Child Sexual Abuse in Asian American Families: An Examination of Cultural Factors That Influence Prevalence, Identification, and Treatment

The phenomenon of child sexual abuse has been widely acknowledged across many societies, including Ghana. Efforts to address this problem in Ghana have yielded limited success because this type of child abuse is severely underreported. This study explores the relevance of three cultural factors, namely, patriarchal nuances, (child) rape myth acceptance, and a “collective shame problem,” to the understanding of the problem of nondisclosure of child sexual abuse in Ghana. Evidence from an exploratory study provides support for the importance of these factors. The findings are discussed and the need for further research highlighted.

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Facilitators and Barriers to Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) Disclosures: A Research Update (2000–2016)

Trauma Violence & Abuse ◽

10.1177/1524838017697312 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

pp. 260-283 ◽

Cited By ~ 64

Author(s):

Ramona Alaggia ◽

Delphine Collin-Vézina ◽

Rusan Lateef

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Child Sexual Abuse ◽

Life Course ◽

Discrete Event ◽

Cultural Factors ◽

Life Course Perspective ◽

Future Research ◽

Therapeutic Services ◽

And Gender ◽

The Life Course

Identifying and understanding factors that promote or inhibit child sexual abuse (CSA) disclosures has the potential to facilitate earlier disclosures, assist survivors to receive services without delay, and prevent further sexual victimization. Timely access to therapeutic services can mitigate risk to the mental health of survivors of all ages. This review of the research focuses on CSA disclosures with children, youth, and adults across the life course. Using Kiteley and Stogdon’s literature review framework, 33 studies since 2000 were identified and analyzed to extrapolate the most convincing findings to be considered for practice and future research. The centering question asked: What is the state of CSA disclosure research and what can be learned to apply to practice and future research? Using Braun and Clarke’s guidelines for thematic analysis, five themes emerged: (1) Disclosure is an iterative, interactive process rather than a discrete event best done within a relational context; (2) contemporary disclosure models reflect a social–ecological, person-in-environment orientation for understanding the complex interplay of individual, familial, contextual, and cultural factors involved in CSA disclosure; (3) age and gender significantly influence disclosure; (4) there is a lack of a life-course perspective; and (5) barriers to disclosure continue to outweigh facilitators. Although solid strides have been made in understanding CSA disclosures, the current state of knowledge does not fully capture a cohesive picture of disclosure processes and pathways over the life course. More research is needed on environmental, contextual, and cultural factors. Barriers continue to be identified more frequently than facilitators, although dialogical forums are emerging as important facilitators of CSA disclosure. Implications for practice in facilitating CSA disclosures are discussed with recommendations for future research.

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Child Sexual-Abuse Myth Acceptance Among South Asian American Men and Women

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e683122011-001 ◽

2011 ◽

Author(s):

Neetha R. Devdas ◽

Linda J. Rubin

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Child Sexual Abuse ◽

South Asian ◽

Asian American ◽

Men And Women ◽

South Asian American ◽

Asian American Men ◽

Myth Acceptance

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Child Sexual Abuse and Adult Revictimization With Women of Color

Violence and Victims ◽

10.1891/0886-6708.9.3.223 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 223-232 ◽

Cited By ~ 85

Author(s):

Anthony J. Urquiza ◽

Beth L. Goodlin-Jones

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

African American ◽

Child Sexual Abuse ◽

Asian American ◽

Women Of Color ◽

Sexual Victimization ◽

American Women ◽

History Of ◽

Long Term Consequences

Clinical researchers examining the long-term consequences of child molestation have reported that female survivors of child sexual abuse experience a higher risk of sexual assault as adults. However, very little literature has focused on the child and/or adult sexual victimization of women from different ethnic or cultural backgrounds. In examining the long-term consequences of child sexual abuse, this investigation examined the rates of sexual revictimization of women of color. A multiethnic (white, African-American, Latina, and Asian-American) sample of 243 women, recruited and randomly selected from a pool of volunteers from two community colleges, were administered extensive clinical interviews. Nearly two thirds of the women who reported rape as an adult had a history of child sexual abuse, while approximately one third of the nonvictimized women had a child sexual abuse history. Additionally, an examination of the rates of adult rape within each ethnic group revealed differences between the women with and without a history of child sexual abuse. Significant differences (i.e., higher rates of rape associated with a prior history of child sexual abuse) were found for white women, African-American women, and Latinas, but not for Asian-American women. The results of this investigation highlight the relationship between child sexual abuse and adult rape and suggest the need for researchers to take a broader cultural context in which to view sexual victimization.

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Malpractice & Negligence: State Supreme Courts Limit Therapists’ Duties to Third Parties

The Journal of Law Medicine & Ethics ◽

10.1017/s1073110500012985 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 27 (2) ◽

pp. 204-205

Author(s):

Megan Cleary

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Child Sexual Abuse ◽

Supreme Court ◽

New Hampshire ◽

Third Parties ◽

State Supreme Courts ◽

Recovered Memories ◽

Supreme Courts ◽

Repressed Memory ◽

University Of Colorado

In recent years, the law in the area of recovered memories in child sexual abuse cases has developed rapidly. See J.K. Murray, “Repression, Memory & Suggestibility: A Call for Limitations on the Admissibility of Repressed Memory Testimony in Abuse Trials,” University of Colorado Law Review, 66 (1995): 477-522, at 479. Three cases have defined the scope of liability to third parties. The cases, decided within six months of each other, all involved lawsuits by third parties against therapists, based on treatment in which the patients recovered memories of sexual abuse. The New Hampshire Supreme Court, in Hungerford v. Jones, 722 A.2d 478 (N.H. 1998), allowed such a claim to survive, while the supreme courts in Iowa, in J.A.H. v. Wadle & Associates, 589 N.W.2d 256 (Iowa 1999), and California, in Eear v. Sills, 82 Cal. Rptr. 281 (1991), rejected lawsuits brought by nonpatients for professional liability.

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