Debra Nelson-Gardell

Extended Forensic Evaluation When Sexual Abuse is Suspected: A Multisite Field Study

A subset of children referred due to suspected sexual abuse require more than one interview for professionals to reach an opinion about the veracity of allegations. The National Childrens Advocacy Centers forensic evaluation model was designed for that specific group of children. The multisite study of the model reported here followed a 2-year pilot study. Professionals in 12 states adopted the model and collected data for 2 years on a total of 147 participants. In 44.5% of the cases, a credible disclosure was obtained, with 73% of these cases supported in the legal system. The forensic evaluation procedure yielded clear information to be used in child protection and prosecutory decisions in 64% of the cases (combining cases with credible disclosures and abuse unlikely findings). Finally, the study examined the effects of the length of the evaluation and of the case and child characteristics on evaluation outcomes.

Extended forensic evaluation when sexual abuse is suspected: a model and preliminary data

This article describes an extended forensic evaluation model, designed and piloted at the National Childrens Advocacy Center (NCAC). The design and rationale of the NCAC forensic evaluation model are described. Outcomes achieved by using the model for 2 years are documented. Also described is a multisite research project, which is currently under way, that involves more than 30 Childrens Advocacy Centers across the United States. This project will further test the efficacy of the model and refine its practice.

Allegations of sexual abuse of a child: what to do when a single forensic interview isn't enough

This article describes the state of knowledge about extended assessments/forensic evaluations in situations of possible sexual abuse. It provides a critical review of the modest body of relevant research, describes two models for extended assessments, and presents descriptive survey findings of 62 professionals conducting extended assessments, most of whom conduct extended assessments intermittently as part of their other work on sexual abuse cases. Agencies should consider conducting extended assessments with young or traumatized children whose sexual abuse allegations are not resolved with a single interview as well as in complex child sexual abuse cases.

A Competency-Based Approach to Teaching Professional Self-Care: An Ethical Consideration for Social Work Educators.

Incorporating material on professional self-care into social work course content is valuable to the education of neophyte social work practitioners. This article presents a review of the literature on professional burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion fatigue, including the risk factors associated with the experience of these conditions. The literature suggests that students are particularly vulnerable to these conditions as they enter their field placements due to their lack of professional practice experience. To address this educational need among social work students, this article provides suggestions for incorporating material on professional self-care into both micro and macro course offerings and includes a sample case study that links self-care to the current Council on Social Work Education social work competencies and practice behaviors.

Extended evaluations in cases of child sexual abuse: how many sessions are sufficient?

This article provides new findings from a national study involving 18 forensic interview sites of 137 children who were randomly assigned to a four or eight session extended evaluation. Cases assigned to the eight session protocol were significantly more likely to be classified “credible disclosure” of sexual abuse (56.6%) than cases assigned to the four session protocol (29.5%) and significantly less likely to be classified “credible nondisclosure” of sexual abuse (9.2%) than cases in the four session protocol (24.6%). When four versus eight sessions, demographic variables, and case characteristics were entered into a regression, variables that predicted likelihood of sexual abuse were eight session protocol, older victim age, and caretaker belief the child had been sexually abused. When new disclosures were examined by session in the eight session protocol, 95% of new disclosures occurred by the sixth session.

The Voices of Victims: Surviving Child Sexual Abuse

This exploratory project had two goals: (1) to ask child and adolescent sexual abuse victims/survivors what they believed counseling and/or therapy designed to help them should entail; and (2) to learn from survivors how others (e.g., parents, social service workers, law enforcement, siblings, etc.) may have helped them deal with the negative impact of child sexual abuse victimization. A focus group methodology, using thematic analysis, was used to learn about how child and adolescent sexual abuse survivors saw these matters and to evaluate the usefulness of focus groups with this population.

Spiritual Support and African American Breast Cancer Survivors

This qualitative study used data from interviews with 18 African American breast cancer survivors in the southeast regarding the women’s live experiences of spiritual support during the process of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. Through a thematic content analysis, four primary sources of spiritual support were identified: God, members of religious communities, family members and friends, and health care professionals. Some participants reported negative experiences associated with the reactions of religious community members to their breast cancer. Those who received spiritual support from their health care providers reported welcoming such support.

Clinician Responses to Client Traumas A Chronological Review of Constructs and Terminology

This paper presents a chronologically-organized review of various concepts and constructs in the literature describing professional burnout, compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress reactions, as well as other related terms and constructs that have been used to describe these experiences among clinical practitioners and other social service professionals. A timeline will provide a graphic illustration of the historical relationships between the concepts under examination. This paper begins with a review of practitioner-related stress that primarily results from interaction with clients, followed by an examination of professional burnout, which is thought to result largely from environmentally-related issues. Finally, the paper concludes with a discussion of posttraumatic growth and compassion satisfaction.

Is There a Place for Extended Assessments For Evaluating Concerns about Child Sexual Abuse? Perceptions of 1,294 Child Maltreatment Professionals

This article reports the findings from an online survey of child maltreatment professionals about the appropriateness of extended assessments when maltreatment concerns cannot be resolved in a single interview. Respondents practiced in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and 3 territories, and reported mean years of experience about 15 years. The overwhelming majority of respondents saw the need for extended assessments and endorsed a wide range of child and context characteristics appropriate for extended assessments, the most common being cases where children denied abuse despite persuasive evidence to the contrary, cases with multiple types of maltreatment, cases with preschool age children, and cases with children with disabilities. On average about a fourth of the children seen in their work would benefit from an extended assessment. More than one fourth of respondents actually conducted extended assessments. Respondents however identified barriers and drawbacks to extended assessments, including lack of funding, lack of training, and concerns about contaminating the childs account.

Consciousness-Raising through Teaching about the Global Oppression of Women:

Female students who came of age during the 1980s tend to resist the notion that they or American women in general are oppressed, and male students also see oppression as a thing of the past. The authors contend that ethnocen trism has contributed to such thinking. This article describes a teaching approach that incorporated content on womens status throughout the world. This material helped the students understand the dynamics of oppression, which, in turn, diffused resistance to consciousness-raising.