Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-01

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Medicine in the branch of Psychiatry Johannesburg, 2014 / BACKGROUND: Sexual offences against children have been an escalating problem in South Africa. Several international studies have found links between mental illness and sexual offenders. However, very little has been published on forensic psychiatric observation populations charged with sexual offences. South African studies have neither reported on mental illness and sexual offences against children, nor on forensic psychiatric observation of individuals charged with sexual offences against children. AIMS: To determine the demographic and clinical characteristics, and outcomes of the observation process, in a population charged with sexual offences against minors, referred for forensic psychiatric observation. OBJECTIVES: To measure the number of individuals admitted to a forensic psychiatric unit for observation, for any charge of a sexual offence against a minor, over a three year period; to determine their demographic profiles; to determine the number assessed to be fit to stand trial and criminally responsible, and the number not fit to stand trial and/or not criminally responsible; to determine if associations exist between the reasons for referral and outcomes in terms of fitness and responsibility; and to ascertain whether mental disorders were present in these individuals. METHODS: This study took the form of a retrospective record review at Sterkfontein Hospital from January 2007 to December 2009. It included all individuals charged with a sexual offence against a minor. Data was collected from the Criminal Procedure Act reports and clinical files. RESULTS: Rape was the commonest charge. More than half the sample was found fit to stand trial and criminally responsible. However, a high number of psychiatric diagnoses were made, of which substance-related disorders and intellectual impairment represented the majority of diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS: Among individuals referred for forensic psychiatric observation, charged with sexual offences against minors, rape was the commonest charge. Most of these individuals were found fit to stand trial and/or criminally responsible. However, a significant number were diagnosed with mental disorders. It is recommended that they receive special rehabilitation and psycho-education into their psychiatric conditions and the consequences thereof.

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-01

This thesis critiques the nature/nurture debate in sociology and applies current thinking to sociological work on child abuse. By examining the literature available within sociology, biology and ecology, the nature/nurture debate is shown to be a defining epistemological construct within sociology. In deconstructing the debate, this thesis shows that addressing biology within sociology does not require an acceptance of determinism and that a plurality of possibilities still exists. It also reveals that human corporeality is viscerally susceptible to the environment and that separating human social life from its corporeality merely reiterates the Judeo-Christian theology that human life is divinely separate from its environment. In applying contemporay and classical sociology to the issue of child abuse, this thesis destabilises contemporary notions of the plasticity of the body and the irrelevance of the biological sciences to human social life. / Master of Arts (Hons) (Sociology)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Joint Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership (California State University, Fresno and University of California, Davis). / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references. Also available via the World Wide Web. (Restricted to UC campuses).

Objectives: The objectives of this study are 1) To study the epidemiology and geographical distribution of child abuse in Hong Kong. 2) To study the district differences in co-morbidities of child abuse. Methods: Children under 19 years old with diagnostic codes for child abuse and child maltreatment from 1st January 2001 to 31st December 2010 were retrieved from Hospital Authority database. Demographics, hospital admission data and co-morbidities diagnosis were retrieved. The data were further analyzed according to districts of Hong Kong. Results: A total of 8055 episodes of child abuse were retrieved. 4241 (52.7%) were female and 3814 (47.3%) were male. There was a significant increasing trend of child abuse steadily in the whole territory over the study period. There were significant differences in the number of child abuse cases among different districts (p = 0.0038). Yuen Long, followed by Tuen Mun, constituted the highest numbers of child abuse cases, with 970 cases (12%) and 896 cases (11.1%) identified respectively. The mean age of onset of child abuse was 8.5 years old, while the mean number of hospital admission was 2.3 episodes during the study period. For length of hospital stay, the overall mean was 6.5 days. There was no significant difference among the clusters. The overall rate of suicidal attempt was 1.6%. The rate of suicidal attempt in New Territory west cluster (2.5%) was 2.8 times of that of Hong Kong west cluster (0.9%) (p<0.0001). The number of injury diagnosis, mental health problem, developmental delay, behavioral problem, antisocial or conduct problem, were also significantly different among different clusters. (p<0.05). Conclusion: There was a significant increasing trend of child abuse in the past decade in Hong Kong. In addition, the present study demonstrated a significant geographical variation in the number of child abuse cases as well as their associated co-morbidities. The identification of areas with higher rates of child abuse and associated co-morbidities poses important implication on service planning and policy making. / published_or_final_version / Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine / Master / Master of Medical Sciences

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This study is an exploratory examination of how different forms of child abuse affect adolescent victims. The study examines whether victims of physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, emotional abuse, or witnessing domestic violence exhibit negative functioning behaviours such as depression, drug use, or involvement in the Youth Criminal Justice Act. It also measures how abuse chronicity and poly-victimization moderate the relationship between the form of abuse and negative functioning. These relationships were quantitatively tested through three logistic regression models. It was found that there was a relationship between abuse type and negative functioning, and that chronicity and poly-victimization played important roles in determining functioning behaviours. This study contributes to the growing body of child abuse research that is attempting to build a comprehensive understanding of why and how abuse affects victims, and will inform service providers who could use such connections to identify and treat potential functioning problems in victims.

This study is an exploratory examination of how different forms of child abuse affect adolescent victims. The study examines whether victims of physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, emotional abuse, or witnessing domestic violence exhibit negative functioning behaviours such as depression, drug use, or involvement in the Youth Criminal Justice Act. It also measures how abuse chronicity and poly-victimization moderate the relationship between the form of abuse and negative functioning. These relationships were quantitatively tested through three logistic regression models. It was found that there was a relationship between abuse type and negative functioning, and that chronicity and poly-victimization played important roles in determining functioning behaviours. This study contributes to the growing body of child abuse research that is attempting to build a comprehensive understanding of why and how abuse affects victims, and will inform service providers who could use such connections to identify and treat potential functioning problems in victims.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2007. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 207-222). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.