Rebecca M. Bolen

Risk Factors for Peer Sexual Harassment in Schools

This study introduces potential risk factors for victimization and perpetration of sexual harassment among teens not previously studied. The first set of analyses compared histories of perpetration and victimization by gender, as well as the relationship between risk factors and perpetration or victimization. For girls (r = .544) and boys (r = .700), the relationships between perpetration and victimization histories were very strong. Most proposed risk factors were also significantly related to perpetration and victimization histories for both genders, including alcohol use frequency, delinquency, histories of family violence and victimization, cultural and personal power, and retaliation, with all increasing as perpetration or victimization history increased. For girls, two direct paths were moderately related to victimization—delinquency and family victimization. For boys, only one variable—perpetration history—was related to victimization history. Four variables were directly related to greater sexual harassment perpetration—greater personal power, delinquency, family violence, and family victimization.

Ambivalence of Nonoffending Guardians after Child Sexual Abuse Disclosure

A concern in the intervention with sexually abused children is the support of their nonoffending guardians after disclosure of the abuse. Approximately a third of nonoffending guardians respond with vacillation in support, and these nonoffending guardians are at greater risk for having their children removed. This article reconceptualizes vacillation in support as an ambivalent response. Drawing on the interdisciplinary literature, this article suggests that ambivalence in support reflects the confluence between the nonoffending guardian’s valence toward the child and perpetrator. This article further proposes that ambivalence is normative when the costs of disclosure are high and when the nonoffending guardian is ambivalent/preoccupied in attachment. Ambivalence may also be both a precursor to and an effect of the traumatic experience of the disclosure on the nonoffending guardian. In a study of 30 nonoffending mothers whose partners sexually abused their children, these relationships were supported.

Guardian Support of Sexually Abused Children: A Definition in Search of a Construct

The support provided by the nonoffending guardian of a sexually abused child after disclosure is a critical consideration. Although a number of studies have assessed guardian support after disclosure, no known article has closely examined the construct of guardian support. The purpose of this article is to consider how the construct of guardian support is defined and operationalized, as well as to consider its intervening variables. This analysis found that approximately 75% of non-offending guardians are partially or fully supportive after disclosure. The four primary groups of intervening variables for guardian support appear to be grouped within immediate stressors or buffers, the childs previous abuse history, the believability of the disclosure, and the guardians relationship with the offender. More problematic is the definition of guardian support across most studies, which is seldom grounded in theoretical literature but instead appears to be driven by the needs of the child protection system.

Parental Support and Outcome in Sexually Abused Children

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to compare how parental support, attachment of the parent, and the childs report regarding the quality of the parent/child relationship differentially relate to child and parent reports of the childs symptomatology. After controlling for those variables that covary with it, parental support was only significantly related to 2 of 17 scales of parent- and child-reported symptomatology. Parent attachment and the childs report regarding the quality of the parent/child relationship were better predictors than parental support of the childs outcome but varied in the manner in which they contributed to outcome.

Validity of Attachment Theory

In recent years, attachment theory has been used more frequently for understanding abuse and violence. Yet, conceptualizations of these problems presuppose that attachment theory is valid. By reviewing the empirical literature on attachment theory to determine whether its key hypotheses are supported, this article addresses this important assumption. Hypotheses of attachment theory that are addressed are that attachment (a) has a biological or physiological base, (b) is universal, (c) is intergenerationally transmitted, (d) is transmitted from caregiver to infant, and (e) is predictive and dynamic but largely stable across time. Although all the hypotheses have some empirical support, and meta-analyses of certain of these hypotheses are encouraging, there are contradictory findings. At this time, support for attachment theory remains equivocal, and the limits of the theory are not clearly defined. Although these limitations do not preclude its use in trauma literature, professionals must remain aware of these limitations.

Can Nonoffending Mothers of Sexually Abused Children Be Both Ambivalent and Supportive

Some nonoffending parents experience ambivalence in feelings, belief, and behavior toward their children after their childrens disclosure of sexual abuse. Traditionally, it has been assumed that ambivalent nonoffending parents are not adequately supportive of their children after disclosure. In contrast, this study of 29 nonoffending mothers whose resident partners sexually abused their children tests a theoretical model of postdisclosure responses of nonoffending parents in which it is hypothesized that parental support and ambivalence can coexist. In a partial least squares analysis of this model, no relationship between postdisclosure support and ambivalence is found after controlling for variables related to ambivalence. These findings lend preliminary support to the hypothetical theoretical model, supporting a need for continuing research on the constructs of ambivalence and parental support.

MANAGED CARE AND EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE: THE UNTOLD STORY

For many years, social workers have tried to establish their profession as one based on scientific principles. Following the tradition of medicine, influential leaders in social work are challenging clinicians and researchers to develop and implement evidence-based practice (EBP) models. Although various authors have discussed cautions in social works move toward EBP, 1 issue—the influence of managed care and a market-driven economy on EBP in health and mental health care—has received less discussion. The purpose of this article is to discuss the parallel development of managed care and EBP, the possible influences of managed care on EBP, and the difficult issues faced by social workers in acting in the best interest of clients in a managed-care environment.

Nonoffending Mothers of Sexually Abused Children A Case of Institutionalized Sexism

A recent national study found that females offended in 44% of all cases of child sexual abuse reported to child protective services, and that mothers offended in 53% of all cases of parental incest. These findings contradict other data suggesting that the percentage of females and mothers who commit sexual abuse is much lower. The purpose of this article is to explore the historical conceptualization of nonoffending mothers of sexually abused children and the development of child abuse and neglect policies and statutes for the purpose of providing insight into the overidentification of mothers in cases of identified sexual abuse.

Guardian Support of Sexually Abused Children: A Study of its Predictors

The purpose of this article is to present a study of intervening variables for guardian support. It is this articles thesis that guardian support is better conceptualized as a complex reaction to the disclosure of abuse that is shaped by a number of factors, some of the most important of which are the stressors impinging on guardians and their previous patterns of relating within the family. The sample included 92 guardians of sexually abused children presenting at a medical center for a sexual abuse medical and forensic evaluation. This study found that the most important intervening variables for guardian support in multivariate analysis were the attachment/relationship style of child and guardian and whether a second guardian accompanied the child to the hospital. This study highlights the importance of relational considerations between the child and nonoffending guardian as well as the importance of using more than a single nonoffending caregiver.

Child sexual abuse and attachment theory:are we rushing headlong into another controversy?

ABSTRACT The child sexual abuse knowledge base has developed within a highly charged political and social context. As such, early theories of sexual abuse were susceptible to biases that reflected the larger sociocultural context. The purpose of this paper is to consider whether attachment theory as it is applied to child sexual abuse might also be susceptible to such biases. Although this paper concludes that attachment theory can potentially add an important dimension to the conceptualization of child sexual abuse and its dynamics, it is also suggested that attachment theory may remain at risk for becoming a vehicle for transmitting political and ideological agendas.