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Motherhood Among Incest Survivors

NCJ Number
160271
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 19 Issue: 12 Dated: (December 1995) Pages: 1423-1429
Author(s)
T Cohen
Date Published
1995
Length
7 pages
Annotation
The maternal functioning of women who had survived child sexual abuse was studied by means of a comparison of 26 mothers who were survivors and a control group of 28 mothers with no such abuse in their backgrounds.
Abstract
The research took place in Israel. The incest survivors represented the total caseload at Meital Israeli Center for Treatment of Child Sexual Abuse. The analysis focused on seven areas of parenting skills: role image, objectivity, expectations, rapport, communication, limit setting, and role support. Parenting skills were measured through the Parenting Skills Inventory, an 86-item questionnaire. Results revealed significant differences on all seven scales; the study group tended to be less skillful in maternal functioning than the control group. The differences were particularly high on the scales of role support, communication, and role image. Findings suggested tat secrecy, shame, and self blame, which are often associated with child sexual abuse, are partial explanations of the general undeveloped social skills in the study group. However, other factors, such as the age of onset and termination of the abuse, its severity as well as family dynamics and relationship, may have contributed to these results. Further research in this area is therefore needed. Meanwhile, therapists should give more attention to the maternal functioning of child sexual abuse survivors who are under their care. Tables and 19 references (Author abstract modified)