Mental health articles

Stressors within the family in sexual abuse Feminist theory also suggests that power imbalances within the family contribute to an unduly large number of stressors. Indeed, families of father-daughter incest have greater than the national norm of children (Anderson & Shafer, 1979; Herman, 198 1; Owen & Steele, 1991), and the pregnancies are not always […]

Power, control, and domination in sexual abuse Feminist theory also posits that incest is an abuse not only of power, but of a powerful, dominant, and controlling patriarch (Herman, 1981). A large body of empirical literature supports this dynamic, as other types of violence frequently coexist with the incest. Indeed, many victims are also physically […]

Physical Environment of the Family in the child sexual abuse The most outstanding characteristic of parental sexual abuse is that approximately 99% is perpetrated by fathers or father figures (Finkelhor et al., 1990; Russell, 1983; Wyatt, 1985). The second most outstanding characteristic is that females are at greatly increased risk of sexual abuse. Indeed, in […]

Feminist theory of male dominance on child sexual abuse The final theory to be discussed is feminist theory. This theory proposes that incest, as well as all child sexual abuse, is symptomatic of a society in which patriarchal norms are the standard (Coleman & Collins, 1990). As Waldby et al. (1 989) state, “patriarchy is […]

Attachment theory on child sexual abuse Attachment may also be an important factor that places children at greater or lesser risk of child sexual abuse. Alexander (1992) was the first to discuss the relevance of attachment to intrafamilial sexual abuse, specifically father-daughter incest. She believes that insecure attachment is a general risk factor that places […]

sexual abuse by teachers. Two recent studies have considered the issue of abuse by teachers. One study, which surveyed 494 teachers in New York, found that 24% of teachers were aware that an allegation of sexual abuse had been made against a teacher in their school district within the previous year (Anderson & Levine, 1999). […]

Sexual Abuse in Day Care Centers and Homes A small number of studies have analyzed reported abuse occurring in day care centers. The largest is by Finkelhor, Williams, and Burns (1988), who attempted to identify all cases of sexual abuse reported nationwide for a three-year period. In 270 different facilities nationwide, sexual abuse was substantiated […]

children sexual abuse by unrelated caregivers Margolin and Craft (1989) analyzed a sample of 2,372 substantiated cases of children sexually abused by caregivers, 832 of which were committed by unrelated caregivers. In a later study, Margolin (1991) analyzed those 325 cases of abuse that were not committed by partners of the parent or child care […]

sexual abuse from authority figures The last category of extrafamilial abuse in Russell’s (1983) survey was abuse by authority figures. Overall, 6% of respondents in her study were abused by an authority figure. There is much confusion about what this category means, as exhibited by the conflicting findings in Table 6-2. For the reanalysis of […]

sexual abuse from romantic/sexual partners Another type of sexual abuse that is more widely discussed in the literature on rape than in child sexual abuse is that of abuse by a romantic or sexual partner. Yet, it remains a significant problem for adolescents, as 7% of all females in Russell’s (1983) study were victims of […]