Canadian Research in Brief: 20th Edition (May 2010)
The articles listed below can be accessed through the corresponding journal website or accessed at a local library or university.
Canadian Research in Brief: 20th Edition (May 2010)
Ungar, M., Tutty, L., McConnell, S., Barter, K., &
Fairholm, J. (2009).
The Canadian Red Cross RespectED violence prevention program
provides workshops to sensitize youth to issues of violence and
asks participants to evaluate presentations. According to RespectED
staff, participants often use such evaluations to disclose personal
experiences of abuse. The authors purposefully sampled 1,099 such
evaluations and used these evaluations to generate themes about
disclosure patterns among participants. In addition, they conducted
focus groups with a smaller sample of youth to contextualize the
findings from within the evaluations.
The findings suggest that the ideal conditions for youth to
disclose information about abuse are when: an individual asks them
directly about abuse, there is someone available to listen to and
respond appropriately to the disclosure, the youth has language to
describe and define abuse, youth have a sense of control over the
disclosure process particularly related to anonymity and
confidentiality, youth possess knowledge about resources, and
responses to abuse disclosures are clear about keeping youth safe
from harm.
Ellis, W. & Wolfe, D. (2009). . Journal of Youth
and Adolescence, 38(1), 1253-1263.
One thousand, five hundred and fifty eight youth from three schools
in Southwestern Ontario were sampled to examine connections between
high risk behaviour, the influence of peers and childhood
experience of maltreatment. High risk behaviour, according to the
authors, includes substance abuse and criminal behaviour. The
authors used the Childhood Trauma questionnaire to measure child
maltreatment history, 10 items to measure peer group control, 12
items to assess motivations for peer popularity and control
behaviour, information from the National Longitudinal Study of
Children and Youth to examine alcohol use, and 15 items to measure
delinquency.
Results suggested that peers influence processes related to risky
behaviour among youth and that a history of maltreatment and
neglect made it more likely for youth to report higher rates of
susceptibility to peer group control and higher rates of risky
behaviour. Youth who reported a history of severe child
maltreatment, both emotional and physical, and scored high on
scales related to peer group acceptance scored the highest on
delinquent behaviour measures. The authors interpreted these
findings by stating 鈥済roup processes are important beyond
experiences of childhood maltreatment and exacerbate these early
negative experiences鈥� (p.1259).
Alaggia, R., Lambert, E. & Regehr, C. (2009).
.
Family Court Review, 47(4), 634-649.
Using a qualitative grounded theory approach, the authors conducted
nineteen interviews with parents of sexually abused children about
their experiences navigating the criminal justice system. All
participants notified the police of the sexual abuse and nearly all
of the cases proceeded to court. Parents reported having had
negative experiences with the criminal process, stating that they
felt a loss of control over the process, that there were
inconsistencies between different legal systems, that their
children were often treated as adults and did not therapeutically
benefit from the legal process, that they were dissatisfied with
punitive outcomes, and that they felt motivated to support other
parents entering the legal system.聽
Interviews also generated numerous recommendations that parents had
for improving the criminal procedure in child sexual abuse cases.
Some of the recommendations include: facilitating coordination
between various sectors related to a child鈥檚 sexual abuse case,
developing specialized child specific courts, improving
accessibility to support resources for parents, excluding child
therapy records from being used as evidence in court, and
prioritizing child sexual abuse cases to expedite the process.
. Child Abuse & Neglect, 33(10),
699-708.
to view Canadian
Research in Brief archive.