Child Advocacy Center intervention with sibling sexual abuse cases: Cross-cultural comparison of professionals’ perspectives and experiences

Dafna Tener; Abbie Newman; Peter Yates; Noam Tarshish

doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104259

Child Advocacy Center intervention with sibling sexual abuse cases: Cross-cultural comparison of professionals’ perspectives and experiences

Dafna Tener^*, Abbie Newman, Peter Yates, Noam Tarshish

^*Corresponding author for this work

The Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: Despite being a complex phenomenon with potentially significant short- and long-term consequences for all involved including siblings, parents and the family as a whole, sibling sexual abuse (SSA) has not received sufficient empirical and clinical attention. Practitioners are often left to cope without appropriate guidance. Objective: This study aimed to compare staff perspectives and experiences of working with sibling sexual abuse cases across two Child Advocacy Centers (CACs) within different countries and different cultural and legal contexts. Participants and setting: Participants were staff members from two Child Advocacy Centers: one in Jerusalem, Israel, and the other in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States of America. Methods: This qualitative cross-cultural comparative study analyzes staff experiences of sibling sexual abuse cases based upon 14 focus groups, in Jerusalem (N = 7) and Montgomery County (N = 7). Results: Findings reveal that both CACs focused on parents, the parents’ negative emotional responses to SSA, and the impossible nature of their predicament. The Montgomery County CAC tended to emphasize the needs of the victim while being attuned to the legal proceedings, whereas the Jerusalem CAC emphasized supportive therapeutic responses for the whole family. Conclusions: The differences across the two Child Advocacy Centers are related to the different legal and cultural contexts of the two CACs and underscore the need to review what may be the most appropriate policy and practice response to SSA that does not itself cause further harm.

Original language	American English
Article number	104259
Journal	Child Abuse and Neglect
Volume	105
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104259
State	Published - Jul 2020

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We are thankful to our colleagues and team members at the Mission Kids and the Jerusalem Child Advocacy Centers, who provided expertise that greatly assisted the process, and generously shared wisdom and experiences with us during the course of this research. We are especially grateful at the JCAC to Shosh Turgeman, the former Director of the JCAC, and to Lee Levi, for their dedicated assistance in explaining and interpreting concepts and procedures, making them accessible to the reader; and at MKCAC to Elizabeth Evans for her patience in precise note taking and proof reading, and Leslie Slingsby, Executive Director, for her understanding of this emerging field, all of whom improved and enhanced this paper.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd

Keywords

CAC intervention
Child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse interventions
Child/youth with problematic sexual behaviors (PSB)
Cross cultural comparison
Sibling sexual abuse

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104259

Cite this

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title = "Child Advocacy Center intervention with sibling sexual abuse cases: Cross-cultural comparison of professionals{\textquoteright} perspectives and experiences",

abstract = "Background: Despite being a complex phenomenon with potentially significant short- and long-term consequences for all involved including siblings, parents and the family as a whole, sibling sexual abuse (SSA) has not received sufficient empirical and clinical attention. Practitioners are often left to cope without appropriate guidance. Objective: This study aimed to compare staff perspectives and experiences of working with sibling sexual abuse cases across two Child Advocacy Centers (CACs) within different countries and different cultural and legal contexts. Participants and setting: Participants were staff members from two Child Advocacy Centers: one in Jerusalem, Israel, and the other in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States of America. Methods: This qualitative cross-cultural comparative study analyzes staff experiences of sibling sexual abuse cases based upon 14 focus groups, in Jerusalem (N = 7) and Montgomery County (N = 7). Results: Findings reveal that both CACs focused on parents, the parents{\textquoteright} negative emotional responses to SSA, and the impossible nature of their predicament. The Montgomery County CAC tended to emphasize the needs of the victim while being attuned to the legal proceedings, whereas the Jerusalem CAC emphasized supportive therapeutic responses for the whole family. Conclusions: The differences across the two Child Advocacy Centers are related to the different legal and cultural contexts of the two CACs and underscore the need to review what may be the most appropriate policy and practice response to SSA that does not itself cause further harm.",

keywords = "CAC intervention, Child sexual abuse, Child sexual abuse interventions, Child/youth with problematic sexual behaviors (PSB), Cross cultural comparison, Sibling sexual abuse",

author = "Dafna Tener and Abbie Newman and Peter Yates and Noam Tarshish",

note = "Funding Information: We are thankful to our colleagues and team members at the Mission Kids and the Jerusalem Child Advocacy Centers, who provided expertise that greatly assisted the process, and generously shared wisdom and experiences with us during the course of this research. We are especially grateful at the JCAC to Shosh Turgeman, the former Director of the JCAC, and to Lee Levi, for their dedicated assistance in explaining and interpreting concepts and procedures, making them accessible to the reader; and at MKCAC to Elizabeth Evans for her patience in precise note taking and proof reading, and Leslie Slingsby, Executive Director, for her understanding of this emerging field, all of whom improved and enhanced this paper. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 Elsevier Ltd",

year = "2020",

month = jul,

doi = "10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104259",

language = "American English",

volume = "105",

journal = "Child Abuse and Neglect",

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AU - Newman, Abbie

AU - Yates, Peter

AU - Tarshish, Noam

N1 - Funding Information: We are thankful to our colleagues and team members at the Mission Kids and the Jerusalem Child Advocacy Centers, who provided expertise that greatly assisted the process, and generously shared wisdom and experiences with us during the course of this research. We are especially grateful at the JCAC to Shosh Turgeman, the former Director of the JCAC, and to Lee Levi, for their dedicated assistance in explaining and interpreting concepts and procedures, making them accessible to the reader; and at MKCAC to Elizabeth Evans for her patience in precise note taking and proof reading, and Leslie Slingsby, Executive Director, for her understanding of this emerging field, all of whom improved and enhanced this paper. Publisher Copyright: © 2019 Elsevier Ltd

PY - 2020/7

Y1 - 2020/7

N2 - Background: Despite being a complex phenomenon with potentially significant short- and long-term consequences for all involved including siblings, parents and the family as a whole, sibling sexual abuse (SSA) has not received sufficient empirical and clinical attention. Practitioners are often left to cope without appropriate guidance. Objective: This study aimed to compare staff perspectives and experiences of working with sibling sexual abuse cases across two Child Advocacy Centers (CACs) within different countries and different cultural and legal contexts. Participants and setting: Participants were staff members from two Child Advocacy Centers: one in Jerusalem, Israel, and the other in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States of America. Methods: This qualitative cross-cultural comparative study analyzes staff experiences of sibling sexual abuse cases based upon 14 focus groups, in Jerusalem (N = 7) and Montgomery County (N = 7). Results: Findings reveal that both CACs focused on parents, the parents’ negative emotional responses to SSA, and the impossible nature of their predicament. The Montgomery County CAC tended to emphasize the needs of the victim while being attuned to the legal proceedings, whereas the Jerusalem CAC emphasized supportive therapeutic responses for the whole family. Conclusions: The differences across the two Child Advocacy Centers are related to the different legal and cultural contexts of the two CACs and underscore the need to review what may be the most appropriate policy and practice response to SSA that does not itself cause further harm.

AB - Background: Despite being a complex phenomenon with potentially significant short- and long-term consequences for all involved including siblings, parents and the family as a whole, sibling sexual abuse (SSA) has not received sufficient empirical and clinical attention. Practitioners are often left to cope without appropriate guidance. Objective: This study aimed to compare staff perspectives and experiences of working with sibling sexual abuse cases across two Child Advocacy Centers (CACs) within different countries and different cultural and legal contexts. Participants and setting: Participants were staff members from two Child Advocacy Centers: one in Jerusalem, Israel, and the other in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States of America. Methods: This qualitative cross-cultural comparative study analyzes staff experiences of sibling sexual abuse cases based upon 14 focus groups, in Jerusalem (N = 7) and Montgomery County (N = 7). Results: Findings reveal that both CACs focused on parents, the parents’ negative emotional responses to SSA, and the impossible nature of their predicament. The Montgomery County CAC tended to emphasize the needs of the victim while being attuned to the legal proceedings, whereas the Jerusalem CAC emphasized supportive therapeutic responses for the whole family. Conclusions: The differences across the two Child Advocacy Centers are related to the different legal and cultural contexts of the two CACs and underscore the need to review what may be the most appropriate policy and practice response to SSA that does not itself cause further harm.

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VL - 105

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M1 - 104259

ER -

Child Advocacy Center intervention with sibling sexual abuse cases: Cross-cultural comparison of professionals’ perspectives and experiences

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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