Service and Support Needs of Non-Offending Parents in Cases of Intrafamilial Sexual Abuse

• NCJ Number: 180102
• Journal: Journal of Child Sexual Abuse Volume: 8 Issue: 2 Dated: 1999 Pages: 41-56
• Author(s): Carol Rippey Massat Ph.D.; Marta Lundy Ph.D.
• Editor(s): Robert Geffner Ph.D.
• Date Published: 1999
• Length: 16 pages
• Grant Number(s): 90-CA-1519
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health and Human Services
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article describes the helpfulness and availability of formal and informal services and supports available to 104 non-offending parents in cases of intrafamilial sexual abuse.

Abstract

Specifically, the study examined the degree to which formal and informal sources of support were viewed as helpful by non-offending parents in cases of intrafamilial sexual abuse. It also considered the needs for service that non-offending parents reported in cases of incest. Further, the research identified the levels of social support non-offending parents experienced in cases of incest. The data reported in this article are from the first wave of data collection of a 4-year study. Parents participated three times. The data were obtained in the first appointment with the non-offending parents. The first appointment for a given parent was during the period from April 1993 to the summer of 1996. In most cases, parents completed a written questionnaire, followed by an interview. Two measures were used to collect the data: The Maternal Sense of Social Support (Pascoe, Loda, Jeffries, and Earp, 1981), and the Helpfulness Index, adapted from a questionnaire used by Runyan et al. Although findings show high overall satisfaction with the services provided, parents reported a gap between their needs and the availability of services. 4 tables and 28 references