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10 - Cognitive behavioural treatment of the emotional and behavioural consequences of sexual abuse

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 August 2009

By
Bruce Tonge  and
Neville King
Edited by
Philip J. Graham
Bruce Tonge
Affiliation:
Centre for Developmental Psychiatry, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
Neville King
Affiliation:
Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
Philip J. Graham
Affiliation:
Institute of Child Health, University College London
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Summary

Child sexual abuse has been defined as ‘the involvement of dependent, developmentally immature children and adolescents in sexual activities that they do not fully comprehend, are unable to give their informed consent to and that violate the social taboos of family roles’ (Schechter and Roberge, 1976). Recent research across a number of different countries has shown a consistently high prevalence of child sexual abuse. For example, using a random sample of adult women in San Francisco, Russell (1983) showed that 12% of women recalled at least one experience of extrafamilial abuse before the age of 14 with 28% recalling either intrafamilial or extrafamilial sexual abuse before the age of 14. Twenty-eight per cent recalled either intrafamilial or extrafamilial sexual abuse before that age. A survey from the UK found that 12% of females and 8% of males reported that they had been sexually abused before the age of 16 (Baker and Duncan, 1985), while an Australian study of almost 1000 tertiary students found that 13% recalled sexual experiences with an adult before the age of 12 (Goldman and Goldman, 1986). In a New Zealand investigation of 3000 women, Anderson et al. (1993) found that nearly one woman in three reported having one or more unwanted sexual experiences before the age of 16. Although methodological problems and inconsistencies are acknowledged with these studies, it is clear that child sexual abuse has a high prevalence.

Child sexual abuse can have a devastating impact on the development of the child.

Type
Chapter
Information
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Children and Families , pp. 157 - 169
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2004

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