abstract: When children allege sexual abuse, there is rarely medical evidence or eyewitnesses, making their testimony in trial a primary factor in assessing their credibility. However, little is known about what may be unclear to jury members making verdict decisions. In some districts, jury members are allowed to ask questions of the child witness at the end of their testimony. The current study utilizes a sample of trial transcripts from Maricopa County, Arizona where children ages 5-17 years old have alleged some form of sexual abuse; a jurisdiction where jury members are permitted to ask written questions. Cases were analyzed to assess: 1) if jury questions were asked and how often these questions occurred, 2) what content they asked about, and 3) whether occurrence or frequency of jury questions related to case characteristics (i.e. child age, child-perpetrator relationship, severity of abuse, frequency of abuse). It was hypothesized that 1) juries would ask questions mostly about the dynamics of abuse and disclosure, 2) these questions would primarily clarify information previously discussed by attorneys during direct- and cross-examination (instead of asking new inquiries that went undiscussed during testimony), 3) there would be more jury questions as child age increases and 4) more serious cases (based on case characteristics) would have more jury questions. Results were mixed. Jury members often asked about the dynamics of abuse and disclosure (abuse details, statements regarding abuse, the child’s subjective reactions), but case characteristics of child age, child-perpetrator relationship, and severity of abuse did not have a relationship with the presence of jury questions. However, cases where children alleged multiple instances of abuse were more likely to receive jury questions, which may allude to the misconception that children would disclose abuse right away and not let multiple instances occur. Although the sample size is small for generalization, it is an important first step for future research to further examine jury questions, improve attorney questioning techniques, and better educate the general public about the dynamics of child sexual abuse cases. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Criminology and Criminal Justice 2019

Childhood sexual abuse is a prevalent problem that impacts adult women and the mental health professionals who treat them. Decades of studies have been conducted examining the impact of childhood sexual abuse in order to be better able to treat clients with this history. Yet, few clear guidelines have resulted from these activities. In order to gain a clearer picture of this research, a meta-analysis was conducted on 41 published studies to describe the nature of the problem, the subjects involved in these studies, the measures used to determine effect, and the impact of eight variables that potentially mediate the effect of childhood sexual abuse. The results of this meta-analysis show that authors use different definitions, sample from different populations, report different demographic data, and use different measures of outcome. Typical studies use definitions based on the relationship of the victim to the perpetrator and difference between victim and perpetrator in age. While many reviewers discuss the potential impact and importance of several demographic variables, including age, educational level, and marital status, few studies in this meta-analysis included this information. Subjects are typically mental health clients or students; however, some studies did a:tempt to use a random sample from the general population. Most studies used a life-history interview or questionnaire in order to obtain demographic data and information about the nature of the sexual abuse. Most studies also utilized an objective measure of outcome, typically a measure of psychopathology; however, few studies used the same tool. It was concluded that there is evidence to indicate a negative effect of sexual abuse in women. However, this evidence is not overwhelming. Also, it was concluded that in order to increase the level of understanding in this area, it is imperative to begin to standardize a protocol for this research. A standardized protocol would include a clearly stated definition of childhood sexual abuse, clearly stated demographic information, and clearly reported use of outcome measures and the outcomes. Standardization would enable researchers to replicate studies and compare results, processes which are invaluable to increase scientific understanding of the long-term effects of sexual abuse in adult women.

This research project focuses on counselling practice with Māori women who have engaged in counselling in relation to overcoming the effects of both historic and recent sexual abuse. The researcher / counsellor is pakeha. The counsellor / researcher, researches her practice and its possible effects through research interviews with three women. The project offers a reflection on her practice ethics and on what she learns from the women. In particular, she explores the intentions and effects of an orientation to counselling that includes offering and taking up conversations about aspects of cultural identity. She explores the effect of the counselling conversations where aspects of ethno-cultural identity have been included on the women‟s sense of identity. She explores what she draws on as a Pakeha counsellor when offering and taking up conversations about aspects of cultural identity. She also explores the effects of offering and taking up conversations about aspects of cultural identity for the work of counselling. The project shows the researcher‟s responses to the research meetings and the learning she takes to her ongoing counselling practice.

Doctor of Philospohy in Social Work / 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.

Thesis (M.A. (MW Forensic))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in Social Work." Includes bibliographical references (p. 119-129).

Thesis (M.S.W.) - Carleton University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p.158-162). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisor: Dr. Mike Burmester, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Computer Science. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 21, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 224-279). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

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