This dissertation’s analyses examined the association of caregiver, child, abuse and investigation characteristics with maternal response and emotional harm among families for whom child sexual abuse (CSA) was suspected or substantiated. Method This study was based on secondary analysis of data collected in the Canadian Incidence Study of Report Child Abuse and Neglect 1998. The current analysis was limited to 373 CSA investigations for which there was a female non-offending caregiver and complete data on maternal response. Bivariate and hierarchical logistic regression analysis was conducted for two outcomes; maternal response and emotional harm. Results According to social worker assessment, the majority of female non-offending caregivers (87.1%) of children investigated for suspected or substantiated child sexual abuse responded with belief of the abuse disclosure, emotional support and protection of the child victim. The overall maternal response model was significant and accounted for 40.8% of the variance (Nagelkerke R2). Factors significantly associated with maternal response in the multivariate model included maternal mental health, age of the child, child’s manifestation of sexualized behavior, child’s relationship to the perpetrator, duration of abuse and co-occurring maltreatment. The overall emotional harm model was significant and accounted for 18.3% of the variance (Nagelkerke R2). Age of the child at the time of investigation, inappropriate sexualized behavior and substantiation level were significant predictors in the final block of the emotional harm regression equation. Maternal response was no longer significantly associated with emotional harm when the analysis adjusted for child characteristics. Conclusion Consistent with previous research, the majority of non-offending mothers investigated as part of the CIS-98 responded to CSA disclosure with belief, emotional support and protection as determined by the social worker’s assessment. The current study supports the cumulative evidence that caregiver mental health, age of the child and the child’s relationship with the offender are significant predictors of negative maternal response and emotional harm. Although negative maternal response failed to predict emotional harm among children investigated for CSA, continued examination of the risk factors associated with maternal response is warranted to ensure the safety of a small, yet vulnerable segment of children.

The purpose of the current study is to better understand the experience of healing after childhood sexual abuse (CSA) through analysis of existing survivor narratives. Traditionally, study of CSA survivors has been approached from a point of view that categorizes their response to abuse a deficit or disorder. A recent movement in the study of CSA has been toward viewing CSA survivors in terms of resilience and healing. The current research study is informed from the social constructivist paradigm, and uses narrative and hermeneutics to gain a better understanding of healing from CSA by examining existing narratives of healing written by survivors. The method of narrative analysis employed is Lieblich Tuval-Mashiach & Zilber’s (1998) holistic-content approach. After interpreting each individual narrative, an overarching analysis was generated by interpretation of commonalities across memoirs. The narratives and my subsequent analysis of the narratives generated a storied construction of healing, organized into three themes: The Process of Transformation, From the Private to the Public, and Connecting to Others. The results are discussed in light of the socio-cultural and political landscapes, as well as in terms of the concept of self-compassion. Strengths and limitations of the study, as well as considerations for future research are considered

No description available.

Sexual assault of men is a serious social problem and has drawn well deserved attention from many different researchers as well as the general public. Even though there is much concern and interest in this troubling crime, limited research has been conducted on the long-term effects of sexual abuse on male survivors. Using data collected by the Virginia Department of Health, this study investigated the effects of sexual abuse of men. Specifically, this inquiry examined specific emotional and physical conditions as potential consequences of sexual victimization among men and the extent to which those conditions vary between male victims and male non-victims. Using Chi-Square tests of independence this study found that survivorship is related to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, and suicidal tendencies. A statistically significant association was not found regarding alcohol and drug use, or self-rated health. Further research is recommended to investigate the health seeking behaviors among survivors and also how one’s adherence to masculine values influences their recovery from a sexual abuse.

The thesis deals with the topic of sexual offences investigation. Given its complexity, the thesis only focuses on particular issues, namely the special investigation procedure used in the cases of sexual offences committed against children. The thesis aims to provide overview of individual investigation procedures used in those special cases, to point out their advantages and disadvantages, and to explain reasons why sexual offences against children need to be treated differently. The thesis includes fourteen chapters dividend into sub-chapters. In the introductory part, the main of objectives of the thesis are defined; the following first chapter focuses on the term sexual exploitation and describes the legislation on this issue in the Czech Republic. The second chapter outlines typical ways of committing this type of offence; the third and fourth chapters focus on the subjects of sexual offences, both the offender and the victim, and answer the question if there is a typical victim and a typical sexual offender. The fifth to twelfth chapters look at investigation of sexual offences from the criminological point of view, mainly at the special nature of preliminary and subsequent acts. This part also focuses on interviewing child victims, when it is of great importance to respect and take into...

M.A.

M.A. / Sexual abuse of children has been a consistently high profile public issue throughout the late 1980’s and continues to be one. Nest and Woodhouse (1990:3) indicate that child sexual abuse and how to deal with it has become topics of enormous concern a preoccupation for health professionals no less than the media. Recent evidence points to an alarming prevalence of experiences of abuse, especially by young girls who become captive victims in their own homes. The researcher was therefore motivated to conduct this study because the incidents of child sexual abuse have increased dramatically in Soweto. Within the Western culture disclosure of sexual abuse and related interventions is well studied. In our black culture though, sexual abuse is regarded as a taboo, hence it is difficult for victims to report these cases. Even parents of abused children are not open about this problem and this makes it difficult for parents to deal with sexual abuse. The dilemma of non-disclosure causes a need for information about how parents in sexual abuse cases should handle the problem. The study focuses on formulating guidelines to help social workers in dealing with this issue of taboo. In this study the researcher conducted a groupwork with mothers of sexually abuse children in order to set a basis to develop a group intervention programme. Gomes-Schwartz (1990:20) indicates that mothers' responses to the disclosure often influence the relationship with their children. Developing a group intervention programme to address these damaged relationships is relevant to social work practice in South Africa. The aim of this study is to develop a group programme for mothers of victims of sexual abuse and to develop a treatment plan based on the literature survey. This is done by means of a literature survey (general) in the related field of child sexual abuse. The data gained from the literature study were used to develop a group programme and to make conclusions and recommendations in this regard. / Dr. E. Oliphant

A RESEARCH REPORT PRESENTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WORK SCHOOL OF HUMAN AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FACULTY OF HUMANITIES UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND JOHANNESBURG IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE MASTERS OF ARTS IN SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT MARCH, 2016 / The cases of children involved in criminal activities are on the increase all over the world, including in South Africa. Offering services to all children and youth, whilst upholding the rights of children, is one of the fields of practice in social work. South Africa has adopted a restorative approach that aims to rehabilitate and return children in conflict with the law back into their communities. At the heart of applying restorative approaches as intervention with children in conflict with the law are social workers. The study attempts to explore the experiences of social workers regarding their intervention strategies with young sexual offenders. The study applied a qualitative approach and narrative research design. Non-probability purposive sampling was used to select 12 research participants from organisations that facilitate diversion programmes for child sex offenders. To ensure trustworthiness of the research, three prosecutors were also interviewed. Semi-structured interview schedules were utilised to conduct in-depth telephonic interviews with the participants. The data was transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis. The main finding which emerged from the study was that social workers’ challenges with diversion are mainly associated with external factors such as poor parental co-operation. The study concludes that diversion contributes to reducing the level of recidivism with child sex offenders and is a necessary form of intervention for children in conflict with the law. Key words: Children in conflict with the law, Diversion, Rehabilitation, Sexual offences, Child sex offenders, Social workers.

Little research attention has been paid to forensic populations of male survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA), where it is understood that prevalence rates are high. This study aimed to survey a sample of 40 men in a maximum security hospital who had experienced childhood sexual interaction (CSI). The study profiled the psychological functioning of the sample through a number of standardised measures and a semi-structured interview. In addition, the meanings that the men attached to their childhood sexual experiences,t heir 'constructions' of them, were also examined, along with their self-report of distress related to these experiences. The limited research conducted with male survivors suggests that men tend to construct CSI in more positive or neutral terms than female survivors, and are less likely to report distress related to the experience. However, men's experiences of CSI have still shown similar levels of association with psychological symptomatology in adulthood. This apparent discrepancy has been understood in terms of male socialisation. The predictions that the men in this sample would show high levels of psychological symptomatology, which would be associated with the characteristics of CSI, and that the majority of them would describe positive or neutral constructions of CSI, and would tend to report no distress related to their experiences, were supported in this study. The implications of these findings are discussed. Overall, it is stressed that in order to fully understand the impact of CSA on males, and to provide appropriate approaches to interventions, a fuller appreciation of the role of male socialisation must be achieved.

This thesis examines the ways American visual media -television and mainstream/independent cinema- has presented the narrative of child sexual abuse since the beginning of the 21st century. Due to the rise of the counterculture movement and the sexual revolution of the 1960s, a discourse for talking about child sexuality was created. By providing an opportunity to discuss children and sex, for the first time cultural products could deal overtly with child sexual abuse, rather than connotatively. In response to this new discourse, conservative ideals about child sexuality proliferated in the 1970s and 1980s that attempted to return the child to a world of purity and asexuality with all threats to this purity being monstrous. The examples discussed in this thesis highlight the ways that contemporary American visual media has responded to three decades of obsession that created a "master narrative" of child sexual abuse - something that continues to play a significant role in society.