A situational crime prevention analysis of Anglican clergy’s child protective practices

To date, a predominant focus within the field of ‘clerical collar crime’ has revolved around institutional-level church responses to child sexual abuse events, survivors and offenders. Comparatively, little attention has been directed towards the micro-level and in particular, examining clerical responses to child sexual abuse. This article presents empirical findings concerning the ‘everyday’ child protective practices of Anglican clergy in the Diocese of Tasmania, Australia. Research data was acquired through open-ended qualitative interviews conducted with a sample of 34 clergy in a broader study of clerical culture, habitus and life amidst the ‘church abuse crisis’. The framework of Situational Crime Prevention is employed to evaluate the feasibility of clergy’s child-safe practices and comment on how these practices could be further altered through professional development. Research findings demonstrate that clergy possess an active awareness of risk, and execute a series of protective measures to minimise both sexual interactions with children and allegations of impropriety.     

Children's perceived emotional behavior at disclosure and prosecutors’ evaluations

The present study investigated the perceived emotional behavior of alleged child victims when disclosing sexual abuse in a forensic interview. It also addressed whether the perceived emotional behavior influenced prosecutors’ evaluations of children's potential as witnesses and prosecutors’ recommendations to press charges. Ninety-eight videotapes of forensic interviews with alleged child sexual abuse victims (4- to 17-year-olds) were coded for behavioral indicators of emotions. Case file information and district attorney evaluations were also coded. Results indicated that children were not generally perceived as being emotional (e.g., sad) during disclosure. However, the perceived intensity of expressed emotions was greater when children disclosed the alleged abuse compared to when they discussed more neutral topics in rapport building. Greater perceived emotional withdrawal by children at disclosure was associated with more negative evaluations of child witnesses by prosecutors. Moreover, children's emotional behaviors, as noted by prosecutors, were among the predictors of prosecutors’ recommendations to file charges. Practical implications are discussed.     

Abuse disclosures of youth with problem sexualized behaviors and trauma symptomology

BackgroundThe majority of youth with problem sexualized behaviors (PSB) have substantiated experiences of abuse or exposures to violence (Silovsky & Niec, 2002). Little is known about specific abuse experiences that may differentiate youth with PSB from those without. Few studies have examined the types of abuse associated with post-traumatic stress symptomology.ObjectiveThe current study explored two research questions: (1) Do children with PSB differ from children without PSB in terms of their abuse disclosures?; and (2) Are the types of abuse disclosed associated with the child’s scores on a post-traumatic stress measure?.Participants & settingData were analyzed for youth (N = 950) ages 3–18 years who completed a clinical assessment at a child advocacy center in the Midwest during the 2015 calendar year.MethodsYouth completed assessments that included a forensic interview and either the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children (TSCYC) for children ages 3–10 years, or the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC) for children ages 11–16 years. Bivariate logistic regression was used to answer the research questions.ResultsFindings indicated that youths who disclosed offender to victim fondling were less likely to disclose PSB (OR = 0.460, p = .026), and children exposed to pornography were more likely to disclose PSB (OR = 3.252, p = .001). Additionally, youth who disclosed physical abuse (OR = 1.678, p = .001) or victim to offender sexual contact (OR = 2.242, p = .003) had higher odds of clinically significant trauma scores.ConclusionsImplications for practitioners and future research directions are discussed.     

Test balloons? Small signs of big events: A qualitative study on circumstances facilitating adults’ awareness of children's first signs of sexual abuse

This research examined caregivers’ awareness of children's first signs of sexual abuse. The aim was to explore circumstances that facilitate adults’ awareness of first signs in everyday natural settings. Data were obtained from a Norwegian university hospital's outpatient specialty mental health clinic. Included were all cases (N = 20) referred during a two-year period for treatment after the disclosure of sexual abuse that was reported to the police and child protective service. Nonabusing caregivers’ awareness of first signs were recollected in hindsight as part of therapy. Qualitative analysis was conducted to capture caregivers’ experiences. As identified by caregivers, all children gave signs. Thereafter, children either stopped, delayed, or immediately disclosed sexual abuse. At first signs, each child had time and attention from trusted adults, connection to the abuser, and exhibited signs of reservation against that person or related activities. Then, if met with closed answers, first signs were rebuffed as once-occurring events. If met with open answers and follow-up questions, children continued to tell. Unambiguous messages were prompted only in settings with intimate bodily activity or sexual abuse related content. In sum, when trusted adults provided door-openings, children used them; when carefully prompted, children talked; when thoughtfully asked, children told. The study suggests that children's signs of sexual abuse can be understood as “test balloons” to explore understanding and whether anything is to be done. A disclosing continuation hinges on the trusted adult's dialogical attunement and supplementary door-openings. Divergent from an idea of behavioural markers, or purposeful versus accidental disclosures, this study calls for a broader attention: Moments of first signs are embedded in dialogue. A uniqueness at moments of first signs appears: Both to form such moments and to transform them into moments of meeting for joint exploration and telling, hinge upon how trusted caregivers scaffold opportunities for the child to disclose. Subsequently, support offers need to be addressed not only to strengthen children to tell, but also for caregivers and professionals to take into account the necessity of a dialogically oriented sensitivity towards children, both for telling to occur and for hearing to take place.     

Children's disclosures of sexual abuse: learning from direct inquiry

Objectives

Published protocols for forensic interviewing for child sexual abuse do not include specific questions about what prompted children to tell about sexual abuse or what made them wait to tell. We, therefore, aimed to: (1) add direct inquiry about the process of a child's disclosure to a forensic interview protocol; (2) determine if children will, in fact, discuss the process that led them to tell about sexual abuse; and (3) describe the factors that children identify as either having led them to tell about sexual abuse or caused them to delay a disclosure.

Methods

Forensic interviewers were asked to incorporate questions about telling into an existing forensic interview protocol. Over a 1-year period, 191 consecutive forensic interviews of child sexual abuse victims aged 3-18 years old in which children spoke about the reasons they told about abuse or waited to tell about abuse were reviewed. Interview content related to the children's reasons for telling or for waiting to tell about abuse was extracted and analyzed using a qualitative methodology in order to capture themes directly from the children's words.

Results

Forensic interviewers asked children about how they came to tell about sexual abuse and if children waited to tell about abuse, and the children gave specific answers to these questions. The reasons children identified for why they chose to tell were classified into three domains: (1) disclosure as a result of internal stimuli (e.g., the child had nightmares), (2) disclosure facilitated by outside influences (e.g., the child was questioned), and (3) disclosure due to direct evidence of abuse (e.g., the child's abuse was witnessed). The barriers to disclosure identified by the children were categorized into five groups: (1) threats made by the perpetrator (e.g., the child was told (s)he would get in trouble if (s)he told), (2) fears (e.g., the child was afraid something bad would happen if (s)he told), (3) lack of opportunity (e.g., the child felt the opportunity to disclose never presented), (4) lack of understanding (e.g., the child failed to recognize abusive behavior as unacceptable), and (5) relationship with the perpetrator (e.g., the child thought the perpetrator was a friend).

Conclusions

Specific reasons that individual children identify for why they told and why they waited to tell about sexual abuse can be obtained by direct inquiry during forensic interviews for suspected child sexual abuse.

Practice implications

When asked, children identified the first person they told and offered varied and specific reasons for why they told and why they waited to tell about sexual abuse. Understanding why children disclose their abuse and why they wait to disclose will assist both professionals and families. Investigators and those who care for sexually abused children will gain insight into the specific barrier that the sexually abused child overcame to disclose. Prosecutors will be able to use this information to explain to juries why the child may have delayed his or her disclosure. Parents who struggle to understand why their child disclosed to someone else or waited to disclose will have a better understanding of their child's decisions.     

Urgent medical assessment after child sexual abuse

BACKGROUND: Immediate medical assessment has been recommended for children after sexual abuse to identify physical injuries, secure forensic evidence, and provide for the safety of the child. However, it is unclear whether young children seen urgently within 72 hours of reported sexual contact would have higher frequencies of interview or examination findings as compared to those seen non-urgently or whether forensic findings would be affected by child characteristics, type of reported contact, or later events. DESIGN/SETTING: We evaluated 190 consecutive cases of children under 13 years of age urgently referred during a 5-year period in 1998-2003 to a community child advocacy center and compared them to those non-urgently referred with regard to their physical examination findings, any sexually transmitted infections or forensic evidence, gender, pubertal development, type of contact, reported ejaculation, later bathing or changing clothes, time to examination, and gender, age and relationship of alleged perpetrator. RESULTS: Children seen urgently were younger and had less frequent CPS involvement, more disclosures, and more positive physical examinations, and had more contact with older perpetrators than those seen non-urgently. Overall, most children were female and had normal or non-specific physical examinations. Certain case characteristics were predictive of evidence isolation in the 9% who had positive forensic evidence identified. Semen or sperm was identified from body swabs only from non-bathed, female children older than 10 years of age or on clothing or objects. CONCLUSIONS: Female children over 10 years old who report ejaculation or genital contact without bathing have the highest likelihood of positive examinations or forensic evidence. While there are other potential benefits of early examination, physicians seeking to identify forensic evidence should consider the needs of the child and other factors when determining the timing of medical assessment after sexual abuse.     

Maternal support following childhood sexual abuse: Associations with children's adjustment post-disclosure and at 9-month follow-up

Maternal support has been widely cited as an important predictor of children's adjustment following disclosure of sexual abuse. However, few studies have examined these effects longitudinally. The current study examines the relationships between a multidimensional assessment of maternal support rated by both mothers and children and children's adjustment in various domains (internalizing, externalizing, anger, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms) concurrently and longitudinally. Participants were 118 mother-child dyads recruited from a Child Advocacy Center where children were determined through a forensic evaluation to be victims of sexual abuse. Child and mother ratings of maternal support and child adjustment were collected shortly after the forensic evaluation and at 9-month follow-up. Results were consistent with findings from past studies that maternal support is significantly related to children's post-disclosure adjustment and extends these findings longitudinally. Additionally, the study sheds light on differential relations between dimensions of maternal support (Emotional Support, Blame/Doubt, Vengeful Arousal, and Skeptical Preoccupation) and child adjustment and suggests the importance of using both child and mother ratings of maternal support in future research.     

Reporting possible sexual abuse: a qualitative study on children's perspectives and the context for disclosure

OBJECTIVE: The present study investigated the context in which children were able to report their child sexual abuse experiences and the children's views as to what made it difficult to talk about abuse and what helped them in the disclosing process. The aim was to study disclosures as they were occurring in their natural settings. METHOD: Data were obtained from therapeutic sessions and follow-up interviews from 20 families with 22 children. These children had said something that made their caregivers concerned about ongoing child sexual abuse. Qualitative analysis was conducted to capture the children's and caregiver's perspectives of the disclosure process. RESULTS: The children felt it was difficult to find situations containing enough privacy and prompts that they could share their experiences. They also were sensitive to others reactions, and whether their disclosures would be misinterpreted. When the children did disclose they did it in situations where the theme of child sexual abuse was in some form addressed or activated. The results indicate that disclosure is a fundamentally dialogical process that becomes less difficult if the children perceive that there is an opportunity to talk, and a purpose for speaking, and a connection has been established to what they are talking about. CONCLUSIONS: It is difficult for children to initiate a conversation about something secret, confusing and distressful, and where there are few conversational routines in a family for talking about such themes. Children also are sensitive to the needs of their caregivers and fear consequences for their family and offender. Children need a supportive structure or scaffold in order to reveal their experiences of child sexual abuse.     

A taxonomy of duties to report child sexual abuse: Legal developments offer new ways to facilitate disclosure

Background: Child sexual abuse is undisclosed for many reasons that are resistant to change. Citizens can play an important role in disclosing cases of child sexual abuse to authorities. Professionals who deal with children also play a crucial role. Office-holders in organisations have a clear responsibility to prevent cover-ups of sexual abuse. Recently, some countries have created important new legal duties for adults to disclose child sexual abuse.Objectives: This article creates a contemporary taxonomy of duties to disclose cases of child sexual abuse, and explains their nature and justification.Participants and setting: Citizens, professionals dealing with children in the course of their work, and managers of child and youth-serving organisations.Methods: Legal analysis created a taxonomy of reporting duties. Analysis of these duties from perspectives of criminal jurisprudence, public health law, children’s rights and ethics considered their justification.Results: Seven legal duties now exist, in criminal law, civil law and child protection law. Some apply to all citizens; others to managers in organisations; others to professionals dealing with children in the course of their work. All the duties are directed to early detection of cases; some are directed towards prevention; and some are focused on avoidance of institutional corruption.Conclusions: These developments represent historic progress in overcoming normally intractable barriers to disclosure of cases of child sexual abuse. New legal duties are consistent with principles from criminal jurisprudence, public health law, children’s rights and ethics. Where adopted, societies should ensure the creation and maintenance of ecological conditions in which these duties can be observed.     

Perceptions of caregivers and adolescents of the use of telemedicine for the child sexual abuse examination

BackgroundChildhood sexual abuse is a common cause of morbidity and mortality. All victims should receive a timely comprehensive medical exam. Currently there is a critical shortage of child abuse pediatricians who can complete the comprehensive child sexual abuse examination. Telemedicine has emerged as an innovative way to provide subspecialty care to this population. Despite the growing popularity of telemedicine, no literature exists describing patient and caregiver perceptions of telemedicine for this sensitive exam.ObjectiveTo explore caregiver and adolescent perspectives of the use of telemedicine for the child sexual abuse examination and discover factors that drive satisfaction with the technology.Participants and SettingCaregivers and adolescents who presented for a child sexual abuse medical evaluation at our county’s child advocacy center.MethodsWe completed semi structured interviews of 17 caregivers and 10 adolescents. Guided by the Technology Acceptance Model interviews assessed perceptions about: general feelings with the exam, prior use of technology, feelings about telemedicine, and role of the medical team. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, coded and analyzed using content analysis with constant comparative coding. Recruitment ended when thematic saturation was reached.ResultsThere was an overwhelming positive response to telemedicine. Participants reported having a good experience with telemedicine regardless of severity of sexual abuse or prior experience with technology. Behaviors that helped patients and caregivers feel comfortable included a clear explanation from the medical team and professionalism demonstrated by those using the telemedicine system.ConclusionTelemedicine was widely accepted by adolescents and caregivers when used for the child sexual abuse examination.     

Helping children to the other side of silence: a study of the impact of the stay safe programme on Irish children's disclosures of sexual victimization

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a school based safety skills program--The Stay Safe Programme--in facilitating the disclosure of sexual abuse among sexually victimized children and adolescents in Dublin. METHOD: A Cohort of 145 children who had participated in the Stay Safe Programme prior to their referral to a sexual abuse assessment unit were compared with a cohort of 443 children who had not participated in the prevention program on a range of disclosure related variables abstracted from case notes. RESULTS: More Stay Safe participants, particularly female adolescents, made disclosures of suspected sexual abuse than non-participants. A higher rate of initial disclosure to teachers was made by Stay Safe participants and more teachers in schools participating in the Stay Safe Programme initiated referrals for evaluation of suspected child sexual abuse. Following assessment a higher rate of confirmed abuse occurred among Stay Safe participants and for these confirmed cases more Stay Safe participants made purposeful disclosures and in significantly more cases referral was due to the child telling someone about the abuse. These differences in disclosure between program participants and non-participants were unrelated to demographic factors or characteristics of the abuse. CONCLUSIONS: The Stay Safe Programme was an effective secondary prevention intervention deserving widespread implementation.     

Childhood sexual abuse among university students in Tanzania

OBJECTIVES: There are no prevalence data for childhood sexual abuse among Tanzanian university students. This investigation addressed this paucity. The nature of sexual abuse was also investigated. METHOD: Participants (N=487) from a university in Tanzania completed a questionnaire which assessed abusive childhood sexual experiences, gathering information about age of victim, duration of abuse, perpetrators, amount of force or persuasion involved, and potential causes of child sexual abuse. A number of individuals were also interviewed about their experiences. RESULTS: The overall prevalence rate for child sexual abuse was 27.7%, with rates being higher for females than for males. The average age of the victim when abuse occurred was 13.8 years. Perpetrators were generally unidentified by respondents; nonetheless, a surprisingly high proportion of female perpetrators was noted. There was a considerable amount of force or persuasion involved in the abusive behavior: betrayal of trust, bribes and physical force were cited frequently. Poverty and superstition were the primary explanations given for child sexual abuse. CONCLUSION: The study provides evidence for the existence of child sexual abuse in Tanzania. Poverty feeds the "sugar daddy/mammy" phenomenon and combined with various forms of superstition is an important factor in child sexual abuse in Tanzania.     

Hearing children’s voices? Including children’s perspectives on their experiences of domestic violence in welfare reports prepared for the English courts in private family law proceedings

This research examined Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) reports prepared for private family court proceedings in domestic violence cases in England. The research found that in cases where children’s accounts identified them as victims of violence, these disclosures regularly disappeared from report recommendations. Particular discourses regarding ‘child welfare’ and ‘contact’ were identified, which routinely impacted on the ways in which children’s voices were taken into account. Whilst culturally there has undoubtedly been an influential move towards including children’s perspectives in decision-making that affects them, how these views are interpreted and represented is subject to adult ‘gate-keeping’ and powerful cultural and professional ideologies regarding ‘child welfare’ and ‘post-separation family relationships’. This research found that the unrelenting influence of deeply embedded beliefs regarding the preservation or promotion of relationships with fathers continues to have the effect of marginalising issues of safeguarding, including children’s voiced experiences of violence, in all but the most exceptional of cases. Rather, safeguarding concerns in respect of domestic violence and child abuse were persistently overshadowed by a dominant presumption of the overall benefits of contact with fathers.     

Fathers detained,contact restrained: Experiences of Palestinian children visiting their fathers in Israeli detention

BackgroundVery little is known about the experiences of children of political prisoners internationally, because of the challenges of researching within politically oppressive contexts.ObjectiveThe aim of this secondary analysis was to explore and understand Palestinian children’s experiences visiting their fathers in Israeli detention.Participants, setting and methodsQualitative data from sixteen in-depth interviews with thirty-one children were analyzed. Structural and longitudinal coding cycles were employed and focused upon the timeline of the visitation process.ResultsThree overarching themes emerged, which included: Children’s experiences ‘before the visit’, ‘during the visit’, and ‘after the visit’. Subthemes related to the distressing and at times traumatic experiences the children suffered throughout the process of preparation for, going through, and the aftermath of the visit. This included reports of experiencing punitive measures at checkpoints and waiting areas and humiliation and maltreatment by the Israeli authorities during the visitation process. These findings are discussed with reference to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It was clear that the children’s best interests were denied and contact and interaction with their fathers was restrained under the Israeli visitation scheme. Despite the arduous visitation process that children often hated, they loved to see their fathers.ConclusionsEven though the children’s rights were infringed upon, they still endured hardships to maintain whatever contact was possible. International advocacy for the realization of the ‘rights of the child’ for Palestinian children, as well as other children of political detainees is warranted.     

A meta-analysis of the prevalence of child sexual abuse disclosure in forensic settings

BackgroundIdentification, substantiation, prosecution, and treatment of child sexual abuse often rely heavily on a disclosure from the victim in the absence of corroborating evidence. For some, disclosure can be impeded by developmental or motivational barriers, thus compromising child safety and wellbeing. The literature on disclosure prevalence and mitigating influences does not yield a coherent picture. A more accurate estimate will help to inform investigation strategies to facilitate disclosure.ObjectiveThis study provides a meta-analysis of available research examining the prevalence of sexual abuse disclosure in forensic interviews with children under 18 years, and examines a range of factors that may influence the likelihood of disclosure.MethodDatabases were searched for published and unpublished studies up to May 2017. In total, 2393 abstracts were assessed for eligibility, 216 full-text articles were reviewed, and 45 samples (with 31,225 participants) provided estimates of effect sizes.ResultsThe mean prevalence of child sexual abuse disclosure in forensic settings was 64.1% (95% CI: 60.0–68.1). Between-study variability was explained by: (1) child age and gender, with higher prevalence in older children and females; (2) prior disclosure, with higher prevalence when present; and (3) study year, with higher prevalence in more recent studies.ConclusionsThis meta-analysis confirms an upward trend in child sexual abuse disclosure prevalence. However, more than a third of children do not disclose when interviewed, with those who are younger, male, and without a prior disclosure at greatest risk. Important implications for forensic interviewing protocols and future research are discussed.     

Evaluation of second step child protection videos: A randomized controlled trial

This randomized controlled trial (RCT) examined the effects of the Second Step Child Protection Unit videos on parents’ knowledge, motivation, and self-reported communication with their child about personal safety and childhood sexual abuse prevention. Parents of children between the ages of 3–11 years were randomly assigned to the intervention (watching the Second Step videos) or the control (watching videos on child obesity) groups. They completed measures assessing their knowledge of child sexual abuse (CSA), motivation to discuss CSA, self-reported discussions of CSA, child history of victimization, parent exposure to CSA, and comparable measures on topics of health and nutrition at pre-test. Participants viewed the videos one week later and immediately completed post-test 1, and then two months later completed the measures again. Multivariate Analyses of Covariance (MANCOVAs) and serial mediation analyses were conducted with the final sample of 438. The intervention group, compared to the control group, had significant increases in knowledge (specifically, less restrictive stereotype beliefs about CSA) and motivation to talk with their children about CSA both immediately after the intervention and at the two-month follow-up. Although the intervention did not have a direct effect on parent self-reported conversations with their children about CSA, it had a mediated effect. The intervention increased knowledge regarding CSA, which then predicted motivation, which in turn predicted conversations. The most pronounced effect was the intervention’s direct effect of increasing motivation immediately after the intervention, which then increased self-reported conversations with children about personal safety and CSA two months later.     

Assessing parental understanding of sexualized behavior in children and adolescents

The current study assessed parents’ ability to identify normal, concerning and harmful sexualized behaviors in children and adolescents, as well as the parents’ ability to identify and select an appropriate level of intervention. The influence of a parent’s relationship with the victim or the perpetrator on the level of action taken was also examined. A cross-sectional survey incorporating a randomized experimental vignette condition determined that parents (N = 244) were not able to consistently identify sexualized behaviors accurately, and they provided lower-than-recommended levels of intervention responses. Parents were best able to identify and respond to behaviors considered normal and age-appropriate, but had greater difficulty with behaviors considered concerning or harmful. Parents were significantly less able to accurately identify and respond to behaviors exhibited by very young children (in the 0–4 year-old age-bracket). In three vignette comparisons, no significant difference in the level of intervention responses was found between parents who viewed the victim as their own child and parents who viewed the perpetrator as their child; while parents who viewed both the victim and perpetrator as being their children (siblings) reported lower intervention response levels. Because a lack of accurate knowledge around risks and indicators of child sexual abuse negatively affects the ability to prevent and detect abuse, the results have implications for a shift from a forensic model of child protection towards a public health model, which emphasizes parent and community education.     

The barriers to a national inquiry into child sexual abuse in the United States

There is an often-overlooked but critical factor at the center of institutional child sexual abuse that must be acknowledged and addressed: adults tend to place the interest of institutions and other adults above the protection of children. As the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has shown, this phenomenon is evident across institutional settings and any institutional reform aimed at improving child safety must therefore guard against this tendency if it is to be effective in protecting children. In the United States there are also other barriers to dealing with child sexual abuse in institutional contexts. State government responses to the challenges of child sexual abuse have varied. However, the federal governmsent has been silent on the problem of religious institutional sexual abuse. This commentary considers how the politics of religious liberty in the United States inhibits action by protecting institutions that cover up child sexual abuse.