Journal of Child Sexual Abuse最新文献

This study assesses the impact of group therapy on young survivors of sexual abuse at a youth clinic in Sweden, focusing on self-reported outcomes and implications for primary health care. Interviews with 12 female participants aged 17-24 provided insights into the benefits of group therapy, including reduced feelings of loneliness and shame, enhanced understanding of abuse reactions and trajectories, and improved coping mechanisms. The findings support integrating group therapy into primary care settings alongside individual counseling, emphasizing the need for accessible, youth-oriented services with robust referral systems to effectively address the comprehensive psychosocial and health needs of young survivors.

This study drew on the resilience perspective to investigate whether connection to culture and social support moderated the relationship between Indigenous caregivers' history of child sexual abuse (CSA) victimization and outcomes critical to child development (i.e. caregivers' parenting practices). Participants were 119 Indigenous caregivers in the Northern Great Plains region in the U.S. The study found that social support was associated with aspects of parenting practices and that connection to culture was a significant moderator. These findings highlight the protective role of connection to culture in mitigating potentially negative effects of CSA on parenting practices, particularly within Indigenous communities. The results also underscore the importance of recognizing and drawing on cultural strengths in interventions designed to support survivors of CSA.

This qualitative study examined the perceptions of law enforcement officers who work with Children's Advocacy Centers (CACs) in Texas, utilizing anonymous phone interviews with 20 participants to better explain their views on resources, funding, training, and stakeholder collaboration with Child Protective Services, the district attorney's office, medical personnel, and CAC staff. Five themes emerged: lack of funding, specialized caseload, high turnover and personnel needs, emotional toll, and communication. These themes are discussed, and recommendations are made for law enforcement administration, CAC practitioners, and CAC stakeholders. Key practitioner recommendations include administration understanding the time and specialization required for child abuse cases, smaller and more frequent trainings provided by the CACs to facilitate improved communication and collegiality between stakeholders, and increased funding for additional personnel and resources to benefit officer emotional wellbeing. Limitations of this study and recommendations for future studies are also discussed.

Although some studies have investigated personality pathology in individuals who have committed sexual contact offenses against children, few examined whether personality pathology relates to different groups, including individuals who have committed child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) offenses. This study compared four male groups, namely a CSEM (n = 33), sexual contact (n = 30), non-sexual violent (n = 64), and community group (n = 143) using self-report questionnaires assessing personality pathology, including impairments in personality functioning (i.e. self-control, identity integration, responsibility, relational capacities, and social concordance), and pathological personality traits (i.e. psychopathic and narcissistic traits). Correlational and multivariate analyses of variance were conducted to examine group differences. No significant differences were found between the CSEM and sexual contact groups. Compared to the community group, the other three groups showed more impairments in personality functioning. The violent group reported higher levels of psychopathic and narcissistic traits than the other groups. The community group showed more overt narcissistic traits compared to the other groups. This study indicates no differences in personality pathology between the CSEM and sexual contact groups, suggesting that interventions may not need to vary between these groups. Replication and exploration of additional constructs are necessary before drawing definitive conclusions.

Rape victims often face secondary victimization when interacting with the legal and healthcare systems, a risk that is exacerbated by the attitudes and practices of the professionals they encounter. This study, drawing on responses (N = 237) from police employees, prosecutors, and healthcare personnel, aimed to investigate rape victim treatment from the perspective of these professionals. Our investigation was two-fold: through a web survey, we first examined how professionals' beliefs in a just world, acceptance of rape myths, and demographic factors influence their estimations of false reporting and trust in the justice system. We then used open-ended questions to identify perceived barriers, problematic practices, and areas for improvement within their professional roles and the overall system handling rape cases, providing both quantitative and qualitative data. Prosecutors and healthcare professionals reported significantly lower levels of estimations of false reports than police, with no significant difference between the two; additionally, prosecutors displayed the highest trust in the legal system, significantly greater than both police and healthcare professionals, whereas no significant difference was found between healthcare professionals and police. Overall, the professionals requested more specific knowledge on how to treat victims of rape and identified several perceived barriers (e.g. lack of resources, deprioritizing, and legislation) and problematic practices (e.g. interview practices and medical examination practices) that may cause secondary victimization. Practical implications for meeting and treating rape victims are discussed.

The current study examined whether in-person social reactions to disclosure of sexual violence vary as a function of sexual identity (heterosexual vs. bisexual+ survivors) and gender (women vs. nonbinary survivors). A secondary aim of the current study was to examine whether sexual identity and/or gender moderated the relation between social reactions to disclosure and various negative psychological/behavioral outcomes. (i.e. symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), heavy episodic drinking, cannabis use). Participants were 472 bisexual+ or heterosexual survivors who identified as women (cisgender and transgender women) or gender nonbinary. Independent sample t-tests and three simple linear regressions were used to examine the study aims. Nonbinary survivors reported higher levels of social reactions that involved turning against the survivor and providing unsupportive acknowledgment of the sexual violence experience, compared to women survivors. Both bisexual+ and nonbinary survivors reported higher levels of PTSD symptoms and greater cannabis use compared to heterosexual and women survivors, respectively. For bisexual+ survivors, reactions that turned against the survivors were associated with lower levels of PTSD symptoms and higher levels of heavy episodic drinking. For bisexual+ survivors, reactions involving unsupportive acknowledgment were associated with higher levels of PTSD symptoms and lower heavy episodic drinking. The current study highlights how identification as bisexual+ or as nonbinary may influence in-person social reactions received upon disclosure of sexual violence as well as psychological outcomes following sexual violence.

Characteristics associated with individuals who frequent the emergency department at higher rates have been well established; however, factors associated with greater emergency department visits following a recent sexual assault are largely unknown. The current study evaluated the associations between pre-assault factors such as substance use and physical injuries, assault characteristics such as genital injury, non-genital injury, alcohol or drug use involvement, intimate partner involvement, and emergency department visits one-year after a sexual assault medical forensic exam (SAMFE). The current study included a medical record review of 123 individuals who received a SAMFE at a hospital in the United States. Demographic variables, characteristics of the sexual assault, pre-sexual assault diagnoses, frequency of SAMFEs, and post-SAMFE emergency department visits were examined. A negative binomial regression was used to examine these factors on post-SAMFE emergency department visits. Results indicated that alcohol or drug use during an assault was associated with fewer emergency department visits post-SAMFE. Substance use and physical injury disorders pre-SAMFE were positively associated with post-SAMFE emergency department visits. Findings provide important insight for prevention strategies to potentially increase access to mental and physical health care post-assault to reduce the risk of repeated emergency department visits among recent survivors of sexual assault.

The current study examines the way sexual harassment, a specific facet of educator sexual misconduct, is experienced by secondary school students. The qualitative component of an online survey was completed by participants aged 18+ who had attended secondary school in Ireland (n = 85) or the UK (n = 74), and who were recruited to participate via social media. Participants were asked to describe the incident of educator-student sexual harassment they experienced that had the greatest effect on them. Data were analyzed using a deductive approach to thematic analysis and coded into topic summary themes using Fitzgerald's (1995) sexual harassment victimization measure and its respective sexual harassment categories. We also produced an additional theme-the context of sexual harassment. Collectively, these findings can inform educational policies and reporting processes for educator-student sexual harassment, to ultimately support the safety and well-being of all students.

Tanzania mandated reporting laws aim to identify and address child abuse, yet healthcare students' awareness and reporting are limited. This study assessed training's impact on their knowledge of reporting laws and handling confidential child abuse data. The study involved 412 medical and nursing students in a randomized controlled trial (RCT), with 206 participants receiving sexual health training and a waitlist control group of equal size receiving no intervention. Baseline and 3-month follow-up assessments evaluated knowledge of mandatory reporting laws and recording practices. At the 3-month follow-up, the control group showed minimal knowledge improvement (+7.5% for item 1, -6% for item 2), whereas the intervention group showed significant gains (23.7% for item 1, 0.7% for item 2). Additionally, notable disparity in total scores for reporting and recording between the groups emerged from baseline to follow-up (t = -3.682, p < .001, Cohen's d = 0.365). The intervention group (M = 0.527, SD = 1.630) had a larger mean difference score than the control group (M = -0.044, SD = 1.499). Therefore, the training significantly improved students' knowledge of mandatory reporting laws and the recording of clients' confidential information.

Although men and women generally receive positive and negative reactions to childhood sexual abuse (CSA) disclosure (Filipas & Ullman, 2001), negative reactions are more common (Gagnier & Collin-Vézina, 2016). Negative disclosure reactions - such as disbelieving, retaliating against, or distracting the survivor - are both prevalent and associated with poorer post-abuse recovery and well-being (Kennedy & Prock, 2018; Ullman, 2010). For male survivors in particular, the responses one receives from others following disclosure may complicate one's sense of masculinity. Thus, the present study explored the nature of the association between negative reactions to CSA disclosure and masculinity norm adherence between men and women who are CSA survivors. Participants (N = 299; M_age = 35.9; 52.8% women; 77.9% White) - who disclosed their CSA to at least one person - completed self-report measures pertaining to social reactions to CSA disclosure and adherence to various masculinity norms. Negative reactions to CSA disclosure were significantly, positively correlated with Winning (r = .20), Playboy (r = .42), Heterosexual Self-Presentation (r = .42), and Power over Women (r = .71) masculinity norms. Moderation analyses revealed that at low levels of negative reactions, men endorsed higher Power Over Women and Playboy adherence; at high levels of negative reactions, women endorsed these norms almost as much as men did. Findings highlight important differences in adherence that shed light on the impact of negative disclosures on masculine ideologies.