Sexual abuse and group therapy

This article described the formation of a structured, open-ended, time-limited, repeatable group for sexually abused girls. The sexually abused pre-adolescent and young adolescent must address developmental tasks while attempting to cope with tremendous guilt, shame, and loss of self-esteem. The value of group therapy as a support to sexually abused children was explored and a format was devised to help them deal with their issues. Discussion questions and topics designated for each session helped meet their specific needs. The group members evaluated the group as being helpful overall. In conclusion, the expansion of psychotherapeutic services to sexually abused children through a structured group format has been proposed. If others are encouraged to engage in such work, then the purpose of this article has been achieved.     

Needed services for foster parents of sexually abused children

Foster parents with little preparation and short notices must often deal with severe emotional and behavioral difficulties of sexually abused children. This article reports on a survey of the services provided to foster parents who care for sexually abused children in a large city in the Northeast United States. Agency directors, social workers and foster parents were asked to respond to mailed questionnaires. The results indicated that foster parents consistently reported that they received less extensive educational and support services than were reported by social workers and directors of foster care agencies. All groups recommend further expansion of training programs for foster parents of sexually abused children.This paper was presented at the Temple University Chapter, Phi Delta Kappa, Philadelphia, PA, April 5, 1990.Ms. Egan is a Research Assistant; Ms. Cossett and Ms. Auletta were studients from Smith College School for Social Work.     

Group therapy with sexually abused boys: Notes toward managing behavior

This article examines the gender-specific defense mechanisms of sexually abused boys as they emerge in group therapy, using Finkelhor's model of traumagenic dynamics. Concrete interventions address the acting out behavious that are typical for this population, connecting the acting out behaviors to the boys' common background of sexual abuse. Without these concrete interventions to address the unsafe, aggressive behaviours of sexually abused boys, their problems and experiences cannot be shared, nor can the group therapist address the issues outlined in a curriculum for group therapy for sexually abused children.     

The Use of Peer Support for Parents and Youth Living with the Trauma of Child Sexual Abuse: An Innovative Approach

ABSTRACT

This article describes and reports on an innovative intervention program for parents of sexually abused children and youth. Peer support provided by non-professional staff and volunteers, who have been personally affected by the trauma of child sexual abuse, is an approach with unique advantages. Many of these consumers have not been able to benefit from traditional service delivery approaches. Goals and objectives of the Peer Support Program (PSP) have been developed through inter-agency collaboration initiatives comprised of a coalition of existing social service agencies. This report examines characteristics of service delivery and level of consumer satisfaction of parents and youth who have participated in the peer support program. Implications for interventions with sexually abused youth and parents of sexually abused children are discussed.     

Comparison of open versus closed group interventions for sexually abused adolescent girls

A first aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of an open group therapy for sexually abused teenagers using a quasi-experimental pretest/posttest treatment design. A second aim was to explore whether differential gains were linked to an open versus a closed group format. Results indicate that sexually abused girls involved in an open group therapy showed significant gains relative to teenagers of the control group girls for the majority of the variables considered. Analyses contrasting the two formats of group therapy fail to identify statistical differences suggesting that both open and closed group formats are likely to be associated with the same significant gains for sexually abused teenagers.     

New Scoring Method of the Family Drawing for Sexually Abused Preschoolers

This study assesses whether the global psychological adjustment score on the family drawing, derived with a new scoring method, can predict the presence of internalized and externalized behavior problems among sexually abused children. A family drawing was completed by 78 sexually abused children, and three questionnaires were administered to the nonoffending parent. The results indicate that a poorer global psychological adjustment score on the family drawing is associated with a higher probability of clinical thresholds for internalized and externalized behavior problems in children who have been sexually abused, even when controlling for parents’ psychological distress, child's age, number of stressful events experienced by the child, and type of sexual abuse.     

Background and Adjustment Capacity of Sexually Abused Girls and their Perceptions of Intervention

The main objective of the study was to understand the adjustment capacity of sexually abused girls in the age group 13–18 years in Kolkata, India. The study also attempted to understand how the sexually abused girls perceived the psychological interventions, i.e. individual and group counselling, which they had received. A group of 120 sexually abused Indian girls and 120 non‐sexually abused Indian schoolgirls residing in Kolkata Metropolitan City and its suburbs were studied. Findings revealed that the majority of the sexually abused girls came from nuclear and poor families (93.3%) with a low educational background. More than two‐thirds (73.3%) were lured with promises of job prospects, marriage and a better life and then abused sexually. Emotional and social adjustment capacity of sexually abused and non‐sexually abused girls differed significantly (p < 0.05). Overall, the perception of more than two‐thirds of the sexually abused girls of the rehabilitation homes they lived in was found to be positive. Further, the girls who reported they gained considerably from counselling had a better adjustment capacity compared to those who reported they did not benefit from counselling. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An abused child grows up and enters treatment

This article explores the dynamics which can occur in abused children by focusing on the long term treatment of a young woman who was physically, sexually, and emotionally abused as a child. Particular emphasis is placed on the understanding and management of the highly charged transference and countertransference which ensued.     

Aggressive behavior among women sexually abused as children

Although research shows that sexually abused children appear to be at risk of subsequent aggressive behavior, few investigations address whether such behavior persists beyond childhood. This research describes the self-reported adolescent and adult fighting behavior of 136 women sexually abused as children and examines the role of intervening variables in the risk of such behavior. The women are part of a longitudinal study of 206 primarily low-income, urban women whose abuse was documented at the time it occurred. Fighting was common, particularly during adolescence. Adult aggression was strongly associated with being a victim of violence by an intimate partner. A history of exposure to other forms of violence significantly increased the risk of fighting while strong maternal attachments mitigated the risk, primarily by reducing the likelihood of involvement in an abusive intimate relationship.     

Relationship Between Childhood Sexual Abuse and Borderline Personality Disorder in Women Psychiatric Inpatients

The rclationshp between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and borderline personality disorder (BPD) in 50 women psychiauic inpatients was examined. Inpatienfs were inletviewed using he Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines (Revised) (DIB-R). Women sexually abused as children (n = 30) scored significantly higher than those who were not (n = 20) on the total DIB-R and three of its four section scores. Women sexually abused as children were significantly more likely to have a definite diagnosis of BPD than women not sexually abused as children. who largely exhibited symptom patterns indicative of diagnoses other than BPD. An unexpected finding was that women sexually abused as children were more likely to have eating disorders than those who were not. Treatment for borderlines should explicilly address and validate the tremendous consequences of CSA on etiology and course of symptoms.     

Heterogeneous Symptom Patterns of Sexually Abused Children in Treatment: Understanding the Complexity of the Problem

A major challenge for clinicians and researchers is the heterogeneity of the severity and type of symptoms presented by sexually abused youth, including those who are subclinical on traditional clinical measures but still present to treatment. Most research continues to treat sexually abused youth as a single population and has not assessed the outcomes or symptom trajectories of various groups of sexually abused youth. Participants included 107 sexually abused children and their nonoffending parents presenting to a cognitive-behavioral group treatment. A cluster analysis using child- and parent-report measures revealed four profiles, including Subclinical, Highly Distressed, Problem Behaviors, and Self-Reported Distress clusters. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to create separate child- and parent-report models of weekly symptomatology to examine differential change over the course of treatment. Contrary to expectation, there was little variation in the weekly rates of change for the different symptom groups; however, all groups evidenced a decrease in symptoms over the course of treatment, including the Subclinical cluster.     

Foster Care of Children: Nurture and Treatment,by Draza Kline and Helen-Mary Overstreet. Columbia University Press,New York, 1972. $12.50 Hardbound. 316 Pages

This article reports the findings of a study that explored the perceptions of 147 graduate social work students about their families of origin compared with the perceptions of guidance and counseling, business, and education graduate students. The authors surveyed respondents by means of a self-administered questionnaire to determine if the students had experienced any of the various forms of family dysfunction. Social work students were significantly more likely to come from families in which substance abuse was a problem and to have had a family member who was a victim of a violent act. In addition, social work students were significantly more likely to have been sexually abused. The authors discuss implications of these findings for social work education.     

Recantation in child sexual abuse cases.

This article pulls together coherently a rather sparse literature on children's not infrequent retraction of their earlier disclosure of having been sexually abused. Evidence to date indicates that very few originally lied. The pressures and circumstances that underlie recantation are multiple, and suggestions are made for mitigating them.     

Characteristics of Sexually Abused Children and Their Nonoffending Mothers Followed by Child Welfare Services: The Role of a Maternal History of Child Sexual Abuse

Considering the importance of mother’s support in the adaptation of a sexually abused child, it is relevant to determine if the mothers and children involved in an intergenerational cycle of child sexual victimization differ from dyads in which only the child has been abused. The purpose of this study was to compare mother–child dyads with sexually abused children according to whether the mother had herself been victim of child sexual abuse. The sample included 87 dyads with sexually abused children aged 3–18 years old and their mothers (44 reporting maternal and child abuse), followed by social welfare services of the province of Quebec (Canada). The two groups of mothers were compared on their past family abuse experiences and past family relations, their mental health history, their current psychological distress, their parenting behaviors, and their current levels of family functioning. Children were compared on their adaptation. Multivariate analyses indicated that mothers reporting child sexual abuse were more likely to report more other maltreatments in their childhood and greater prevalence of lifetime history of alcohol abuse disorders, dysthymia, and panic disorder compared with mothers who had not experienced CSA. Compared to children whose mothers had not experienced CSA, those whose mothers had experienced CSA showed higher rates of problems behaviors and were more likely to report having been sexually abused by a trusted person. These results highlight the specific clinical needs for the assessment and treatment for sexually abused children whose mothers experienced child sexual abuse.     

Sexually abused children's perceptions of family functioning

A clinical sample of 76 children in a day and residential treatment facility was administered the McMaster Family Assessment Device (FAD) at time of admission. Interviews with therapists enabled identification of students who had been sexually abused prior to admission. A comparison group of children who had not been sexually abused was selected to match age, grade level and gender of the sexually abused children. ANOVA yielded significant differences on the dimensions of problem-solving, roles, and general functioning, with the direction of the effect indicating greater pathology among the sexually abused group. Analyses of differences between victims of intrafamilial or extrafamilial abuse yielded significance in affective responsivity, affective involvement, and general functioning, with greater enmeshment and dysfunction reported by the victims of intrafamilial abuse. Some gender differences were also noted, with females reporting greater general dysfunction in their families. Implications of this research as supportive of current clinical beliefs about family functioning are offered.     

Lessons for teachers from Cleveland More questions than answers

SUMMARY. Schools and the role of teachers were rarely mentioned in the Cleveland Inquiry, However, they have a vitally important part to play in the identification of sexually abused children, in support for such children and in preventive strategies. In this article, the author argues not only for a recognition of this role by other professionals, but also by teachers themselves and the education system as a whole. To date, he argues, inadequate understanding of these issues has been compounded by a lack of resources for training and of involvement in the multi-disciplinary process     

Interpretations of Facial Expressions of Emotion by Sexually Abused and Non-Abused Girls

Physical abuse history has been demonstrated to have an effect upon accuracy of interpretation of facial expressions, but he effects of sexual abuse have not been explored. Thus, the accuracy of interpretation and the role of different facial components in the interpretation of facial expressions were studied in sexually abused and non-abused girls. Twenty-nine sexually abused and 29 non-abused females, ranging in age from 5 to 9 years, chose schematic faces which best represented various emotional scenarios. Accuracy of interpretation of facial expression differed between sexually abused and non-abused girls only when emotion portrayed was considered. A history of sexual abuse alone had no effect upon overall accuracy, but did influence performance on specific emotions, particularly at certain ages. In this investigation, specific facial component had no effect on integretation of facial expressions. Rather than exhibiting patterns o fp overall arrested development, these sexually abused girls seemed to focus upon selected emotions when interpreting facial expressions. Findings regarding lhis selectivity of emotions or heightened awareness of particular emolions (e.g., anger) may be quite useful in understanding the effects of sexual abuse and in the advancement of treatment for sexual abuse victims.     

Free Symbolic Play and Assessment of the Nature of Child Sexual Abuse

ABSTRACT

This article highlights the potential value of free symbolic play to the field of sexual abuse. The following two points are argued: (1) free symbolic play is a modality well suited to the expression, reworking and mastery of psychic trauma and therefore offers sexually abused children a channel for communication; (2) free symbolic play is a potential source of information to mental health professionals when attempting to understand the context of a child's experience of sexual abuse. Preliminary guidelines are suggested regarding the appropriate use of free symbolic play to gain information about possible sexual abuse. In addition, a case study is presented illustrating application. Furthermore, the potential impact of research comparing the free symbolic play of sexually abused and nonabused children is considered.