NCJ Number
60295
Date Published
1979
Length
181 pages
Annotation
THIS 1977 SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED TO EVALUATE THE NATURE OF SEXUAL ABUSE CASES HANDLED BY PUBLIC AGENCY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICE (CPS) WORKERS, TASKS PERFORMED AND RELATED TRAINING NEEDS, AND CPS WORKER QUALIFICATIONS.
Abstract
THE SURVEY SAMPLE INCLUDED 194 RESPONDENTS FROM 104 COUNTIES WITH DIRECT EXPERIENCE IN CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE CASES; 38 RESPONDENTS WITH NO SUCH EXPERIENCE ALSO COMPLETED QUESTIONNAIRES. GENERAL CASE WORKERS WITH SOME CPS RESPONSIBILITIES ACCOUNTED FOR THE SINGLE LARGEST GROUP OF WORKERS, WHILE INTAKE-INVESTIGATION WORKERS ACCOUNTED FOR THE SMALLEST GROUP. THE NATURE OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE CASES WAS ANALYZED IN FOUR AREAS: TYPE CASE BY RELATIONSHIP OF THE OFFENDER; TYPE CASE BY DURATION OF RELATIONSHIP; TYPE CASE BY EXTENT OF CONTACT; AND AGE OF SEXUALLY-ABUSED CHILDREN. CASE HANDLING IN CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE CASES WAS EVALUATED IN TERMS OF WORKER TASKS, WORKER SEX, WORKER PERCEPTIONS OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR TASK PERFORMANCE, TRAINING NEEDS OF WORKERS, AND THE INFLUENCE OF TRAINING ON PERCEPTIONS OF TASK RESPONSIBILITY. SPECIFIC TREATMENT TASKS PERFORMED IN THE COURSE OF WORKING WITH BOTH CHILDREN AND OFFENDING PARENTS/SUBSTITUTES AND WITH UNINVOLVED SPOUSES WERE ALSO ASCERTAINED. OVER 80 PERCENT OF SURVEY RESPONDENTS HAD ENCOUNTERED OR HANDLED CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE CASES, AND 70 PERCENT OF EXPERIENCED WORKERS HAD BEEN INVOLVED WITH MORE THAN 1 TYPE OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE CASE. CASE HANDLING WAS DIFFICULT, AND IT SEEMED THAT CASE ASSIGNMENT BASED ON CHARACTERISTICS OF WORKERS AND SEXUALLY-ABUSED CHILDREN MIGHT ENHANCE CASE HANDLING. FOR EXAMPLE, WORKING WITH YOUNG SEXUALLY ABUSED CHILDREN WAS FOUND TO BE MOST DIFFICULT FOR YOUNGEST WORKERS. DIRECT SERVICE WORKERS, PARTICULARLY INTAKE AND CPS CASE WORKERS, WERE MORE LIKELY THAN SUPERVISORS TO HAVE HANDLED CASES INVOLVING A FATHER-DAUGHTER AND A PARAMOUR-CHILD RELATIONSHIP. IN GENERAL, PUBLIC AGENCY WORKERS PERFORMED TASKS RELATED TO THE INITIAL HANDLING AND PROCESSING OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE CASES. WORKERS VIEWED TREATMENT TASKS AS BEING MORE APPROPRIATE FOR OTHER PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITY RESOURCES. THE NOTION OF TRAINING DID NOT APPRECIABLY AFFECT WORKER PERCEPTIONS OF TASK RESPONSIBILITY, ALTHOUGH POSITION, SEX, AND AGE OF WORKERS APPEARED TO HAVE SOME BEARING ON WORKER READINESS TO PERFORM BROAD TASKS WITH TRAINING. RECOMMENDATIONS TO FACILITATE THE HANDLING OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE CASES ARE OFFERED, AND SUPPORTING SURVEY DATA ARE TABULATED. (DEP)