Irish child sexual abuse victims attending a specialist centre

We profiled a cohort of CSA cases referred for assessment to a specialist child sexual abuse (CSA) centre in a national paediatric hospital in Ireland. Historical and clinical data were drawn from records of 171 cases. The majority of cases were referred by social workers following purposeful disclosure of CSA. Three quarters of the cases were female with a mean age of 9 years. They were from a wide spectrum of socioeconomic groups and many had suffered a range of family adversities. In most cases, the abuse involved masturbation of the child by the abuser. Almost all of the perpetrators were male with a mean age of 28 years and in 60% of cases extrafamilial abuse had occurred. In 23% of cases, the perpetrator had a history of previous sexual offending. Anxiety was the most common emotional problem before disclosure and after disclosure the most common emotional problem was guilt. Before disclosure school refusal was the most common behavioural problem and after disclosure fighting was the most prevalent behavioural difficulty. The most common factors supporting the credibility of CSA allegations were labile mood, the child's ability to differentiate fact from fantasy and a detailed disclosure of contextual details. More adolescents showed deterioration in schoolwork after disclosure and for more pre school children clinginess following disclosure was a significant emotional problem. More primary school aged children were abused by perpetrators who had abused a number of children. For children abused by such perpetrators, vaginal intercourse was less common. Vaginal intercourse was more common in 6–11‐year‐old victims and those who were abused on a daily basis. The threat that disclosure posed to the integrity of the family structure was more often a factor hindering disclosure in victims abused by father figures and abused very frequently. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The gender neglect and textual abuse of children in the print media

In recent years the relationship between the media and child abuse has been subjected to closer scrutiny. Research at Monash University into the media portrayal of child abuse has led the researchers to examine the language used by the print media to represent both children who have been abused or neglected and the offences committed against them. This paper presents two findings from this research. The analysis firstly found that a child who has been abused or neglected may be objectified in print media language even when the child’s gender is previously identified. Secondly, the analysis found that the language used to describe the sexual abuse of children may serve to reduce the seriousness of offences. These phenomena, termed ‘gender neglect’ and ‘textual abuse’, are highlighted by examples from UK and Australian print media. The authors argue that ‘critical language awareness’ is important for children, just as it has been identified in research that examines the representation of women in print media. Copyright 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cross‐examination,sexual abuse and child witness identity

This paper presents extracts from cross‐examinations with child witnesses who are alleged victims of child sexual abuse. The manner in which cross‐examination may present a challenge to the child's identity as child, victim and witness is discussed. Specifically, the child may be portrayed as ‘unchildlike’, for example in their experience of sexual relationships or in their sexual knowledge. They may be portrayed as less than innocent, through references to previous contacts with social services or to other behaviours such as delinquency. Child witnesses may be depicted as instigators rather than victims, seducing the adult or seeking revenge through sexual allegations. Finally, children are easily accused of being poor witnesses, as being confused, untruthful and having fallible memories. The paper considers the dynamics and potential impact of such cross‐examination practice within Finkelhor's framework of four traumagenics of sexual abuse: traumatic sexualization, betrayal, powerlessness and stigmatization. The potential for poorly conducted cross‐examinations to create further problems for child witnesses, particularly in the area of identity, is highlighted, and it is suggested traumagenic factors in such cross‐examinations may resemble those of abuse. The paper discusses practice implications for cross‐examination, judicial intervention and witness support following implementation of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 in England and Wales. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Child sexual abuse in Leeds before and after Cleveland

We report a retrospective cohort study in which clinical and outcome features of 237 cases of child sexual abuse diagnosed by Leeds paediatricians after Cleveland in 1989 were compared with previously published characteristics of 337 children diagnosed by the same paediatricians before Cleveland in 1985 and 1986. Clinical and diagnostic features also were analysed in two subgroups of the 1989 cohort, those for whom there was no case conference and those in whom further abuse was detected at follow-up examination. The number of cases diagnosed annually remained high, and source of referrals and age and sex distribution were similar. Most suspected perpetrators were from within the home in both cohorts. Some clinical features of the 1989 cohort suggested more physically severe abuse. In 1989 fewer children were registered as sexually abused, or were taken into care, and fewer suspected perpetrators were convicted. From the 1989 cohort those children for whom there was no case conference tended to be older, to disclose and were abused less severely by someone outside their home as compared to those for whom a case conference was held. The children in whom further abuse was detected tended to be younger, to not disclose. to be more severely abused by a perpetrator within the home and to be taken into care as compared to those in whom further abuse was not detected. One or more case conferences were held for nearly all of the children in whom further abuse was detected. For most of the 1989 children no evidence was found indicating receipt of mental health services from other than the key social worker. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of professional and public knowledge and attitudes regarding children's and parental rights and family preservation.     

Ritual,and child sexual abuse,but not ritual child sexual abuse

Central to the controversy over ritual (satanic) child sexual abuse have been claims concerning agency ‘diagnoses’ of cases. Specifically, it has been alleged that agency findings of ritual abuse have been erroneous and are the product of poor practice. There is, though, little systematic information regarding agency assessment of suspected ritual abuse cases. This paper presents two cases where there was evidence both of child sexual abuse and ‘ritual’ but where agencies adjudged that these aspects occurred independently of one another and were not indicative of ritual child sexual abuse. The existence of these cases underlines the need for a broader and more balanced debate in respect of ritual abuse in general and the agency handling of these cases in particular. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The pattern of child sexual abuse in northern ireland

A team from the Departments of Child Psychiatry, Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, and of Epidemiology and Public Health, Queens University Belfast, conducted a study in 1987 of the reported incidence of child sexual abuse in Northern Ireland. The incidence rate of established cases of child sexual abuse was 0.9 per 1000 children under the age of 17 years. Further analysis of all the cases of sexual abuse (suspected, alleged and established) and an estimation of the potential under-ascertainment indicated that the actual rate was between 0.9 per 1000 and 1.85 per 1000 children. Data obtained from a detailed structured questionnaire on each sexually abused child was analysed. The results are presented in relation to the child, age and sex; the abuse, type and duration; the abuser, sex, age and relationship to the child; and outcome factors, initial psychological sequelae, physical signs and symptoms, and social sequelae.     

Clinical psychology and child sexual abuse after Cleveland

SUMMARY. This paper details some of the unresolved issues for clinical psychologists following the Cleveland crisis and Inquiry. The author argues that psychological expertise can he employed in both the investigative and treatment stages, and in the general evaluation oj the child, particularly henefitting children who present without an initial disclosure, where specialist interviewing techniques can clarify what may have happened. The clinical approach should be developed to meet evidential requirements, useful to both court and child. ‘This requires subjecting their work to scrutiny and crossing professional boundaries to help sexually abused children who may represent a hitherto unrecognised but significant proportion of psychologists’ caseloads     

Judgments regarding parental alienation when parental hostility or child sexual abuse is alleged

Abstract

Allegations of Parental Alienation (PA), the systematic disparaging of one parent by the other parent aimed at alienating their child’s affections, as a basis for child custody decisions are highly controversial. Claims of parental hostility or allegations of child sexual abuse in custody cases may trigger concerns about PA. Family court professionals (N?=?280) rated young children’s accuracy of report (e.g., suggestibility, honesty) in general and also read three custody scenarios varying as to whether or not they included allegations of parental hostility or child sexual abuse, or no such allegations. For each scenario, the alleged alienating parent’s gender was experimentally varied between subjects. Participants rated the likelihood that each case involved PA. For the scenario that included allegations of child sexual abuse, professionals who viewed young children as more inaccurate reporters or who read about the mother (rather than a father) as the alleged alienator were more likely to rate the scenario as involving PA. For the scenario that described parental hostility but no child sexual abuse allegations, professionals who were older or female were more likely to judge the scenario as involving parental alienation when a mother (rather than a father) was the alleged alienator, whereas there were no significant predictors of responses to the no-allegation scenarios. Findings are discussed in relation to the difficult task of evaluating custody cases for PA when parental hostility or child sexual abuse is alleged.     

Resilience and risk factors associated with experiencing childhood sexual abuse

The effects of child sexual abuse are wide‐ranging and impact on children, families and health/social care systems. The authors review this literature, examining the shortcomings of the ‘victim–offender’ model, and consider the complex, multifactorial nature of this question. Factors associated with a progression from victim to perpetrator are explored and the prevalence of abuse in the general population is also discussed. Protective as well as risk factors are considered and the pivotal role of ‘personal reliance’ is considered as it relates to empowering damaged young people to become healthy adults. The authors also discuss implications for the treatment of young people who become abusers. Two case examples are brie?y reported upon and the article concludes with a consideration of ways to helpfully address the needs of children who become sexual perpetrators. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessment and intervention in cases of suspected ritual child sexual abuse

Agency workers have been heavily criticized over their handling of alleged ritual child sexual abuse cases, particularly in respect of their assessments and interventions. However, a study of referrals to police and social service departments revealed that agency workers raised suspicions of ritual abuse in respect of both child ‘victims’ and adult ‘survivors’ very rarely. Furthermore, they did this only after an assessment which showed the cases to possess a number of ‘troubling’ features. While agency workers believed that all the child ‘victims’ had been subject to serious sexual abuse, virtually all of them were circumspect as to whether this had occurred in a ‘ritual’ context. Initially, agency workers were generally open-minded as to the experiences of adult ‘survivors’, but by the end of their assessments, they tended to be more concerned about their mental health and less concerned about issues of ritual abuse. Finally, agency workers appeared to act appropriately in terms of the types of intervention they used and the way in which they applied these. These results suggest that there should be more confidence in the ability of agency workers to respond to cases of alleged ritual abuse. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Holocaust child survivors and child sexual abuse

This study utilized a qualitative analysis of child survivors of the Holocaust who were sexually abused during World War II. The research study aimed to give this specific group of survivors a voice and to explore the impact of multiple extreme traumas, the Holocaust and childhood sexual abuse, on the survivors. Twenty-two child survivors of the Holocaust who were sexually abused during the war completed open-ended interviews. The data was qualitatively analyzed according to Tutty, Rothery, and Grinnell's (1996) guidelines. Three major themes were found: issues relating to the sexual abuse trauma, survivors' perceptions of the abuse, and survivors' general perspectives towards life. The identity of the offenders, Jewish or non-Jewish, determined the survivors' feelings towards themselves, the perpetrators, and about the worth of life.     

How children tell: the process of disclosure in child sexual abuse

In an analysis of the disclosure by a large number of children from three to 17 years of age of having been sexually abused, and who were eventually confirmed as credible victims, the large majority at first denied the abuse. The authors describe disclosure as a process with definable phases and characteristics--seldom the single entity that typical investigations consider disclosure to be, thereby setting the stage for ensuring injustices and harm to the children.     

Christianity and child sexual abuse — the survivors' voice leading to change

The Children Act 1989 states that due consideration should be given ‘to the child’s religious persuasion, racial origin and cultural and linguistic background'. Children who have been sexually abused and who grow up in families with strong Christian beliefs have additional concerns not readily identified by the child protection worker or therapist. Drawing upon 10 years' work experience, this paper aims to present the views and struggles of adult Christian women and men who have been sexually abused. Much of what is presented can be applied to other faith communities, since the difficulties lie sometimes with patriarchal communities, with male deities and with tenets of belief which can hinder the child from disclosing. Beliefs such as ‘Honour thy father and thy mother’, no sex before marriage and forgiveness of all had significant impact on survivors. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Recent legal trends in child sexual abuse cases: Direction for child protection workers

Considerable changes have occurred in criminal proceedings involving sexually abused children. As a result, perpetrators of child sexual abuse have been convicted more easily and sentenced to long prison sentences. However, a number of these convictions have been tainted and, thus reversed on appeal, based on either problems in the investigatory process or expert witnesses' exceeding the limits of proper testimony. Because many investigators and some expert witnesses were social workers, the author discusses recent decisions where appellate judges have criticized child protection workers' behaviors. By becoming familiar with cases such as these, child protection workers should gain a better understanding of the limits of their roles in the investigatory process and court proceedings. The result more likely would be that just convictions would be upheld by appellate courts, and falsely accused defendants would be spared the stigma of accusation, trial, and perhaps conviction.     

Abusing victims: detention of child sexual abuse victims in secure accommodation

Sexually abused children and adolescents, in limbo between revelation of abuse and trial of an alleged offender, or in emotional turmoil after such abuse, need special care and support. Evidence indicates that a number of such children are held in local authority secure centres, on various grounds: to protect them from further sexual assaults by an adult offender; because of their persistent absconding from non-secure residential centres; and because of their disturbed behaviour (including suicidal behaviours), which may have been caused by the assault. Victims of sexual abuse are held with juveniles on remand for serious crimes (including rape and murder), or (because they are too young for youth detention centres) with young adolescents who are held in detention following conviction for such crimes. Evidence is produced from case histories, and from a survey of 15 of the 27 secure detention centres for children and young people in England, that the mix of abused, disturbed and very aggressive children is highly problematic. In worst case scenarios, victims of child sexual abuse are sexually assaulted by juvenile rapists with whom they are housed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Preventing child sexual abuse: parents' perceptions and practices in urban Nigeria

This study examined parents' perceptions of child sexual abuse as well as prevention practices in an urban community in southwest Nigeria. Questionnaires were collected from 387 parents and caregivers of children younger than 15 years of age. Results showed that many parents felt CSA was a common problem in the community, and most parents disagreed with common child sexual abuse myths. In addition, almost all parents ( >90%) reported communicating with their child(ren) about stranger danger. However, about 47% felt their children could not be abused, and over a quarter (27.1%) often left their children alone and unsupervised. There were no significant variations in the perceptions of child sexual abuse and communication practices. The implications of findings for child sexual abuse prevention are discussed.     

Relationships between maternal adult attachment security, child perceptions of maternal support, and maternal perceptions of child responses to sexual abuse

This study assessed the relationships between maternal adult attachment style, children's perceptions of maternal support following disclosure of sexual abuse, and maternal perceptions of children's behavioral and emotional responses to sexual abuse among African-American child sexual abuse victims aged 4 to 12 (n=96) and a comparison group of non-abused subjects (n=100). Mothers with insecure attachment styles reported significantly higher rates of internalizing behaviors in their sexually abused children than did securely attached mothers. Among mothers of non-abused children, those with insecure adult attachment styles reported significantly higher rates of externalizing behaviors shown by their children in comparison with mothers with a secure adult attachment style. Mothers with insecure adult attachment styles also reported higher rates of overall behavior problems in their non-abused children that approached statistical significance. Sexually abused children's perceptions of maternal support were not related to maternal attachment style nor to child functioning. Contrary to our prediction, mothers of sexually abused children did not show lower rates of secure attachments when compared to mothers of non-sexually abused children. Our findings indicate that fostering parent- child attachment is important in order to decrease the risk for behavior problems and symptomatology in sexually abused children.     

Defining organized sexual abuse

The label ‘organized abuse’ is widely used but without an agreed meaning. An agreed definition would improve communication among practitioners and make it easier to compare the results of different pieces of research. Items classified together must possess at least one feature in common: in the case of organized abuse this is that they all involve more than one perpetrator. Some types of case for which the label ‘organized’ has been used, like those that concern children's sexual abuse in an institution or that include allegations of a ritual context, do not fulfil even this initial criterion. Some cases of institutional or ritual abuse may also be cases of organized abuse but the terms are not synonymous with each other. Domestic cases, where all the perpetrators and the victims are members of a single household, are also sufficiently unlike the paradigmatic case of organized abuse for them to be excluded from the category. The recognition that exclusion is as necessary to rigorous definition as inclusion requires making explicit what definitions are and what they are for.     

Cultural issues in disclosures of child sexual abuse

Cultural norms affect the likelihood that child sexual abuse will be discovered by an adult or disclosed by a child. Cultural norms also affect whether abused children's families will report child sexual abuse to authorities. This article explores the ways ethnic and religious culture affect child sexual abuse disclosure and reporting, both in the United States and internationally. Guidelines for culturally sensitive child abuse interviewing are provided to facilitate disclosures of abuse from culturally diverse children in formal settings.     

Organized abuse: NSPCC experience

A survey of a national child protection agency's experience of organized abuse in 1990–1991 found awareness of incidents among 41% of the participants and direct involvement with children in 20%. The 19 cases where there was direct involvement with 61 children from 43 families were categorized by the workers as network (N = 10), ritual (N = 6) and child pornography (N = 3) and came from England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The children in the three types presented different profiles from each other and from that of the sexually abused children placed on child protection registers. The children in the network cases were more likely to be boys and abused by non-relatives, the majority of whom were charged and convicted. The children in the ritual cases were the youngest, more likely to be abused by extended family members and most often the subjects of legal protection. The inherent difficulties in fully describing an organized abuse ‘case’ are outlined.