CHILD ABUSE EXAM STUDY GUIDE
QUESTIONS WITH COMPLETE
ANSWERS
TRUE or FALSE: Over the last 3 decades, there has been a widespread of public and
professional attention to sexual abuse. - Answer-True
* The meanings professionals attribute to events, experiences, actions, and problems
have profound impact on how these situations are understood by other professionals
and by the public.
Child Sexual Abuse is defined as: - Answer-Any sexual activity undertaken by an older
or more powerful person deliberately involving a child under the age of 18, with or
without the child's knowledge, apparent consent/assent, for the purpose of sexual
gratification to include contact such touching of a child's genitals, anus, or breasts,
and/or having a child touch the sexual parts of a person's body.
What non-contact sexual behavior is involved in sexual abuse? - Answer-* Exhibitionism
* Involving children in the making/watching of pornography
* Harassing a child in a sexual manner
TRUE or FALSE: The presence of force, manipulation, or coercion makes it abuse
regardless of the age difference between the child and the instigator. - Answer-TRUE
State laws define any kind of sexual contact between a child and a person in a ______
or ________ with the child as sexual abuse. - Answer-Position of Authority / Caretaking
Role
What 4 themes did Myers and colleagues identify with sexual abuse? - Answer-• CSA is
uncommon
• Sexual abuse is not harmful - they will get over it on their own
• Children are responsible for their own victimization
• Mothers are culpable - she is responsible for what happens to her kids (she should
know if abuse is happening)
ALL ARE LIES.
Who was the first mental health professional to ponder the impact of CSA on adult
development? - Answer-Freud - 1896
What happened with sexual abuse in the 1960-1970's? - Answer-• Until the late 1970's
there was little attention directed to the sexual abuse of children; much of professional
attention was placed on incest and the genetic effects of children born from incest.
• Professionals and the public were largely unaware of or denied the reality of CSA until
the rape crisis movement of the 1960's-1970's, along with the publication of: Sexual
,Assault of Children and Adolescents, Conspiracy of Silence, and Sexually Victimized
Children.
• Feminist and activist Sandy Butler's COS book consisted of a series of powerful case
reports of victims and CSA; this work along with testimonies on television shows
created an explosion of awareness and activity.
It remains hard for many people to believe that otherwise "___________" people would
force, manipulate, or trick children to be victims of sexual abuse. - Answer-Normal
looking people
The fact that research has demonstrated that some people can be led to believe that
they had experiences that they did not actually have led to what happening? - Answer-
Led lots of people to believe that many people were over-diagnosing sexual abuse,
children were stating false reports, children can't provide reliable and valid testimony
about their own experiences, etc.
Prevalence is defined as: - Answer-How frequently some condition or disease occurs in
the population.
♣ Describes the rate of CSA in the general population.
♣ These studies can be influenced by the operational definitions of the target behavior,
the method of obtaining data, the nature of the sample, etc.
Incidence refers to: - Answer-The rate of occurrence of a condition or disease.
* Describes the rate of reports to agencies such as CPS.
TRUE or FALSE: Individuals who have certain experiences or problems are NEVER
reluctant to tell others. - Answer-False.
Individuals who have certain experiences or problems ARE often reluctant to tell others.
What year did studies begin looking at the prevalence of child sexual abuse? - Answer-
1929
Although these studies identified CSA as a problem, it wasn't until the late 1970's that
these investigations received any notable recognition.
* Initial estimates like 1 in every 4 girls and 1 in every 9 boys were discussed in the
1970's literature without any definitive citation.
The notion that CSA often occurs in combination with other forms of maltreatment is
termed as what? - Answer-Polyvictimization
• Children experience multiple harmful events that potentially impact them long term.
• Subjects exposed to severe CSA had 2.5 more problems compared to those without a
history of CSA.
• CSA demonstrated small to moderate effects on the risk for psychiatric disorders,
decreased psychological well-being, sexual risk-taking, physical health problems, and
welfare dependence.
, What is the main problem with putting too much of a focus on risk factors? - Answer-
One problem with too great a focus on risk factors is that virtually every professional
working with victims of CSA has involvement with children who do not fit within the
stereotypical risk factors.
TRUE or FALSE: There are specific characteristics that identify which children may be a
victim of CSA? - Answer-False.
There are no specific characteristics that absolutely identify which child may be a future
victim of CSA, although there are certain characteristics that generate a greater
likelihood of being sexually abused.
What sexes and age groups are more likely to experience sexual abuse? - Answer-*
Girls are sexually abused at higher rates than boys, and younger children are more
vulnerable, along with children with developmental disabilities.
* Additionally, children who live in homes where there is excessive parent-child conflict,
where parents abuse alcohol or drugs, and/or there is domestic violence tend to be at a
higher risk for sexual abuse.
What factors help determine whether a child is likely to be exposed to sexually abusive
behavior? - Answer-Studies have indicated that family issues such as lower SES or
educational attainment, poor parent-child communication, female children, and ethnic
minority status were associated with CSA; in addition, adolescents are often exposed to
a wider range of sexually abusive behavior.
The __________ of sexual abuse of a child is the most important or at least one of the
most important aspects of the field. - Answer-Disclosure
♣ Without a disclosure, it is difficult to protect the child, and the situations or individuals
who put the child at risk are unlikely to be identified.
♣ Numerous research has showed that children are often not forthcoming in disclosing
abuse.
♣ In an analysis, it is revealed that 60-80 percent of children and adolescents do not
disclose until adulthood.
What is a common argument of the word 'disclose' in terms of CSA? - Answer-It is
unclear if it implies to a simple act of telling someone or the official act of reporting to
the authorities.
What are the different forms of disclosure? - Answer-• Active - child purposefully makes
the decision to tell
• No Disclosure - there was no abuse, they are in a pre-disclosure phase, or they are
not telling for various other reasons.
• Tentative/Ambiguous Disclosure - reluctance or denial, and use various coping
strategies to actively avoid or be vague about the abuse
• Recanting/Retracting Disclosure - internal and external pressures to be silent about
the abuse.