Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University

Syfte: var att belysa ambulanspersonalens erfarenheter av att hantera situationer där de misstänker att barn har blivit utsatta för misshandel i hemmet. Metod: integrativ litteraturstudie. Resultat: Resultatet visar tre teman; identifiera barnmisshandel, förutsättningar hos ambulanspersonal samt oro och rädsla. Slutsats: Svårigheter att identifiera olika typer av barnmisshandel samt brist på utbildning och erfarenhet är ett stort problem. Likaså oron över att vårda barn på grund av kommunikationssvårigheter och de anatomiska skillnaderna av barn och vuxna. Brist på utbildning och erfarenhet är viktig att belysa för framtiden så att ambulanspersonal får möjligheten till att hantera dessa kommande situationer med god kunskap och erfarenhet / Aim: The aim of the study was to highlight the experiences of the paramedics in dealing with situations where they suspect that children have been subjected to abuse in the home. Method:integrative literature study. Results: The results show three themes; identify child abuse, conditions of paramedics and as anxiety and fear. Conclusion: Difficulties in identifying different types of child abuse as well as lack of education and experience are a major problem. Likewise, concerns about caring for children due to communication difficulties and the anatomical differences between children and adults. Lack of training and experience is important to highlight for the future so that paramedics have the opportunity to handle these upcoming situations with good knowledge and experience.

Sexual aggression is a pervasive issue on college campuses, and many risk factors have been studied in an attempt to understand and reduce perpetration. In the current study, I focus on men's history of child abuse, romantic rejection, and sources of self-worth as potential predictors of sexual aggression perpetration. As part of an ongoing online cross-sectional study (target N = 600), data were analyzed for 72 college men. Descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations were used to characterize the current sample describe patterns of relationships between study variables. Results indicate that all forms of child abuse were significantly positively associated with each other, but only child neglect was associated with romantic rejection experiences in adulthood. Child abuse was also negatively correlated with family, virtue, and competition of sources of self-worth. Although too few participants reported sexual aggression perpetration to conduct inferential statistical tests in the current sample, patterns of means indicate that child abuse was higher among men who reported perpetration.

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The purpose of this specialty paper is to present an overview of child abuse and neglect in the United States. This accomplished by researching previously published literature. Topics investigated include the epidemiological factors, personality characteristics of children and adults, etiology, diagnose and assessment procedures, intervention and treatment options and early identification and prevention. Sexual abuse, foster care and the legal problems associated with a diagnoses of child abuse/neglect are treated, briefly, as separate topics. In addition, critical comments in research methodology and findings and suggestions for further research can be found throughout the body of the paper.

No / Diverse, but significant, phenomena have combined to raise both the profile of issues related to religion and child abuse and the need for professionals to understand and respond appropriately to them. The nature of some of these issues is explored and attempts made to clarify them. Data collected by the author primarily from questionnaires completed by professionals involved in child protection and safeguarding work are analysed and discussed. Some patterns are identified and explored. Finally, it is suggested that, despite the apparent emergence of a more general recognition and acknowledgement of these issues amongst many professionals, relevant day-to-day practice remains largely dependent on individual views and attitudes. Moreover, practitioners are able to continue with ‘religion-blind’ and ‘belief-blind’ approaches without these being significantly challenged by agency policies or by professional cultures.

No / Discussion of the declared policies of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, since 2001, with regard to the ongoing status of priests convicted in criminal courts of offences against children is presented. The extent to which these policies have followed recommendations 77 and 78 of A Programme for Action (Nolan, 2001a) and the extent to which they have resulted in the laicisation (removal from the clerical state) of priests are both explored, using national data and with reference to two particular cases from the Diocese of Salford. The potentially adverse impact on victims and survivors of any mismatch between the rhetoric of policy and the reality of practice by the Church is emphasised. Data presented demonstrate that, between November 2001 and September 2010, a majority (64%) of relevantly convicted and sentenced priests had not been laicised as would be expected. Suggestion is made that the Church is inhibited in carrying out its declared policies because it is attempting to serve legitimacy communities beyond victims and survivors of clerical abuse. Full commitment to the paramountcy principle by the Church and genuinely independent external scrutiny of its relevant decision-making processes are recommended.

Both a recent narrative review and a meta-analytic review of prevalence rates, indicates that prior sexual victimization increases risk for future victimization (Messman & Long, 1996, Roodman & Clum, in press). The purpose of this study was to examine two competing models of sexual victimization that examined the path between child abuse and later sexual victimization. Hypothesized mediating variables were negative cognitive schemas, dissociation, risky behaviors, and coping strategies. Structural equation modeling was used to examine two competing models of sexual victimization. A sample of 276 college students taking introductory psychology were participants. They anonymously completed a packet of questionnaires that provided the indicator variables for the path models that were tested. Both models tested received minimal support but many of the proposed pathways in the model were not statistically significant suggesting problems with the models. Due to measurement issues with the manifest indicators of the latent factors, any results should be viewed with caution. It appears as though none of the factors in the model mediate the relationship between early and later victimization. However, both models tested demonstrated significant pathways between the factor for child abuse (comprising physical and sexual abuse) and negative cognitive schemas and for child abuse and dissociation. However, the paths from negative cognitive schemas and dissociation to sexual victimization (comprising both adolescent and adult sexual victimization) were not significant suggesting that, although these factors are influenced by child abuse, they do not mediate revictimization. Risky behaviors, as measured by consensual sex and alcohol consumption, do not appear to be influenced by early abuse, but there was a significant pathway between this factor and sexual victimization suggesting that these risky behaviors are independent risk factors for sexual victimization in adolescence and adulthood. In one model there was a significant pathway between child abuse and sexual victimization which is what would be expected given previous findings that suggest past abuse is the best predictor of future victimization experiences (Roodman & Clum, in press). That the other model did not demonstrate this relationship was surprising. / Ph. D.

Thirty nonparent adults were assigned to either a High CAP group (n=15) or a Low CAP group (n=15) based upon their scores on the Child Abuse Potential Inventory. Each subject's heart rate, skin conductance level and diastolic blood pressure were assessed while listening to a series of 4 high- and 4 normal-pitched infant cries. Subjects then rated the same cries on 6 perceptual scale items. Results indicated that the adults in the High CAP group showed a reliably higher resting heart rate following cry presentation and tended to respond with more heart rate change than adults in the Low CAP group. Adults in the High CAP group also responded to the normal-pitched cries with a higher skin conductance level than the Low CAP adults. Irrespective of CAP group, listeners' skin conductance level became attenuated in response to the normal-, but not the high-pitched infant cry sounds. In addition, all listeners perceived the high-pitched cry sounds as more aversive, arousing, distressing, urgent and sick sounding than the normal-pitched cry sounds. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of examining both adult and child characteristics that may mediate individual responsivity to infant cues. / M.S.