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Service and Support Needs of Non-Offending Parents in Cases of Intrafamilial Sexual Abuse

NCJ Number
180102
Journal
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse Volume: 8 Issue: 2 Dated: 1999 Pages: 41-56
Author(s)
Carol Rippey Massat Ph.D.; Marta Lundy Ph.D.
Editor(s)
Robert Geffner Ph.D.
Date Published
1999
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This article describes the helpfulness and availability of formal and informal services and supports available to 104 non-offending parents in cases of intrafamilial sexual abuse.
Abstract
Specifically, the study examined the degree to which formal and informal sources of support were viewed as helpful by non-offending parents in cases of intrafamilial sexual abuse. It also considered the needs for service that non-offending parents reported in cases of incest. Further, the research identified the levels of social support non-offending parents experienced in cases of incest. The data reported in this article are from the first wave of data collection of a 4-year study. Parents participated three times. The data were obtained in the first appointment with the non-offending parents. The first appointment for a given parent was during the period from April 1993 to the summer of 1996. In most cases, parents completed a written questionnaire, followed by an interview. Two measures were used to collect the data: The Maternal Sense of Social Support (Pascoe, Loda, Jeffries, and Earp, 1981), and the Helpfulness Index, adapted from a questionnaire used by Runyan et al. Although findings show high overall satisfaction with the services provided, parents reported a gap between their needs and the availability of services. 4 tables and 28 references