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Sexual Abuse: The Most Controversial Child Welfare Problem (From Alternative Models of Family Preservation: Family-Based Services in Context, P 73-86, 1992, Kristine E. Nelson and Miriam J. Landsman)

NCJ Number
141249
Author(s)
K E Nelson; M J Landsman
Date Published
1992
Length
14 pages
Annotation
There is a debate among family-based programs over the treatment of sexual abuse cases: while some service providers refuse to treat families if the perpetrator is still living in the house, others successfully treat families in which sexual abuse is the primary problem.
Abstract
In this study, a sample of 50 sexual abuse cases referred to nine family-based programs was examined; of these, 86 percent were referred primarily for sexual abuse while 10 percent also involved physical abuse and 6 percent also involved neglect. Sexual abuse cases differed in several ways from cases relating only to physical abuse or neglect. They involved the oldest caretakers and children, and the vast majority were white. About two-thirds of the children at highest risk were girls. Fewer children were likely to be placed out of the home because, in most cases, the perpetrator was gone. About one- third of the sexually abusing families had experienced a divorce in the preceding year. Most of the associated issues presented by these families related to the children, including parent-child conflict, problems with peers or school, or juvenile delinquency. Sexual abuse cases received more volunteer services, participated more in self-help groups, and received services geared toward helping them use other longer- term sources of counseling. Cases ending in placement most often involved a child at imminent risk of placement, a less compliant primary caretaker, a second adult present at the sessions, and a employed primary caretaker. Placement prevention was related to a case objective of increasing the family's use of outside counseling services. 6 tables