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Maternal Perceptions And Responses To Child Sexual Abuse, Elizabeth Upchurch Willingham

Counseling and Psychological Services Dissertations

ABSTRACT MATERNAL PERCEPTIONS AND RESPONSES TO CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE by Elizabeth U. Willingham Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a complex phenomenon that requires various levels of intervention to address the safety, recovery, and prevention needs of children and families who have experienced victimization. Although there is a large body of literature that has identified and examined many aspects of CSA (Putnam, 2003), less is known about nonoffending caregivers of sexually abused children. The one consistent finding across studies that have investigated CSA, nonoffending caregivers, and traumatic stress in children is the importance the of child-caregiver relationship in facilitating recovery (Elliot …