Readings and Resources
· Child Maltreatment, An Introduction: Chapter 4
·
Recognizing Child Abuse: Sexual Abuse
(Films on Demand video, 12:56, captioned)
Child Sexual Abuse (CSA), while the least common form of maltreatment, has long lasting effects depending upon severity and duration. It is heterogeneous and occurs in all socioeconomic groups. Acts of CSA can be perpetrated by men or women alike either by individuals the child knows or trusted family/friends.
Forms of CSA include:
· sexual assault
· rape
· incest
· child sex trafficking
Some indicators of child sexual abuse that human service workers/medical professionals should be aware of include but are not limited to:
· presence of a sexually transmitted disease in a child who has not yet experienced puberty
· overly sexualized behavior
· somatic issues
· presence of oral injuries
Children who have a history of physical abuse and/or neglect may also experience CSA. Children most at risk for CSA and/or physical abuse include those:
· have existing mental health issues
· substance abuse either parental or the child
· live in home environments with:
· single parents/absentee parents
· domestic violence
· low or absent warmth from a caregiver
· high poverty (Murray, Nguyen, & Cohen, 2014)
Much of the research on adults who have experienced CSA rely on retrospective reports or surveys where participants accurate recall of information may be problematic. However, given issues related to surveying children after disclosure of CSA, much research on adults relies on self-report. Additionally, reports of CSA often go under reported either due to shame, guilt, or feelings of responsibility for the abuse itself or not reporting the abuse sooner (Murray et al., 2014).
References
Currie, J., & Spatz Widom, C. (2010). Long-term consequences of child abuse and neglect on adult economic well-being. ;
Child Maltreatment, ;
15(2), 111-120.
Fuller-Thomson, E., & Agbeyaka, S. (2020). A trio of risk factors for childhood sexual abuse: Investigating exposure to parental domestic violence, parental addiction, and parental mental illness as correlates of childhood sexual abuse.
Social Work,
65(3), 266-277.
Leeb, R. T., Lewis, T., & Zolotor, A. J. (2011). A review of physical and mental health consequences of child abuse and neglect and implications for practice.
American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine,
5(5), 454-468.
Manay, N., & Collin-Vézina, D. (2021). Recipients of children’s and adolescents’ disclosures of childhood sexual abuse: A systematic review.
Child Abuse & Neglect,
116, 104192.
Murray, L. K., Nguyen, A., & Cohen, J. A. (2014). Child sexual abuse.
Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America,
23(2), 321.
Shaw, M., & De Jong, M. (2012). Child abuse and neglect: a major public health issue and the role of child and adolescent mental health services.
The Psychiatrist,
36(9), 321-325.
ASSIGNMENT – 1 ½ pages
consider the following questions:
· What age groups are most vulnerable to child sexual abuse? Why?
· What risk factors for CSA should we be aware of?
· While some victims of CSA grow up to be offenders themselves, the majority of them do not. Why do you think this is so?
· What are some possible avenues for intervention? What are some plausible treatments that we could suggest?
