APSAC Advisor

Abstract: Sexual abuse is a widespread problem in community organizations, including youth sports. Parents do not always have the information they need to safeguard their children involved in sports and often turn to the internet for information. This study explored whether youth sport websites provide parents with information about how children are protected from child sexual abuse. Websites for 120 youth sport organizations were coded for presence/absence of information parents might want to know to protect their child from sexual abuse. As a basis for comparison, information about other potential harms was coded as well. Results revealed that caregivers cannot consistently obtain comprehensive information from these websites about how children will be protected from harm while in youth sports. For example, only 15% offered any information about policies to keep children safe from sexual abuse. Suggestions are made for changing social norms about how youth sport organizations communicate with parents as well as educating caregivers to safeguard their children.

Keywords: Child sex abuse, youth sports, websites, parental help-seeking, sex education

Abstract: Alarmingly, filicides by parents have followed some court-ordered contacts of children with divorced parents whom the children feared and rejected. Parental suicides have, in some cases, followed the filicides. Courts have justified their orders for contact on the grounds of allegations of parental alienation, although previous child abuse and domestic violence are known probable predictors of tragic events. To prevent these murders and suicides, courts need to consider the lack of evidence for parental alienation and the abundance of evidence that earlier violence predicts poor outcomes after divorce. Three filicide narratives are presented as examples of court-associated murders of children by parents. Limitations of our present knowledge base are emphasized, and systematic investigation of family court-associated filicides is urged.

Keywords: filicides, family courts, parental alienation, child abuse, domestic violence

Abstract: Maltreatment of children in the Deaf community is a pervasive issue that is rarely discussed. This article identifies specific aspects of Deaf culture that influence best practices in communication and etiquette for Children’s Advocacy Center staff and others who work with Deaf children. Deaf children may have different experiences in their victimization than those of hearing children, and those experiences, along with aspects of their culture, can impact disclosure of abuse to authorities. This article also discusses how social media plays apart in the grooming and abuse of Deaf children.

Keywords: Deaf culture, Deaf children, disclosure of abuse

Abstract: This article highlights key considerations for forensic interviewers when interviewing a child in the Deaf community. These considerations concern how to prepare for the forensic interview; how to select, prepare, and use interpreters; and how to conduct the forensic interview. The article then discusses next steps in improving research and practice on forensic interviewing of children in the Deaf community.

Keywords: Deaf children, forensic interview, child abuse, interpreters

Abstract: The non-offending caregiver’s response to child sexual abuse is critical to the future safety and well-being of the child victim and the preservation of the family. Protection Clarification (PC) was developed within the context of a Children’s Advocacy Center as an approach for working with non-offending caregivers of sexually abused children following disclosure of abuse. It is designed to enhance caregiver’s belief of, support for, and protectiveness toward the child. A PC therapist helps the non-offending caregiver develop and orally deliver a letter to their child with seven components:

1) acknowledging the reality of the abuse and defining it as a problem; 2) assigning responsibility to the offender for the abuse and its consequences to the child and family; 3)accepting responsibility for protecting the child; 4) identifying and acknowledging past barriers to protecting the child and the consequences of failed protection; 5) describing what the caregiver wishes they had been able to do to protect the child; 6) defining specific protective actions to minimize future risk and committing to carrying them out; 7) supporting and participating in the child’s treatment through to completion.

Keywords: child sexual abuse, treatment, intervention, non-offending caregiver