The adoptive parents are also affected by child sexual abuse as they have to take care of children suffering form emotional distress because of the sexual abuse and its effects on their families. A potential challenge for the families of sexually abused children is coping with the effects of sexual abuse on the behavior and language of the abused child. In order to effectively parent a child who has been sexually assaulted, the parents needs to have adequate knowledge regarding the setup of boundaries such as touching and a clear and precise understanding of certain children behaviors such as masturbation.
Establishing a firm foundation of understanding a sexually abused child requires adoptive parents to support the abused child in reconciling her present and past childhood life. As explained by Fahlberg (1991), the success of the present relationship is independent of the fading of earlier memory but rather depend on how distinct the two relationships are kept apart. Therefore helping an abused child establish a new life becomes an important role of adoptive parents. The adoptive parents should therefore strive to foster parent-child bonds.
In order to effectively carry out this role, these parents may adopt a policy established by a North Carolina adoptive parent, Brenda Crider who suggests that parents should not be run down to their children. When abused children identify that adoptive parents recognize their parents, dealing with them become easier. This is important because the children are seeking for approval of their parents and if for some reasons their parents are disapproved, them they too consider themselves disapproved (Crider, 1998). Intervention
There are several mechanisms of treatment of psychological problems that have shown positive results for victims of sexual assault. Such mechanisms include group based and individual psychotherapies and the treatment of the whole family. Focusing these treatments to structured and trauma based, targeting particular signs of sexual abuse helps in reducing the long term and short term effects of the abuse. Individualized treatments involve the abused child and a therapist scheduling meetings at certain intervals on a weekly basis.
Despite the diverse professional backgrounds, the therapists must have specialized training and skills in order to effectively work with victims of sexual assault. There are several procedures that may be used in processing experiences of sexual abuse, normalizing reactions and establishing adaptive strategies that are capable of coping with the effects of sexual abuse such as depression, post traumatic stress disorders and anxiety. Trauma based therapies that are focused on plays, cognitive behavior and desensitizing eye movement are some of the individualized intervention mechanisms in the treatment of victims of sexual abuse.
Group based intervention therapies are also critical in the treatment of victims of sexual abuse. These intervention techniques expose the victims of sexual abuse to other victims and therefore they do not feel isolated. Furthermore, these mechanisms are fundamental in helping victims of sexual abuse understand that they are not simply perceived and identified by other people as victims of sexual abuse. Intervention modalities involving the entire victim’s family constitute family conservation services and united parents programs.
These interventions are aimed at strengthening the parent-child bonds so as to help in reducing trauma and ensuring effective functioning of the family (Alexander, 1999). The perpetrators of sexual abuse can also be subjected to treatments. However, child sexual maltreatment can be treated but cannot be a curable behavioral question. The fundamental objected of treating perpetrators of sexual abuse is to minimize the probability of the individual committing the same offence.
This is effectively achieved by revising emotional psychological and cognitive factors which are essential in supporting the capacity and desire to offend. In the majority of the cases of sexual abuse, the offenders often engage in recognizable behavior before committing the offence. The process of treatment of perpetrators of sexual offences involves educating them on sexual offending and aiding a comprehensive understanding of the patterns of the offences. It is also important to educate the offenders of sexual abuse to identify conditions that make them be at a higher risk of re-committing the offence.
Depending on the sexual offenders understanding of their behaviors, they can effectively identify behaviors which are problematic early enough, transform this behaviors, and accordingly downgrade the likelihood of repeating the offence. Other treatment modalities include acknowledging responsibility for the offence, establishing empathy for the victims of sexual abuse and correcting deficient patterns of thinking. Above all, the most appropriate mechanism of preventing subsequent occurrence of sexual abuse is the elimination of the opportunity to commit the offence.
Perpetrators of crimes of sexual abuse should not gain unsupervised access to children at greater risks (Corcoran, 1998). Prevention Prevention mechanisms of sexual abuse are primary, secondary or tertiary. Primary prevention strategies are aimed at the general public to reduce the likelihood of occurrence of sexual assault. This can be effectively achieved through awareness campaigns. Statistics indicate that incidences of sexual abuse have taken a downturn, a scenario attributed to the increase in awareness campaigns.
Secondary prevention strategies are targeted at specific groups perceived to be more vulnerable to sexual abuse in order to prevent the occurrence of the offence. Such strategies include sexual abuse prevention programs and education on safety standards of children. These programs help children in increasing their understanding of sexual abuse and responses to it and consequently reducing the occurrence of sexual abuse. Tertiary prevention strategies are targeted at the victims of sexual abuse aiming to minimize the devastating effects of sexual abuse and preventing future occurrence (Crider, 1998).
Conclusion Sexual abuse has been a persistent problem in many countries all over the world and affects across socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. Family relationships are adversely affected by child sexual abuse. There is always reluctance to talk about these disputes. When these relationships turn severe, communication within the family is hampered with. In such circumstances, dealing with the complex family relationship requires the conflict dynamics to be addressed. The devastating effects of sexual abuse have been comprehensively documented and there is need for intervention to minimize these effects.
Future research should therefore focus on preventive and therapeutic strategies for the victims of sexual abuse.
Reference:
Alexander, M. A. (1999). Sexual offender treatment efficacy revisited. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 11 (2), 101-116. Corcoran, J. (1998). In defense of mothers of sexual abuse victims. Families in Society, 79(4), 358-369. Crider, B. (1998). Working with birth parents. Fostering Perspectives, 3(2), 16. Fahlberg, V. I. (1991). A child’s journey through placement. Indianapolis, IN: Perspectives Press.