NCJ Number
176816
Date Published
1996
Length
12 pages
Annotation
Because the topic of child sexual abuse appears to be replacing the topic of child physical abuse as an issue for social work, this study analyzed public willingness to accept social interventions in cases of child maltreatment and child sexual abuse in German families and the extent to which the law provided a framework for professional intervention.
Abstract
The professional study sample included 42 social workers, professionals working in public and private child protection organizations, day care workers, and teachers. The public study sample included 3,000 adults and 2,400 juveniles between 13 and 16 years of age. Despite a high level of public attention to child sexual abuse as a social problem, findings remarkably showed that the public defined child sexual abuse primarily as a problem of mental illness. Loneliness and isolation of the family appeared to be important reasons for sexually abusing children. Only a small percentage of respondents blamed the child when sexual abuse occurred. When respondents were asked to report their apprehensions about consulting youth welfare departments, 41.7 percent said they did not want to interfere with family privacy. In child sexual abuse cases where authorities were contacted, the majority of respondents contacted public welfare departments. When juveniles experienced severe violent situations in their families, they generally talked to their best friends rather than to professionals. Responses of professionals indicated a trend away from "help instead of punish" and more toward "help and punish." While professionals supported the criminal law option in dealing with child sexual abuse victims, they favored civil law in terms of child custody for protective purposes. Findings from the study of German respondents are selectively compared to findings from a study of the U.S. population. 44 references, 1 note, 1 table, and 5 figures