News

Canadian Research in Brief: 20th Edition (May 2010)

Published: 17 May 2010

The articles listed below can be accessed through the corresponding journal website or accessed at a local library or university.

Ungar, M., Tutty, L., McConnell, S., Barter, K., & Fairholm, J. (2009). What Canadian Youth Tell Us About Disclosing Abuse

The Canadian Red Cross RespectED violence prevention program provides workshops to sensitize youth to issues of violence and asks participants to evaluate presentations. According to RespectED staff, participants often use such evaluations to disclose personal experiences of abuse. The authors purposefully sampled 1,099 such evaluations and used these evaluations to generate themes about disclosure patterns among participants. In addition, they conducted focus groups with a smaller sample of youth to contextualize the findings from within the evaluations.

The findings suggest that the ideal conditions for youth to disclose information about abuse are when: an individual asks them directly about abuse, there is someone available to listen to and respond appropriately to the disclosure, the youth has language to describe and define abuse, youth have a sense of control over the disclosure process particularly related to anonymity and confidentiality, youth possess knowledge about resources, and responses to abuse disclosures are clear about keeping youth safe from harm.

Ellis, W. & Wolfe, D. (2009). Understanding the Association Between Maltreatment History and Adolescent Risk Behavior by Examining Popularity Motivations and Peer Group Control. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 38(1), 1253-1263.

One thousand, five hundred and fifty eight youth from three schools in Southwestern Ontario were sampled to examine connections between high risk behaviour, the influence of peers and childhood experience of maltreatment. High risk behaviour, according to the authors, includes substance abuse and criminal behaviour. The authors used the Childhood Trauma questionnaire to measure child maltreatment history, 10 items to measure peer group control, 12 items to assess motivations for peer popularity and control behaviour, information from the National Longitudinal Study of Children and Youth to examine alcohol use, and 15 items to measure delinquency.

Results suggested that peers influence processes related to risky behaviour among youth and that a history of maltreatment and neglect made it more likely for youth to report higher rates of susceptibility to peer group control and higher rates of risky behaviour. Youth who reported a history of severe child maltreatment, both emotional and physical, and scored high on scales related to peer group acceptance scored the highest on delinquent behaviour measures. The authors interpreted these findings by stating “group processes are important beyond experiences of childhood maltreatment and exacerbate these early negative experiences” (p.1259).

Alaggia, R., Lambert, E. & Regehr, C. (2009). Where is the Justice? Parental Experiences of the Canadian Justice System in Cases of Child Sexual Abuse. Family Court Review, 47(4), 634-649.

Using a qualitative grounded theory approach, the authors conducted nineteen interviews with parents of sexually abused children about their experiences navigating the criminal justice system. All participants notified the police of the sexual abuse and nearly all of the cases proceeded to court. Parents reported having had negative experiences with the criminal process, stating that they felt a loss of control over the process, that there were inconsistencies between different legal systems, that their children were often treated as adults and did not therapeutically benefit from the legal process, that they were dissatisfied with punitive outcomes, and that they felt motivated to support other parents entering the legal system.

Interviews also generated numerous recommendations that parents had for improving the criminal procedure in child sexual abuse cases. Some of the recommendations include: facilitating coordination between various sectors related to a child’s sexual abuse case, developing specialized child specific courts, improving accessibility to support resources for parents, excluding child therapy records from being used as evidence in court, and prioritizing child sexual abuse cases to expedite the process. . Child Abuse & Neglect, 33(10), 699-708.