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The Culture Of Nondisclosure Of Sexual Abuse, Veronica R. Barrios

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The existing understanding of the culture of nondisclosure of sexual abuse is almost entirely absent. It lacks a theoretical framework, an empirical exploration into how it occurs in family relationships, and little is known about disclosure barriers in practice. This dissertation will address these three areas through three separate but related papers. First, the researcher will present a new cohesive theoretical framework that integrates and expands on existing theories for nondisclosure and that incorporates how individual decision-making is nested within social and familial contexts. Second, the researcher will report on an exploratory research study about sibling relationships regarding sexual abuse …