{"title":"The Lived Experiences of Female Relatives of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) Offenders in Ireland and the United Kingdom.","authors":"Elaine Kavanagh, Elaine Kinsella, Patrick Ryan","doi":"10.1080/10538712.2023.2274888","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>There is a limited understanding about how an association with those that download Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), a highly stigmatized crime, impacts the lives of their innocent family members. Non-offending family members are often considered a valuable protective resource for offender desistance and in safeguarding children from abuse. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore the lived experiences of female family members of CSAM offenders in Ireland and the United Kingdom to both identify and target areas for intervention thus ameliorating their ability to protect. A qualitative research design was adopted, and data analyzed via reflexive thematic analysis. Fifteen individuals self-selected for participation and interviews resulted in the identification of three key themes: <i>Shattered Worldview, The Injured Self; Contamination by Association</i>. The analysis highlighted how non-offending family members experienced considerable shame, trauma, and stigma with consequences that reached into every aspect of their lives. The findings are discussed in the context of the limited available literature along with research implications and recommendations for both policy and practice.</p>","PeriodicalId":47645,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Child Sexual Abuse","volume":" ","pages":"940-962"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4000,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Child Sexual Abuse","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10538712.2023.2274888","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2023/12/14 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"FAMILY STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
There is a limited understanding about how an association with those that download Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), a highly stigmatized crime, impacts the lives of their innocent family members. Non-offending family members are often considered a valuable protective resource for offender desistance and in safeguarding children from abuse. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore the lived experiences of female family members of CSAM offenders in Ireland and the United Kingdom to both identify and target areas for intervention thus ameliorating their ability to protect. A qualitative research design was adopted, and data analyzed via reflexive thematic analysis. Fifteen individuals self-selected for participation and interviews resulted in the identification of three key themes: Shattered Worldview, The Injured Self; Contamination by Association. The analysis highlighted how non-offending family members experienced considerable shame, trauma, and stigma with consequences that reached into every aspect of their lives. The findings are discussed in the context of the limited available literature along with research implications and recommendations for both policy and practice.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Child Sexual Abuse is interdisciplinary and provides an essential interface for researchers, academicians, attorneys, clinicians, and practitioners. The journal advocates for increased networking in the sexual abuse field, greater dissemination of information and research, a higher priority for this international epidemic, and development of effective assessment, intervention, and prevention programs. Divided into sections to provide clear information, the journal covers research issues, clinical issues, legal issues, prevention programs, case studies, and brief reports, focusing on three subject groups - child and adolescent victims of sexual abuse or incest, adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse or incest, and sexual abuse or incest offenders.