consisted of members and staff of a public library; clothing factory workers; staff in two elementary schools; and employees in a retail outlet. The research sites were located in three different geographical areas of the city to maximise generalisation of findings.
Although previous studies have indicated high rates of myth endorsement amongst the general public and gender differences in rates of myth endorsement, the present study
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did not yield significant results in these two areas. This may have been due to the composition of the sample which was largely representative of educators and other school personnel (n = 80). This population has more exposure to victims of CSA than the average member of the public, and may well have a wider knowledge in issues surrounding CSA, as a consequence of this.
In terms of differences in rates of myth endorsement according to levels of education, findings in this study have indicated a higher rate of myth endorsement in those with a lower level of education. This is consistent with findings in previous studies amongst the general public in the USA and Australia. This suggests a priority for the development of programs to disseminate accurate information in issues surrounding CSA at all levels of public education.
The literature additionally indicates an urgent need for the development and implementation of comprehensive programs to elucidate issues in CSA amongst the general public. It has been suggested that these public programs be based on the educational initiatives employed in antismoking campaigns, since these have proven efficacy.National Research Foundation
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Lee, Susan Speicher. "Sexual abuse and stunted spirituality." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 1987. http://www.tren.com.
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Phillips, Cecilie Anne Bannatyne. "Coping skills of incest and sexual abuse victims." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1985. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/25505.
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Childhood incest and sexual abuse was explored in depth to determine
the coping skills used by victims, based upon their descriptive recall of these events. Eighteen adult women, who were group therapy members and leaders, were interviewed about their experiences as sexually abused children and adolescents. The critical incident technique was used to identify what hindered or facilitated the victims coping in the eighty-one abuse experiences collected. Each incident was categorized according to the identifiable stress, and the type of coping method used. Three categories of identifiable stress emerged from the data which were labelled offenders, significant others, and victims. Of these, the largest number of incidents related to stress created by offenders. In this sample, victims utilized direct action, inhibition of action, and intrapsychic coping methods, but not information seeking. Of these, direct action was most frequently employed. Independent judges found these categories reliable. Results are examined according to theoretical frameworks in coping theory and current perspectives on sexual abuse.Education, Faculty of
Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of
Graduate
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Johnston, Colin Farguhar. "An examination of child sexual abuse in Hong Kong." Thesis, [Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong], 1990. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B12840452.
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Sagle, Betty Sherwood. "The effects of child sexual abuse : an exploration of variables contributing to long term negative effects of child sexual abuse /." Thesis, This resource online, 1992. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-09292009-020126/.
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Chan, Mi-har. "Breaking secrets : disclosing childhood sexual abuse /." Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 1998. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B20124843.
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Joy, Rayleigh Frances. "Governing child sexual abuse : the psy/legal nexus /." St. Lucia, Qld, 2003. http://www.library.uq.edu.au/pdfserve.php?image=thesisabs/absthe17861.pdf.
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Wiley, Elizabeth Stirling. "Situational correlates of disclosure of child sexual abuse." Thesis, Texas A&M University, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/1643.
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Often, a sexually abused childs disclosure is the only evidence of the abuse. However, most victims do not disclose until adulthood, if ever. This study explores situational correlates of child sexual abuse disclosure. An archival data set comprised of 1120 cases of child sexual abuse was analyzed. Questions asked include whether or not any variable differentiates between the type of disclosure a child makes, the identity of the recipient of the disclosure, whether or not a child will recant, and if a child does recant, in what timeframe this occurs. Variables included victim characteristics (gender, ethnicity, age, family income) and abuse characteristics (relationship to the perpetrator, nature of the abuse, threat involved, frequency of abuse, and duration of abuse.) T-tests, chi-square analyses, and log linear modeling were used in the analysis of the data. Although statistical limitations were an issue, age and threat were found to be influential in the disclosure process.
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Harms, Paul Davis. "Perceptions of child-witnesses in sexual abuse trials." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1998. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/tape15/PQDD_0006/NQ35175.pdf.
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Willingham, Elizabeth Upchurch. "Maternal Perceptions and Responses to Child Sexual Abuse." Digital Archive @ GSU, 2007. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/cps_diss/12.
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ABSTRACT MATERNAL PERCEPTIONS AND RESPONSES TO CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE by Elizabeth U. Willingham Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a complex phenomenon that requires various levels of intervention to address the safety, recovery, and prevention needs of children and families who have experienced victimization. Although there is a large body of literature that has identified and examined many aspects of CSA (Putnam, 2003), less is known about nonoffending caregivers of sexually abused children. The one consistent finding across studies that have investigated CSA, nonoffending caregivers, and traumatic stress in children is the importance the of child-caregiver relationship in facilitating recovery (Elliot & Carnes, 2001; Scheeringa & Zeanah, 2001). CSA is stressful for both the child and the caregiver, and it affects the child-caregiver relationship. Studies are needed to determine the underlying factors and processes that contribute to nonoffending caregivers’ stress and coping responses, supportive and protective reactions, and intervention needs as they relate to supporting their children’s recovery and healing the family unit. This exploratory study examined the phenomenological experiences of mothers whose children had been sexually abused. In-depth exploration and systematic analysis of mothers’ perceptions about their children’s victimization, their reaction, and their distress using constructivist grounded theory methods (Charmaz & Corbin, 2005) provided a better understanding of the mothers’ collective experience and response. This study used theoretical sampling (Miles & Huberman, 1994) for participant selection. The researcher interviewed 14 mothers of children who had been sexually abused and had received services at a child advocacy center. Two key informants were also interviewed to obtain a detailed conceptualization of the theoretical and practical aspects of the programs and services at the child advocacy. The findings from this naturalistic, phenomenological inquiry revealed that the mothers experienced crisis and traumatic distress following their children’s disclosure. The findings also showed that even in the midst of traumatic distress and grief, the mothers did believe and protect their children. In addition, the results of this study highlight how maternal supportive responses are interdependent on numerous factors, especially their capacity to cope with past abuse, current distress, and their level of emotional and financial dependency on their child’s perpetrator.
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Thomas-Morton, Sherry. "Child sexual abuse protocol : changing social work practice?" Thesis, McGill University, 1992. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=61153.
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This study examined the introduction of a Child Sexual Abuse Protocol, supported by a specialized training program, in a large social service centre, to determine effects on social work practice and case outcomes. The sample (N = 261) represented referrals during two years, one before and one after introduction of the Protocol. Data sources were agency files, supplemented by interviews with five key informants. It was found that the Protocol and training had little effect on worker practice or case outcomes. An uneven and ambiguous implementation process, combined with the lack of coordination of the social service, police, and judicial systems, were contributing factors. The conflicting views of managers were important influences. Interagency coordination, and application of consistent standards, are recommended. Effective intervention in child sexual abuse cases requires a revision of the Protocol, which takes into account the experiences and limitations of the participating systems.
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Strachman, Miller Marjorie. "Processing the trauma of intrafamilial child sexual abuse." Diss., Kansas State University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/11968.
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Doctor of PhilosophyDepartment of Family Studies and Human Services
Sandra M. Stith
While previous research has shown that some form of processing the trauma of IFCSA seems to occur for many IFCSA survivors, how the trauma of IFCSA is processed remains as a gap in the literature. In this exploratory study, I used qualitative methods to clarify what the nature of processing is and how it happens among IFCSA survivors. A phenomenological framework was utilized to understand the lived experience of processing IFCSA, which guided my main research question (What is the nature of how IFCSA is processed for some survivors?). Participants were recruited from the community via flyers, advertisements, and announcements. Seven eligible female participants completed two separate in-person semi-structured interviews. Participants also completed a timeline to organize their journeys in the first interview, and brought an object, or aesthetic representation, to represent their journeys of processing IFCSA in the second interview to triangulate data collection. To analyze the data, I used a constructivist grounded theory analysis approach. The general categories that emerged from the data in relation to processing IFCSA included the journey of processing IFCSA, the nature of processing IFCSA, and advice about processing IFCSA. The journey of processing included the individual journeys that each participant had been through. Participants described the nature of processing in terms of how they defined and experienced processing IFCSA experiences. For example, one participant’s definition of processing was the “uncomfortable process of really unpacking the implications of what actually happened. … acknowledging all the myriad ways that it’s actually affected you in your life. … And sort of personalizing what it is about that…has an affect on you.” Finally, advice from the participants for individuals, families, and helping professionals are described. Several participants recommended that victims seek help, as one participant discussed, “To me it’s not a stigma, a horrible thing, to go to counseling. That really it is for a healing, that it is another step of medically taking care of ourselves.” Clinical implications derived from this advice as well as from participants’ experiences processing IFCSA are discussed. Suggestions for future research to gain a better understanding about processing IFCSA are also discussed.
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Nguyen, My Linh Thi. "Health consequences of child and adult sexual abuse /." [St. Lucia, Qld.], 2002. http://www.library.uq.edu.au/pdfserve.php?image=thesisabs/absthe16613.pdf.
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Sally, Christina Lynn. "Understanding Nonoffending Caregiver Protection in Child Sexual Abuse." ScholarWorks, 2019. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/7253.
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Child sexual abuse is a global issue that has affected children, families, and communities for centuries regardless of socioeconomic, religious, ethnic, race, or multicultural factors and distinctions. Sexually abused children may be reluctant to disclose sexual abuse due to perceptions or realities that their nonoffending caregiver (NOC) will not believe their reports and may fail to provide adequate protection. The purpose of this quantitative study was to assess if child demographics (i.e., age, sex, and race/ethnicity); type of sexual offense (i.e., contact or noncontact); and perpetrator relationship to the child (i.e., familial or extrafamilial) predict a NOC's response (i.e., protection or failure to protect) to child sex abuse disclosures, using cognitive dissonance theory and neutralization theory as theoretical foundations. Archived and extracted data (2015-2017) were utilized from the Utah Department of Human Services. A binary logistic regression was used to determine the predictive quality of the independent variables for the outcome variable. The results indicated that the odds of protection were greater for non-White females experiencing noncontact abuse by a familial offender. Age was not a statistically significant predictor of NOC protection in the full model. The findings from this study support positive social change by providing research-based conclusions that can promote prevention, intervention, and education programs by child protection teams for victims of child sexual abuse and their families.
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Seaton, Mary Ann. "Sexual abuse prevention programs in Illinois schools /." View online, 2006. http://repository.eiu.edu/theses/docs/32211131342703.pdf.
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Turinetti, Greg J. "Criminal consequences of early childhood sexual abuse." Online version, 1999. http://www.uwstout.edu/lib/thesis/1999/1999turinettig.pdf.
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Wismayanti, Yanuar F. "Understanding Child Sexual Abuse in Indonesia: A Critical Analysis." Thesis, Griffith University, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/397635.
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Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a global problem that affects children across cultures, nationalities and economic status. Under reporting of CSA is common. CSA remains a taboo issue that is sensitive to discuss, this often leads to stigma and shame. There are significant gaps in knowledge on the occurrence of CSA in Indonesia and this is reflected in fragmented and inconsistent responses. This can be seen in the literature review conducted for this thesis that found the contradictions in definitions of children within the laws have contributed to how and whether CSA cases are correctly recognised in Indonesia. These were based on the age of the child and their marital status; often this construction was especially discriminating against girls. Cultural practices can add to these difficulties as well as perpetuate myths or inaccuracies about the occurrence of CSA. As a result, there are challenges in understanding its prevalence. Indonesia has begun to recognise CSA as a significant problem requiring effective intervention and prevention. The national government has a strong national policy on child protection and commitment to addressing violence against children. This is consistent with the United Nations New Sustainable Development Goals which urge member countries to eliminate child violence, including CSA (World Health Organisation et al., 2016).
This thesis specifically aims (i) to understand how CSA is perceived within current policy and law, and in doing so to elucidate the context and complexities of CSA, and (ii) to explore the various perspectives that stakeholders hold regarding CSA, and how the issues are addressed at the local level. In order to achieve the abovementioned aims, the thesis adopted a critical discourse analysis method. In particular, Bacchi’s WPR (What’s the Problem Represented to be) methodology was chosen due to the exploratory and conceptual gaps in understanding how CSA in Indonesia is conceived. This approach is particularly suitable for facilitating a better understanding regarding the assumptions and evidence used to construct Indonesian policy and law on CSA. The critical discourse analysis was comprised of two parts. First, it critically explored how CSA issues in Indonesia have been constructed and represented. Six government documents were analysed, namely two laws and four national policies, which are related to child protection. Second, the analysis investigated the problematisation of CSA among stakeholders, including their perspectives on the national policy and law on CSA prevention and intervention, and challenges in program implementation at the local level. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 stakeholders (7 people in Central Java Province, and 9 people in Surakarta City). These participants included local policy makers, public servants, health professionals, and relevant Non-Government Organisation representatives.
The thesis identified five key findings. Firstly, main CSA problematisations were identified: children are a vulnerable, at risk and disempowered group; there is a lack of access and coordination on integrated services for children; and there is a lack of agreement and clarity across laws and policy in child protection. Perspectives across stakeholders at the local level confirmed these problematisations and their consequences. Second, the assumptions of power relations that feature in society, and across government institutions, contributed to the construction of CSA problematisations in Indonesia. These assumptions were related to cultural practices, and structural power created by the laws and policies. Third, the historic influence of Dutch colonial law within the current Indonesian child protection laws and policies, was identified. Fourth, the government texts were silent on discussing the issue of CSA due to the influence of cultural and religious beliefs, including the concept of taboo. Fifth, the silence about CSA in Indonesian policy discourse influenced the design and strategy of CSA prevention and intervention in the country. Given the limited adequate access to justice, protection, and services, children in Indonesia are at high risk and are vulnerable to sexual abuse.
The issue of CSA might be thought about differently if dominant discourses are replaced. This thesis offers a way to replace the relevant aspects of the dominant discourse with alternative representations and conceptual frameworks that would likely have a less harmful effect. In summary, the policy and legal discourses on CSA have a significant potential to be transformed to construct and develop a more effective response to CSA prevention and intervention in Indonesia.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Human Serv & Soc Wrk
Griffith Health
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Abdulrehman, Rehman Y. "The relationship between sexual aggression and perception of abuse in adult survivors of child sexual abuse." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2001. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk3/ftp04/MQ57522.pdf.
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Simmons, Rosemary Velda. "Childhood sexual trauma and female prostitution /." Digital version accessible at:, 1999. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/utexas/main.
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Eisenberg, Nadine Cecilia. "Child sexual abuse : making sense of the abuse of power and control." Thesis, London Metropolitan University, 1992. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.316642.
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Ericksen, Stephanie J. "Factors Affecting Revictimization in Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2010. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc30453/.
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Structural equation modeling was used to examine how childhood sexual abuse (and other associated variables, such as family functioning and experiencing multiple forms of abuse) relates to revictimization and psychological distress. Participants were women who participated in Project HOW: Health Outcomes of Women interviews, a longitudinal study that spanned six waves of interviews. Only women with a history of childhood sexual abuse were included in the present study (n=178). Experiencing nonsexual child maltreatment in addition to childhood sexual abuse appears directly related to adult sexual and physical revictimization and indirectly related to psychological distress. Childhood sexual abuse alone was not predictive of revictimization or psychological abuse. This suggests that other mediating factors may explain the relation between CSA and revictimization found in other research. Clinical implications based on the results of the present study emphasize the importance of identifying children who have experienced multiple forms of abuse as particularly at risk for future victimization. In addition, providing interventions with a focus on education and empowerment might decrease risk for future violence and subsequent emotional maladjustment. Potential future research could examine the treatment outcomes and efficacy of these interventions as well as identify those mediating factors that increase the risk for adult revictimization for those individuals who experience only childhood sexual abuse.
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Seinen, Albert Christopher. "A description of faith issues in the spiritual journey of adults recovering from childhood sexual abuse." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 1994. http://www.tren.com.
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Chen, Chingju Grace. "Influence of early attachment on the couple relationship for child sexual abuse survivors and their partners." Diss., Connect to online resource - MSU authorized users, 2008.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Family and Child Ecology, 2008.Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Sept. 9, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 251-274). Also issued in print.
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Kolbe, Cleophas. "An investigation into the patterns of child sexual abuse and victim-perpetrator relationships among survivors of child sexual abuse at a university." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2005. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&.
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The purpose of this study was to determine the extent, pattern and forms of child sexual abuse amongst university studentsto investigate the degree of sexual coercion
to examine victim-perpetrator relationships
to determine the extent to which students are bothered by the event at the time of completing the Early Sexual Experiences Checklist
to establish the age of the student at the time the event occurred and also the age of the other person involved when the event occurred
and to determine the frequency of the coercive event.
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Fast, Elizabeth. "Child welfare response to child sexual abuse : too much or not enough?" Thesis, McGill University, 2007. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=112642.
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The goals of this study were to determine the proportion of children that were identified in the 2005 & 2006 at one youth protection agency as victims of sexual abuse or as at risk of becoming victims; to describe the family members and offenders and to determine what decisions concerning treatment and restrictions of contact were consistent with a model of best practice. Information on 18 variables was collected and grouped into child, abuse, offender, and agency response categories. In total, 70 children or about 3% of investigated cases involved either victims or children at risk of sexual abuse. Best practice responses for treatment were followed in 90% of the cases for treatment but only 70% of the cases for restrictions of contact; this difference was statistically significant. Findings show importance of specialized sexual abuse training for workers, managers and judges, more treatment resources for nonoffending parents and further research involving a larger sample and validated best practice model.
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Parker, Naeema. "The court experiences of survivors of child sexual abuse." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2006. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&.
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This study ws aimed at understanding the particular experiences of children who have been sexualy abused, with regrds to their experiences in court.With the high prevalence of sexual abuse in South Africa, many children are forced to testify against the alleged perpetrators of these crimes in public courts. Several reforms have been introduced into the child justice system, inorder to make the process of child testimony more child-friendly. The research explicated the children's expereinces of the new courtroom procedures and it was found that some aspects of the legal process were indeed experienced as a form of secondary traumatisation.
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Jackson, Louise Ainsley. "Child sexual abuse and the law : London 1870-1914." Thesis, University of Surrey, 1997. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.361813.
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Darling, Andrea Jean. "Understanding female-perpetrated child sexual abuse in organisational contexts." Thesis, Durham University, 2018. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/12768/.
Full textAbstract:
Organisational child sexual abuse has received unprecedented attention over recent years with numerous local, national and international inquiries taking place. At the same time interest in female sex offenders has increased, however, despite this focus in both areas there is an almost total lack of research examining the phenomenon of female-perpetrated child sexual abuse in organisational contexts. This thesis combines these fields of inquiry and addresses this gap. Situational crime prevention theory framed the mixed methods approach examining 136 cases of sexual abuse perpetrated by women against children they worked with in organisational contexts. The sample originates from the UK, USA and Canada between 2000 and 2016. Freedom of Information request data from the Ministry of Justice and professional regulators was used to examine the current context of this abuse. Qualitative and quantitative content analysis of court reports, professional regulator decisions and media articles then examined 92 variables addressing: perpetrator and victim characteristics; offence processes and modus operandi and situational and environmental factors. The responses of organisations and criminal justice and child protection systems were also investigated, as well as the short- and long-term impacts upon victims. The findings show most women offend alone against a single, post-pubescent male victim, often with particular vulnerabilities. Abuse occurs predominantly outside the organisational environment and the use of electronic communication is common. The findings indicate these women were not pre-disposed offenders but rather their behaviour was influenced by socio-cultural, situational and contextual factors. This highlights the significant influence organisations can have in preventing this abuse and wider implications for policy and practice are also discussed. This thesis makes an original contribution to knowledge by being the first systematic investigation specifically examining female-perpetrated child sexual abuse in a range of organisational contexts.
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Robertson, Monica. "Family resilience in response to extrafamilial child sexual abuse." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/3813.
Full textAbstract:
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 122-126).This qualitative study explores family resilience in response to extrafamilial child sexual abuse. Family resilience refers to the adaptive pathway along which a family journeys in response to a significant stressor. The theory on family resilience proposes that protective family factors and processes serve to mediate the impact of trauma on a family. A gap was found in the literature in the area of family resilience relating to child sexual abuse and theoretical research conducted as part of this study aims to contribute to this area. The research study adopts a strengths perspective which views families as challenged rather than dysfunctional.