Premium
Disclosure of Child Sexual Abuse: Issues from A Child‐Oriented Perspective
Author(s) -
Cashmore Judith,
Bussey Kay
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
australian journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.417
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1839-4655
pISSN - 0157-6321
DOI - 10.1002/j.1839-4655.1987.tb01216.x
Subject(s) - perspective (graphical) , child sexual abuse , psychological intervention , sexual abuse , perception , child abuse , publishing , psychology , project commissioning , suicide prevention , poison control , psychiatry , medicine , medical emergency , political science , law , artificial intelligence , neuroscience , computer science
The purpose of this paper is to highlight issues that future researchers must deal with to better understand child sexual abuse from the perspective of children. Research specifically directed at children's perceptions of the abuse is limited. Instead, most of the current literature in the area is based on clinical studies of abused children and on retrospective reports of adults who were abused as children. It is argued that the effects of the abuse may well depend on their perceptions of the abuse at or about the time it occurs as well as their perceptions of the interventions following disclosure of the abuse. Some of the difficulties that face children following disclosure are outlined, with particular reference to the problems that result from the failure of the judicial system to accommodate the special needs and vulnerabilities of children.