Citation

Van Scoyk S, Gray J, Jones DP. Fam. Process 1988; 27(1): 105-113.

Affiliation

C. Henry Kempe National Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver 80220.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1988, Family Process Institute, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

3360096

Abstract

Thirty-seven families whose children were victims of sexual abuse by a nonfamily member were evaluated and treated during a nine-month period. The average age of the children was 5.36 years. The youngest children were boys, and all the adolescents were girls. A theoretical framework adapted from Ferreira's and Byng-Hall's work was developed to assess and treat child victims of sexual molestation and their families. The format consists of three concepts. First, the trauma from sexual abuse, being outside the realm of usual human experience, creates a breach in the family's adaptive and protective shield, including its shared values and beliefs. Second, the trauma has a "derailing" effect on the child's and family's predicted passage through their world. And third, issues that arise as a consequence of disclosure are intimately tied to preexisting family myths and beliefs. Evaluation, treatment, and short-term outcomes are discussed.

Language: en