Mental health articles

Conservation of resources theory in sexual abuse. A method of considering the response of nonoffending guardians after disclosure is as a response to an extreme stressor. This premise is borrowed from Hobfoll’s (1989, 1991) conservation of resources theory. The underlying tenet of the conservation of resources theory is that “individuals strive to obtain, retain, and […]

Feminist conceptualization in sexual abuse Several papers have reframed the response of nonoffending mothers to the disclosure of their child’s abuse using a feminist-oriented approach (Birns & Meyer, 1993; Cammaert, 1988; Hooper, 1989; McIntyre, 1981 ; Wattenberg, 1985). These and other writers presenting alternate views recognize that a power imbalance exists in families in which […]

Effect of disclosure on the family in sexual abuse This section continues the discussion. of the repercussions of the abuse, now concentrating on the deleterious consequences following abuse disclosure. In this section, however, studies are quantitative, and all focus on abuse by the father. The most widely known effect on the family, and perhaps what […]

Mothers of victims of sexual abuse Mothers of victims of sexual abuse, especially those of children abused by their fathers, have taken an historical beating in the clinical literature. Mothers were long assumed to contribute to the initiation of the abuse and to collude in ongoing incest by not reporting the abuse and by maintaining […]

Childhood History of Sexual Abuse Several different theories have been advanced to explain the phenomenon of male victims who grow up to sexually abuse, although the themes “can be loosely categorized as either cognitive-behavioral or psychodynamic’’ (Garland & Dougher, 1990, p. 489). Cognitive-behavioral formulations suggest that conditioning or modeling processes are involved. Conditioning might occur […]