Professional's responses to child sexual abuse in the Australian Capital Territory

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between workers' conceptualization of child sexual abuse and their handling of such cases, using a questionnaire to elicit usual case management, and an interview employing vignettes and controversial statements to examine the goals of, and the attitudes behind, case management strategies. The subjects of this research are 60 professionals from agencies in Canberra which deal with child sexual abuse - police, welfare, community health centres, mental health teams, schools and a group of non-government community agencies. The study focusses on intrafami1ial child sexual abuse , being the dominant type, and having quite different dynamics from sexual abuse of children by adults outside of the family unit. Child sexual abuse was originally conceptualized as a form of child maltreatment, as cases first came to notice in investigations of other forms of child maltreatment - notably physical abuse. More recently, some writers have included intrafami1ial child sexual abuse under the rubric of domestic violence, along with 'wife bashing' and marital rape - all three being seen as an attempt at perpetuation of the traditional patriarchal pattern, and as symptoms of the much described 'crisis' of the family. The effects of such disparate conceptualizations on the intervention strategies adopted by different professional groups, and by different agencies in Canberra, highlights the need for a consensus of approach, not only between different agencies, but by different professional groups working for the same agency. The result of a preliminary study of the incidence of reported child sexual abuse throughout Australia is included in this report, along with discussion of the status of national data collection, and possible reasons for the lack of progress so far. An 'Involvement Index', developed in this study, holds promise as an instrument for comparing the commitment and experience levels of professionals from different agencies, whose roles in dealing with child sexual abuse necessitate working in quite different ways. This study shows that, although child sexual abuse is acknowledged as a serious social problem by workers from all agencies sampled in Canberra, exposure of workers to these cases varies considerably amongst agencies, with doctors and community nurses seeing few cases, and police, welfare and mental health workers, and staff from non-governmental community agencies, being heavily involved. The implications of these findings are discussed, in relation to the introduction of the proposed new Child Welfare Ordinance (ACT).