Positive Reaction to Disclosure and Recovery from Child Sexual Abuse

ABSTRACT

Factors associated with improvement in the behavioral-emotional functioning of sexually abused children, from 6 to 18 years of age, were investigated. Children were classified by their therapist according to current level of disclosure regarding past abuse. Ratings of degree of support offered by significant people in the children's lives were also made. Findings showed children who were in an actively disclosing stage to be exhibiting significantly less externalizing behavior problems than non-disclosing children. Children who were fully disclosing without recantation showed significantly lower dissociation than did all other subjects. Children who recanted with or without re-disclosure showed significantly more post-traumatic stress symptomatology. As all the subjects were in foster care, the reactions to disclosure of foster parents proved to be most salient with respect to current functioning. Children who received full support from foster parents showed significantly lower depression scores than did children who received only partial support.

Other significant findings pertain to the effects of time since initial disclosure, age of subjects, and type of sexual abuse on behavioral-emotional functioning. Implications for developing structured training programs for foster parents and their caseworkers are discussed. Recommendations are made for future study using the present design with a non-foster care population and investigating the effect that the timing of supportive reactions to disclosure has.     

When the Spirit Blooms: Acquiring Higher Education in the Context of Welfare Reform

ABSTRACT

Established within a political context greatly influenced by stereotypical assumptions of impoverished women of color, welfare reform codified a work-first philosophy meant to attack perceived “dependency” and spur “self-sufficiency.” This article describes the shortcomings of the work-first approach and highlights the importance of higher education for helping women, and especially women of color, achieve economic well-being. It then reports key findings from a study that examines the impact of higher education on the lives of welfare participants in California. Utilizing a mix of surveys, focus groups, and personal interviews, this study finds that despite the challenges associated with balancing parenthood, college-level coursework, and the bureaucratic demands of welfare reform, the stereotypical notions of the “welfare queen” do not apply. Instead, study participants exhibited a high level of ambition, persistence, determination, and hard work in pursuit of their educational ambitions; and in the process, improved their lives and the lives of their children.     

Historical Analysis of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997

Congress enacted the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) in 1997 in an attempt to provide safety, stability, and permanency for maltreated children. To help provide a historical context, child welfare legislation preceding ASFA is reviewed. In this historical analysis, the precipitating events that led to the creation of ASFA are assessed. In addition, a detailed review of congressional hearings related to this Act is given. The key components and goals of this policy are outlined. Finally, revisions made to ASFA are discussed, and its influence on proceeding legislation is presented.     

Running Away from Out‐of‐Home Care: A Multilevel Analysis

Previous research suggests that the likelihood of runaway episodes among children in out‐of‐home care varies across different communities/regions. However, the potential regional variation has rarely been reflected in attempts to understand runaway episodes in out‐of‐home care systems. The current study examines the effects of child characteristics, family characteristics and child welfare system‐related characteristics on the likelihood of runaway episodes among children in out‐of‐home care, while accounting for county‐level variations in the risk of runaway behaviours. The authors employed multilevel analyses using data on children aged 12–17 from the 2009 AFCARS database. Results demonstrate that the likelihood of runaway episodes varied across counties. Accounting for county variation, children's ages, gender, diagnosed clinical conditions, family structures, number of removals, number of placements, removal manner, and case plan goals significantly predicted runaway status. Implications are discussed.     

Intimate Partner Violence and Social Relational Theory: Examining the Influence of Children and Important Others on Mothers' Transition Out of Violent Relationships

Interviews with survivors of intimate partner violence were conducted to gain information on the transition from violent relationships to new non‐violent relationships. A subset of this data was re‐analysed using Social Relational Theory to gain further insight into the roles of children and important others who were identified as impacting this transition for mothers who had exited violent relationships. This paper reviews two major themes discovered during the SRT analysis that were inherent in the women's experiences: (i) agency of children, family, peers and community and (ii) power. In addition, this paper suggests implications for research, intervention and psychotherapeutic practice.     

How Childhood Circumstances Moderate the Long‐Term Impact of Divorce on Father–Child Relationships

Using retrospective survey data collected in the Netherlands in 2012, the author examined how childhood circumstances moderate the effect of an early parental divorce on relationships between fathers and adult children. Using adult children's reports about the frequency of contact and the quality of the relationship, he found strong negative effects of parental divorce. These effects are moderated by 3 childhood conditions. The more fathers were involved in childrearing during marriage, the less negative the divorce effect on father–child relationships. Father's resources also moderated the effect, with a smaller divorce effect for more highly educated fathers. Finally, high levels of interparental conflict reduce the impact of divorce as well, generalizing the stress relief effect to a new outcome. In general, the study shows that the impact of divorce is heterogeneous; that childhood circumstances play an important role in this; and that, under specific conditions, there is virtually no negative effect of parental divorce.     

合并财务报表与母公司财务报表双重信息披露研究综述

在会计准则国际趋同的大背景下,各国(或地区)的定期财务报告披露却遵循着各不相同的披露制度.随着经济的发展,合并财务报表已逐渐取代母公司财务报表,成为投资者、公司管理层和监管者关注的重点.制度安排上的多样性凸显了各国经济社会环境对会计的影响,同时也引发了各国(或地区)对现行财务报告披露制度安排的思考.在对国内外现有相关研究进行分析和总结的基础上,通过对合并财务报表与母公司财务报表之间差异的比较研究、双重披露制下合并财务报袁与母公司财务报表的有用性研究、财务报告目标与财务报告披露制度等三个方面的探讨,发现合并财务报表与母公司财务报表双重信息披露的研究,仍有待于从报告主体多重化的角度对现行财务报告目标进行改进,对合并财务报表与母公司财务报表之间的分工与协作进行更广泛的研究,以提高双重信息披露整体有用性.     

权利义务观与亲子伦理精神的现代重建

在传统社会中,孝慈精神是亲子伦理精神的核心内容。孝慈精神逻辑上主张权利与义务相统一,但事实上却重孝轻慈、表现为一种权利义务失衡的价值选择。在现代社会中,社会转型形成个人独立化趋势与家庭私人生活领域化趋势,而此两大趋势迫使人们排斥权利义务失衡的价值选择而追求权利和义务统一的价值信念,最终导致亲子伦理精神的现代危机。在亲子伦理精神的现代重建过程中,首先要确立法律层面权利义务观的基石地位,其次要重视道德层面权利义务观的提升功能,其三要慎用法律作为道德底线的强制权威。     

关于语文教学类期刊发展策略的若干思考

语文教学类期刊面临着如何改革和发展的课题。作为宣传和推进语文课程改革的平台,语文教学类期刊应精心打造精品、创出品牌,加强学术性和指导性,提高编辑人员素养,完善和改进期刊的运行机制,以获得持续健康的发展。     

Assessing the Traumatic Impact of Child Sexual Abuse

A sample of 531 self-identitied adult and adolescent survivors of sexual abuse were sent or given a 686 item Post-Traumatic Stress Questionnaire. Each respondent described between 1-3 different sexually abusive experiences with different perpetrators, in detail, for a total of 1140 experiences. A series of statistical analyses examined the correlations and relationships between aspects of the abuse (including perceived severe impact, duration, frequency, type of abuse, use of force, age of onset) and scores on a variety of standardized instruments. Results of these analyses of the Impact of Events Scale, the Trauma Symptom Checklist-33, and the MMPI-PTSD scale revealed that the cognitive variable of perceived severity of impact accounted for the most variance in scores on the instruments. Other variables which influenced higher scores were greater number of abusers, greater intrusiveness of abuse with force, and greater intrusiveness of abuse without force.