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The iatrogenic effects of intervention with sexual abuse victims from a retrospective position /

The following qualitative study explored self-reported iatrogenic effects of intervention with data collected through semi-structured interviews. This small clinical sample consisted of four female adult "survivors" between the age of 34 and 47 who had experienced childhood sexual abuse perpetrated by at least one caregiver. The findings indicated significant iatrogenic effects particularly for the victims who disclosed in childhood that included a strong theme of betrayal by the systems that were supposed to protect them. One woman continued to be sexually abused, while another woman was returned to the home where she had been physically abused, following no intervention and/or protection by child protection services. Although other services such as police, crown attorney, medical and therapeutic systems were involved in some of these situations, the survivors perceived these as inadequate and leading to strong distrust of intervention. In contrast, those survivors who disclosed again in adulthood reported a significantly improved experience with less iatrogenic effects. The iatrogenic effects of intervention require further research with a larger and diversified sample in order to identify current iatrogenic effects of each intervention for children and survivors.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.78190
Date January 2002
CreatorsRyan, Eithne
ContributorsThompson, Ingrid (advisor)
PublisherMcGill University
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Formatapplication/pdf
CoverageMaster of Social Work (School of Social Work.)
RightsAll items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.
Relationalephsysno: 001983412, proquestno: AAIMQ88097, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest.

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