Lisa Aronson Fontes

Cultural Issues in Disclosures of Child Sexual Abuse.

Cultural norms affect the likelihood that child sexual abuse will be discovered by an adult or disclosed by a child. Cultural norms also affect whether abused childrens families will report child sexual abuse to authorities. This article explores the ways ethnic and religious culture affect child sexual abuse disclosure and reporting, both in the United States and internationally. Guidelines for culturally sensitive child abuse interviewing are provided to facilitate disclosures of abuse from culturally diverse children in formal settings.

Engaging Students in Qualitative Research through Experiential Class Activities

Experiential activities help psychology students experience firsthand the richness and depth of meaning of qualitative data. Through these activities students grapple with pragmatic, philosophical, and ethical questions like those facing researchers in the field. These activities concern focus groups, observation, data collection, cultural sensitivity, ethnomethodology, data analysis, and ethics. In a final exercise students develop answers to the common challenges posed by skeptics of qualitative methodology. Instructors can select single exercises for broad psychology courses or use all of them, as we do, in a course dedicated to qualitative research in psychology.

Catholicism and Childhood Sexual Abuse: Women’s Coping and Psychotherapy

The long-term effects of child sexual abuse include numerous psychological, social, and behavioral difficulties in women survivors, ranging from poor self-esteem and depression to sexual disorders and posttraumatic stress disorder. The role that religious beliefs may play in the difficulties these women suffer has been largely unexplored. This qualitative study explored women’s experience of healing within the context of Catholicism. Interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of eight women raised as Catholics who reported child sexual abuse and who had participated in at least two years of psychotherapy. Results suggest that Catholic identity can both compound and relieve the suffering many women experience in healing from child sexual abuse. Participants related that their Catholicism was rarely addressed during psychotherapy. These findings have implications for clinicians working with Catholic survivors of child sexual abuse.

Religion in child sexual abuse forensic interviews

Religion is an under-studied factor affecting childrens sexual victimization and their willingness to discuss such experiences. In this qualitative study, 39 child forensic interviewers and child advocacy center (CAC) directors in the United States discussed religious influences on childrens sexual abuse experiences, their relationships to CACs, and their disclosures in the forensic setting. Participants reported both harmonious and dissonant interactions between religiously observant children and families on one hand and child advocacy centers on the other. Themes emerged related to abuse in religious contexts and religious justifications for abuse; clergy and religious supports for disclosures as well as suppression of disclosures; and the ways CACS accommodate religious diversity and forge collaborations with clergy. Participants discussed a wide range of religions. Recommendations for practice and research are included.

Twice Silenced: The Underreporting of Child Sexual Abuse in Orthodox Jewish Communities

ABSTRACT Child sexual abuse remains an underreported crime throughout the world, despite extensive research and resources dedicated both to improving investigative techniques and helping children disclose their experiences. The discovery of rampant cover-ups within the Catholic Church has exposed some of the ways religious and cultural issues can impede reporting to authorities. This article examines specific factors that contribute to the underreporting of child sexual abuse within Orthodox Jewish communities. It also explores ways in which these communities have handled child sexual abuse reporting in the past and describes recent progress. Implications are offered for CSA prevention, detection, and recovery in Orthodox Jewish communities as well as other minority religious groups.

HIV Risk and the Freedom to Act Without Thinking: Alcohol Use and Sexual Behavior Among Adolescents on Probation

Through in-depth phenomenological interviews, 18 adolescents currently on probation describe how they make decisions about using alcohol and engaging in sexual behaviors. Two main threads emerge: they value spontaneity in sex and believe that they act spontaneously in regard to both sex and alcohol. At the same time, they describe being highly influenced by parents and peers. The researchers discuss the potential implications of these and other findings for HIV prevention and intervention.