Perceptions Of Child Sexual Abuse Research Articles

Investigation of fathers' metaphors regarding child sexual abuse in Turkey: A metaphor study

Background and purposeThis study was designed to determine the perceptions of fathers about child sexual abuse in Turkey using metaphors to facilitate understanding of child sexual abuse. MethodsThe study was conducted as a qualitative study based on metaphor analysis. The data were collected from 164 Turkish fathers in Turkey between August 2022 and September 2022 using a descriptive information form for fathers and a semi-structured interview form exploring fathers' perceptions of child sexual abuse. The semi-structured interview form included metaphor statements like “Child sexual abuse is like....... because .......”, and “Child sexual abuse reminds me of the color....... because .......”. The data were analyzed using the content analysis technique. The study was reported based on Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research (SRQR). ResultsAccording to the results, 77.4% of the fathers had knowledge about protecting their children from sexual abuse, 40.9% got this information from the internet, and only 11.1% educated their children about sexual abuse. Seventy three percent of the fathers were afraid of confusing their children while educating them. The fathers involved in the study used 20 metaphors related to “child sexual abuse” and “the color evoked by child sexual abuse”. The metaphors created by the fathers were analyzed under six categories: “emotions, feeling inadequate, punishment method, abuser, child concept, and uncertainty”. ConclusionBased on the results of the study, fathers had common feelings and emphasize the same concepts about child sexual abuse. Practice implicationsMetaphors provide a unique approach to identifying fathers' conceptual images of child sexual abuse.

Gender and victim stereotypes in perceptions of child sexual abuse in Puerto Rico

AbstractFactors such as cultural norms and stereotypes influence how child sexual abuse (CSA) is perceived in relation to gender of the offender and perceptions of responsibility and harm in Puerto Rico. Finkelhor and Browne's traumagenic dynamics model served as the theoretical framework for the investigation because it addresses four key factors related to the experience of CSA victims. A total of 525 people living in Puerto Rico participated in the study. They were asked to read a hypothetical case of CSA by a teacher with a minor student and answer related questions. Point‐biserial correlational analyses were used to assess the influence of gender of the offender on perceptions of CSA. Results of the study indicated the male offender was attributed more responsibility and harm for the offence. Both male and female minor victims were identified by participants as partly responsible for the offence. Male and female offenders were identified as victims. Findings of this study could help to improve understanding of cultural differences in perceptions of CSA cases and its consequences.

Between Sanctity and Real Life: Child Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church in Spain.

This research assessed clergymen perceptions of child sexual abuse in Catalonia (Spain) and identified elements pointing toward anomie and a discourse linked to the neutralization of the perpetrators' criminal responsibility. The study included 20 interviews from diocesan priests and members of religious congregations, who highlighted the impact of sexual abuse on clergy, the plurality of sensitivities, the existence of discourses tending to idealization, the presence of neutralization techniques and the existence of an institutionalized and persistent anomie within the Catholic Church. This research concluded that the problem of child sexual abuse is related to both individual (such as loneliness, among others) and institutional aspects (for example, selection and training of future clergymen, among others). To reduce the tension existing between cultural goals and institutional means, institutional reforms are necessary in terms of reviewing and de-consecrating cultural goals and improving adaptation of institutional means, while also focusing on supporting clerics and reducing loneliness. A debate needs to be normalized inside the Church, related to moralism, clerical power, and celibacy, among others.

Child Sexual Abuse Studies in Arab Societies: A Systematic Review and Directions for Future Research

Although child sexual abuse (CSA) is acknowledged as a worldwide social phenomenon, less is known about CSA within Arab societies. The current systematic literature review was designed to highlight the empirical knowledge on CSA in Arab societies. Guided by PRISMA principles, key databases were searched, with no time limit, for studies meeting the inclusion criteria. Fifty-seven studies were identified. The majority focused on the prevalence of CSA in various Arab societies around the world, with a wide range of rates reported. It is important to stress two main barriers addressed by the included studies. The first relates to the issue of taboo and the forbidden discussion of sexual content. The second is ethical, in which the researchers expressed their fear of creating emotional distress for their participants. A small group of studies examined parents’ perceptions of CSA and the need for parents’ involvement in the protection of their children. Another small group of studies focused on professionals’ perceptions and experiences in contending with CSA, as well as their distress, conflict, and urgent need for support and guidance. The conclusions from the systematic literature review emphasized the enormous challenge of conducting studies on CSA in Arab societies and the urgent need to advance this research while also including children and adult survivors, whose perceptions and experiences are currently understudied. Moreover, the discussion stresses the need to adopt an intersectionality paradigm in future studies to advance the improvement of CSA policy and practice.

The effects of evidence-based expert testimony on perceptions of child sexual abuse involving recantation

Child sexual abuse (CSA) cases involving recantation invoke concerns about children's reliability. Expert testimony can help explain the complexities of these cases. Experts have historically relied on Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome (CSAAS), yet this is not science-based. In a CSA case involving recantation, how would evidence-based testimony affect perceptions of child credibility when compared to CSAAS? Across 2 studies, we test the effects of expert testimony based on evidence-based science, nonscientific evidence, and experience-based evidence on outcomes in CSA cases involving recantation. Evidence-based testimony led to higher perceptions of credibility and scientific rigor of the evidence when compared to CSAAS testimony. Evidence-based testimony also led to more guilty verdicts when compared to the control. In sum, jurors had some ability to detect evidence strength, such that evidence-based expert testimony was superior to CSAAS testimony in many respects, and consistently superior to experience-based testimony in these cases.

The effects of evidence-based expert testimony on perceptions of child sexual abuse involving recantation.

Child sexual abuse (CSA) cases involving recantation invoke concerns about children’s reliability. Expert testimony can help explain the complexities of these cases. Experts have historically relied on Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome (CSAAS), yet this is not science-based. In a CSA case involving recantation, how would evidence-based testimony affect perceptions of child credibility when compared to CSAAS? Across 2 studies, we test the effects of expert testimony based on evidence-based science, nonscientific evidence, and experience-based evidence on outcomes in CSA cases involving recantation. Evidence-based testimony led to higher perceptions of credibility and scientific rigor of the evidence when compared to CSAAS testimony. Evidence-based testimony also led to more guilty verdicts when compared to the control. In sum, jurors had some ability to detect evidence strength, such that evidence-based expert testimony was superior to CSAAS testimony in many respects, and consistently superior to experience-based testimony in these cases.

The Influence of Gender on Perceptions of Culpability and Victim Status in Statutory Rape Offenses Involving Teachers.

Perceptions of child sexual abuse and statutory rape vary based on the gender of the victim, the perpetrator, and the combination of both. We extend existing research to examine attributions of responsibility and punitive preferences for student victims in student-teacher sexual relationships contingent on the gender dyad of the student and teacher and the interaction between the gender dyad and respondent gender. Participants (N = 648) were randomly assigned to vignettes wherein the gender of the student and teacher were manipulated (female teacher/male student; female teacher/female student; male teacher/female student; male teacher/male student). Overall, respondents were "pro-victim," though results indicate significant differences in respondent gender and how the gender dyads were perceived. Students in the male same-sex dyads were attributed less responsibility than other students. Furthermore, men were less likely to perceive the student as a victim, and women were more likely to indicate the student should be punished.

How Background Relates to Perceptions of Child Sexual Abuse Prevention and Policies Related to Individuals Convicted of Sex Crimes

Although research has examined perceptions of child sexual abuse (CSA) prevention and the efficacy of sex offender policies (SOPs), less research compares these perceptions between different backgrounds. We explore these perceptions among North Carolina stakeholders with backgrounds related to (a) victims of CSA, (b) individuals convicted of sex crimes (ICSCs), and/or (c) law enforcement and policymakers. Specifically, we examine how these backgrounds differ in the perceived efficacy of (a) the ability to prevent CSA, (b) containment-based SOPs, and (c) assistance-based SOPs. We find that the victim-focused background was the most optimistic that CSA prevention is possible, and the law and policy background was the most pessimistic. Furthermore, the ICSC-focused background was the least likely to believe in the effectiveness of containment-based strategies and the most likely to believe in the effectiveness of assistance-based strategies. An overlapping victim-and-ICSC background consistently fell in between the views of victim-only and ICSC-only backgrounds.

Factors associated with perceptions of child sexual abuse and lack of parental knowledge: a community-based cross-sectional study from the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUNDChild sexual abuse (CSA) has serious consequences that can affect the physical, social and mental health of a child. In the last two decades, concern about CSA has increased around the world including Saudi Arabia.OBJECTIVEEvaluate factors associated with parental perceptions and knowledge of CSA.DESIGNCross-sectional survey.SETTINGSPrimary health care clinic.SUBJECTS AND METHODSSimple random sampling was used to select participants. The main tool for data collection was a self-administered questionnaire.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURESFactors associated with knowledge and perceptions of CSA.SAMPLE SIZE400.RESULTSMost respondents (69%) had good knowledge of the signs of sexual abuse in children. For perception scores, statistically significant variables were age (P=.004), educational level (P=.005), income (P<.001), number of wives (P=.004), number of male children (P=.021), and number of female children (P=.027). For knowledge scores, statistically significant variables were income (P=.008), number of wives (P<.005), number of male children (P=.003) and number of female children (P<.003). Logistic regression showed that the older age group was significantly associated with a good perception score (P<.046).CONCLUSIONSRisk factors for parental lack of knowledge and poor perception associated with CSA are poverty and low education. Protective factors included the older parent age, size of the family and families with more than one wife. Education should be designed for parents and the community to increase the knowledge and perception of CSA.LIMITATIONSSingle-center study and short study period.

Recognizing the Power of Deficit Ideology in Shaping Perceptions of Child Sexual Abuse

This paper is reflective and deals with how societies view child sexual abuse through different cultural lenses. The deficits we subconsciously hold can impact, not only our personal views, but our teaching and our treatment methodologies. The purpose is to initiate discussion that will encourage more research on this subject. The objective is to enable practitioners to better recognize the psychological trauma accentuated by violence and sexual abuse and thus allow for better designed treatment programs. Central to this exploration is the concept of deficit ideology. The importance of understanding structural, cultural, and perhaps religious differences that shape ideas about child sexual abuse is stressed.

Gender Bias in the Education System: Perceptions of Teacher–Student Sexual Relationships

Research on perceptions of child sexual abuse has documented gender bias favouring female perpetrators. The current study aimed to determine if previous findings into perceptions of child sexual abuse translated to perceptions of abuse of adolescent students by school teachers using a theoretical framework of attribution and gender-development theory. Randomly selected participants (86 female and 44 males) responded to a brief vignette about a student–teacher sexual relationship (male teacher/female student or female teacher/male student). Results identified a gender bias in favour of female teachers on emotional reactions of anger and desire for consequences. Female participants expressed greater anger and rated the sexual relationship as more serious than their male counterparts. Results suggest that adolescent victims were seen as relatively mature and suffering less harm than younger aged victims. Finally, results suggest that attributions made by both men and women regarding teacher–student sexual relationships were consistent with traditional gender-role stereotypes.

Female survivors’ perceptions of lifelong impact on their education of child abuse suffered in orphanages

Many children raised in orphanages suffered ongoing child abuse and neglect including sexual abuse, and nearly all were denied an adequate education. This paper explores adult females’ perceptions of the impacts on their education of child sexual abuse they suffered while living in orphanages in Australia. In-depth qualitative and anonymous one-on-one interviews were undertaken with 10 female volunteers. Their narrative quotes emanate from questions asked about their experiences and perceptions of child sexual abuse, and its impacts on their educational achievement, educational development and educational opportunity. Of these volunteer females, only two had completed primary school, none had completed more than two years of secondary school, and none had undertaken any tertiary education. All had perceived child sexual abuse, in particular, to have had overwhelmingly negative impacts on their lifelong, educational achievement, educational development and educational opportunity. These impacts have had detrimental inter-generational consequences upon their own children. These adult females perceived child sexual abuse to be a major factor in their very poor, life-long educational development, achievement and opportunities, with intergenerational consequences for their self-esteem, wellbeing and success. Implications for practice are that children at risk should receive specialised teaching, educational support and counselling; adults with deficient education need help with learning processes such as dynamic learning, to help achieve active and inclusive citizenship.

Preventing Child Sexual Abuse: Parents' Perceptions and Practices in Urban Nigeria

This study examined parents' perceptions of child sexual abuse as well as prevention practices in an urban community in southwest Nigeria. Questionnaires were collected from 387 parents and caregivers of children younger than 15 years of age. Results showed that many parents felt CSA was a common problem in the community, and most parents disagreed with common child sexual abuse myths. In addition, almost all parents ( >90%) reported communicating with their child(ren) about stranger danger. However, about 47% felt their children could not be abused, and over a quarter (27.1%) often left their children alone and unsupervised. There were no significant variations in the perceptions of child sexual abuse and communication practices. The implications of findings for child sexual abuse prevention are discussed.

Differences in Perceptions of Child Sexual Abuse Based on Perpetrator Age and Respondent Gender

Child sexual abuse changes the lives of countless children. Child sexual abuse victims experience short and long term negative outcomes that affect their daily functioning. In this study, undergraduate students' perceptions of CSA were obtained using vignettes with an adult or child perpetrator and a general questionnaire. Results indicated participants receiving the child-on-child vignette were less likely to rate the vignette as abuse, saw the abuse as less severe, and assigned less blame to the perpetrator than participants reading the adult-on-child vignette. On a general questionnaire, male participants saw child-on-child abuse as less severe and more encouraged by society than did female participants. The information can be utilized by professionals in treatment planning and preventing revictimization at disclosure.

The Idealized Cultural Identities Model on Help-Seeking and Child Sexual Abuse: A Conceptual Model for Contextualizing Perceptions and Experiences of South Asian Americans

In this paper, we propose an interdisciplinary framework to study perceptions of child sexual abuse and help-seeking among South Asians living in the United States. We integrate research on social marginality, intersectionality, and cultural psychology to understand how marginalized social experience accentuates South Asian immigrants' desire to construct a positive self-identity. Using model minority ideology as an example of such a construction, we highlight its role in silencing the topic of child sexual abuse within this immigrant community as well as its impact on attitudes towards professional mental health services. We contend that our framework, the idealized cultural identities model on help-seeking and child sexual abuse, provides a unique analytical model for clinicians and researchers to understand how South Asian Americans process, experience, and react to child sexual abuse.

Unpacking Race, Culture, and Class in Rural Alaska: Native and Non-Native Multidisciplinary Professionals' Perceptions of Child Sexual Abuse

The purpose of this study was to unpack notions of class, culture, and race as they relate to multidisciplinary team (MDT) professionals and their perceptions of prevalence in child sexual abuse cases in Native and non-Native rural Alaska communities. Power and privilege within professional settings is significant for all social work professionals and influences the ways in which systemic issues of power and privilege mediate decision making. Fifteen MDT participants from two separate rural communities were interviewed. Emergent themes include perceptions on incidences and reporting of child sexual abuse, cultural dissonance, and systemic challenges. Policy and practice implications are discussed.

Can Norm Theory Explain the Effects of Victim Age and Level of Physical Maturity on Perceptions of Child Sexual Abuse?

The present study examines the effects of victim age, victim physical maturity, and respondent gender on attributions toward victims, perpetrator, and the nonoffending members of the victim's family in a hypothetical child sexual abuse (CSA) case. Participants read a brief CSA vignette in which the male perpetrator (a school caretaker) sexually abuses a student in the school changing rooms. The victim was depicted as either a 12- or 15-year-old girl who, in terms of physical maturity, was either pre- or postpubescent. Separate 2 × 2 × 2 ANOVAs were performed on the dependent variables. Results conformed broadly to the study's predictions with younger victims being viewed more negatively than older victims and the victim's physical appearance being viewed as more encouraging of CSA for the younger than for the older girl. Female participants were more likely to endorse the belief that the younger victim should have fought back and that the prepubescent 15-year-old victim should have fought back more than her postpubescent counterpart. While attributions toward the perpetrator and victim's family did not differ across conditions for women, men tended to blame the perpetrator more when victims were younger and the family more when victims were less physically mature. Findings are discussed in relation to norm theory principles, just world theory, and the defensive attribution hypothesis.

Perceptions of Child Sexual Abuse—A Qualitative Interview Study with Representatives of the Socio-Legal System in Urban Tanzania

Through in-depth interviews, this study explored perceptions and experiences of key players handling child sexual offense cases in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The informants included public police investigators, magistrates, legal workers, and social workers working with nongovernmental organizations. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Five themes emerged summarizing factors associated with sexual offenses, including community passivity, legal system weaknesses, legal framework inadequacy, and key players' vulnerabilities. Addressing the identified weaknesses may promote justice, while changes in attitudes and norms are needed for the prevention of sexual offenses to children.

Perceptions of Child Sexual Abuse in a Hypothetical Cybersexploitation Case: The Importance of Perpetrator Honesty, Outcome Type, and Respondent Gender

This study investigated perceptions of child sexual abuse in a hypothetical cybersexploitation case. Men were predicted to be more negative toward the victim than were women. Victims were predicted to be more negatively judged when they consented to sex than when they did not and when they were lied to than when they were not. Two hundred and seventy-six respondents read a sexual abuse depiction in which the perpetrator's disclosure about his age (being honest from the outset, lying, or refusing to disclose when questioned) and the final outcome of the meeting (consensual verses nonconsensual sexual intercourse) were varied between subjects. Respondents then completed a 17-item attribution scale. ANOVAs revealed broad support for the predictions. Results have implications for education about cybercrime.

African-American Undergraduates' Perceptions and Attributions of Child Sexual Abuse

This study examined perceptions of child sexual abuse and attributions of responsibility in a cross-sectional convenience sample of 384 African-American undergraduates using a scenario manipulating the age of the victim, gender of the victim, and gender of the perpetrator. Multiple interactions of respondent, victim, and perpetrator gender on perception of intrafamilial child sexual abuse and attributions of responsibility for victim, perpetrator, and parents were obtained. These results extended previous research conducted on primarily Caucasian samples and highlighted the moderating role of gender of the respondent for this ethnicity.