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Complete a “reading reflection/response” 

1) What are your responses and/or thoughts about the chapter reading for the week? What made sense?  What did you agree with? What did you disagree with?  Why?

2) What have you learned that might have lasting importance for you personally and/or professionally?  How did the reading relate to something in your life?

3) How and why is the topic important to the field of family violence, our country, or the world? Are there other things you have seen in life, or in the news/current events that directly relate to this?  How?


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Kemp FrontMatter.fm Page i Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:51 PM ABUSE IN SOCIETY An Introduction Alan R. Kemp Pierce College WAVELAND PRESS, INC. Long Grove, Illinois Kemp.book Page ii Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM For information about this book, contact: Waveland Press, Inc. 4180 IL Route 83, Suite 101 Long Grove, IL 60047-9580 (847) 634-0081 info@waveland.com www.waveland.com Photo Credits Cover: Digital_Art/Shutterstock.com; p. 2 ozguroral/Shutterstock.com; p. 4 Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock.com; p. 40 Suzanne Tucker/Shutterstock.com; p. 42 Olga Yarovenko/Shutterstock.com; p. 52 ηeonZERO/Wikimedia Commons; p. 70 Ruygoli/ Wikimedia Commons; p. 77 Roman Bodnarchuk/Shutterstock.com; p. 98 Brian A Jackson/ Shutterstock.com; p. 114 Eakachai Leesin/Shutterstock.com; p. 124 ChameleonsEye/ Shutterstock.com; p. 128 Niyazz/Shutterstock.com; p. 154 M R Fakhrurrozi /123rf.com; p. 171 Olena Yabochuk/Shutterstock.com; p. 188 Diego Cervo/123rf.com; p. 200 Lphip003/Wikimedia commons; p. 216 bikeriderlondon/Shutterstock.com; p. 236 bikeriderlondon/Shutterstock.com; p. 254 ProStockStudio/Shutterstock.com; p. 272 easysuccessfulonlinedating.com; p. 284 Amy Muschik/123rf.com; p. 297 Jan Mika/ 123rf.com; p. 328 Dewald Kirsten/Shutterstock.com; p. 340 Yulia Grigoryeva/ Shutterstock.com; p. 352 Anneka/Shutterstock.com; p. 354 De Visu/Shutterstock.com; p. 366 Photoluminate LLC/Shutterstock.com; p. 390 Thivierr/Wikimedia Commons; p. 392 anyka/Shutterstock.com; p. 416 eürodäna @ Flickr/Wikimedia Commons; p. 430 Patrick Tuohy/Shutterstock.com; p. 457 Keith Allison/Wikimedia Commons; p. 463 UCinternational/Wikimedia Commons; p. 476 adapted from argus/Shutterstock.com; p. 478 Keith Homan/Shutterstock.com Copyright © 2017 by Waveland Press, Inc. 10-digit ISBN 1-4786-3354-9 13-digit ISBN 978-1-4786-3354-9 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher. Printed in the United States of America 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Kemp.book Page iii Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM Contents About the Author xii Preface xiii Introduction xix PART I The Nature of Abuse and Neglect 1 The Abuse Landscape 3 Professional Attention 5 What Is Maltreatment? 7 Basic Human Needs 8 Ambiguous Boundaries 9 Continuums of Abuse 10 Family Abuse Spillover 11 Theory, Research, and Practice 11 The Theory-Research Cycle 11 Research Methods 13 Theory and Practice 18 The Complex Nature of Abuse 33 Summary 34 REVIEW GUIDE 35 ■ CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS 36 SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES 37 ■ RECOMMENDED READING 37 INTERNET RESOURCES 38 PART II Child Maltreatment 2 Child Physical Abuse Historical Context 43 Defining Physical Abuse 41 45 Intent and Result 45 Considering Culture 46 iii Kemp.book Page iv Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM iv Contents The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) A Working Definition of Child Physical Abuse 47 Continuum of Physical Abuse 47 Major Types of Physical Injuries 46 48 Head Injuries 48 Visceral Injuries 48 Bone Injuries 49 Burns 49 Eye Injuries 50 Skin Injuries 50 Psychological Impacts 51 Impacts of Child Abuse in General 51 Psychological Impacts Specific to Child Physical Abuse 52 Impact on Social Development 53 Intergenerational Transmission Risk and Resiliency 58 54 Risk Factors 58 Blending of Factors 61 Protective Factors 63 Fabricated or Induced Illness Summary 64 63 REVIEW GUIDE 65 ■ CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS 66 SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES 67 ■ RECOMMENDED READING 68 INTERNET RESOURCES 68 3 Child Neglect 69 The Nature of Neglect 70 Care as a Basic Human Need 71 Basic Types of Neglect 74 Neglect of Neglect 78 Seriousness of the Problem 78 Failure to Thrive 79 Possible Explanations for the Inattention 80 Impact on Children 81 Social Costs 83 Explanations and Risk Factors Resiliency 86 Combating Child Neglect Prevention 87 Assessment 88 Intervention 89 Innovation 90 87 84 Kemp.book Page v Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM Contents v Implications 91 Summary 93 REVIEW GUIDE 94 ■ CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS 95 SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES 95 ■ RECOMMENDED READING 96 INTERNET RESOURCES 96 4 Child Psychological Maltreatment 97 What Is Psychological Maltreatment? 99 Controversy Surrounding the Issue 100 Some Definitions 101 Explaining the Impact of Child Psychological Maltreatment 104 Theory of Basic Human Needs 104 Attachment Theory 105 Theory of Human Development 105 Research on Child Psychological Maltreatment 109 Pioneering Research 109 Minnesota Longitudinal Study 110 The Contemporary Literature 111 Explanations and Risk Factors 112 The Macro Level: Broad Social and Cultural Influences 113 The Meso Level: Family and Relationship Influences 115 The Micro Level: Individual Factors 115 Resiliency: The Ability to Bounce Back Summary 118 117 REVIEW GUIDE 119 ■ CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS 120 SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES 121 ■ RECOMMENDED READING 121 INTERNET RESOURCES 122 5 Child Sexual Abuse The Problem 123 125 Historical Neglect 125 Rediscovering Child Sexual Abuse 127 How Big Is the Problem? 128 Incidence 129 Prevalence 130 Relevance of Incidence and Prevalence Estimates 132 The Nature of Child Sexual Abuse 132 Defining Child Sexual Abuse 132 Severity of Abuse 133 Relationship between Victim and Perpetrator 135 Frequency of Abuse 135 The Impact of Child Sexual Abuse 136 Conceptualizing Victimization 138 The Biomedical Model 138 The Four-Factor Traumagenic Model Trauma Theory 144 142 Kemp.book Page vi Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM vi Contents On the Horizon Summary 148 147 REVIEW GUIDE 149 ■ CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS 149 SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES 150 ■ RECOMMENDED READING 150 INTERNET RESOURCES 151 6 Sexual Offenders 153 Types of Offenders 156 Psychiatric Diagnosis 157 Profile Models 159 Fixated-Regressed Profile Model 159 Situational-Preferential Profile Model 161 A Caution on Using Profile Models 162 The Four-Factor Offender Model 162 The Dynamic Opposition Model 164 The Addiction Model 165 Youthful Offenders 166 Intervention 169 Federal Initiatives 169 State Initiatives 170 Local Initiatives 171 Treatment for Sex Offenders 171 Traditional Approaches 172 Emerging Trends 175 Does Sex Offender Treatment Work? 178 Traditional Approaches to Relapse Prevention 178 Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) and Good Lives Approaches 180 Concluding Comments Summary 181 180 REVIEW GUIDE 182 ■ CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS 183 SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES 184 ■ RECOMMENDED READING 184 INTERNET RESOURCES 185 7 Bullying and Sibling Abuse Bullying 190 The Nature of Bullying 190 Suspected Causes 193 Intervention 196 Assessment 198 Sibling Abuse 200 Sibling Rivalry vs. Sibling Abuse 200 Forms of Sibling Abuse 202 Prevalence 203 187 Kemp.book Page vii Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM Contents vii Suspected Causes 204 Impact 206 Intervention 206 Summary 209 REVIEW GUIDE 210 ■ CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS 211 SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES 212 ■ RECOMMENDED READING & VIEWING 212 INTERNET RESOURCES 213 8 Legal and Ethical Issues in Child Maltreatment 215 Reporting Child Maltreatment 216 CPS Investigation 217 Investigative Interviewing 218 Interviewing Procedures 219 Multiple Interviews 221 Recording Interviews 221 Risk Assessment 222 Emergency Intervention 224 Dependency Proceedings 224 Criminal Cases 227 Coordinated Response 228 Criminal Prosecution 229 Testimony in Criminal Cases 230 Sentencing 235 Civil Suits 236 Repressed Memory/False Memory Debate Issues and Trends 239 236 The Impact of Out-of-Home Care 239 Helping Children and Families 241 Resilience 245 Summary 246 REVIEW GUIDE 247 ■ CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS 248 SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES 249 ■ RECOMMENDED READING 250 INTERNET RESOURCES 250 PART III Intimate Partner Violence 9 Courtship Violence and Date Rape Courtship Violence 255 Overview 256 Context 259 Suspected Causes 259 253 Kemp.book Page viii Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM viii Contents Stalking 262 Types of Stalking 264 Anti-Stalking Legislation Cyberstalking 266 Intervention 268 Date Rape 266 268 Definition, Characteristics, and Statistics 269 Risk Factors 271 Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault 274 Impact of Sexual Assault 275 Acknowledging Victim Needs 276 Summary 277 REVIEW GUIDE 279 ■ CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS 279 SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES 280 ■ RECOMMENDED READING 280 INTERNET RESOURCES 281 10 Domestic Violence 283 Historical Context 285 What Is Domestic Violence? 288 Situational Couple Violence 288 Intimate Terrorism 288 Violent Resistance 289 Mutual Violent Control 290 Prevalence and Incidence 290 National Family Violence Surveys 291 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey National Violence Against Women Survey 291 National Crime Victimization Survey 292 Reporting Domestic Violence Fatalities 292 Male and Female Violence Impact on Victims 295 291 293 Children Who Witness Domestic Violence 297 A More Client-Friendly Way to Understand Victims 298 Patterns of Domestic Violence 300 Cycle of Violence 300 Spiral of Violence 302 Why Victims Stay 304 Causes and Risk Factors 305 The Big Picture: The Macro Level 305 Family and Relationships: The Meso Level 307 Individual and Personality Factors: The Micro Level Classifying Perpetrators 310 The Elephant in the Room 311 Expressive and Instrumental Violence 311 Cobras and Pit Bulls 311 A New Picture of Domestic Violence 313 308 Kemp.book Page ix Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM Contents ix Intervention 313 Intervention with Perpetrators Assistance for Victims 320 Summary 314 323 REVIEW GUIDE 323 ■ CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS 325 SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES 325 ■ RECOMMENDED READING 325 INTERNET RESOURCES 326 11 Abuse in the Relationships of Sexual Minorities Abuse among Sexual Minorities 327 329 Incidence and Fatalities 329 Prevalence of Physical Violence 331 Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence 333 Stalking, Sexual Violence, and Psychological Abuse 334 Contextualizing the Abuse 336 Challenges 336 Common Experiences and Risk Factors Unique Issues for LGBTQ People 338 Nature of the Abuse 338 339 Abuse in Gay Male Relationships 339 Abuse in Lesbian Relationships 340 Abuse in the Lives of Transgender People 341 Programs and Services 341 Gaps in Services 342 Steps to Improve Care 342 Summary 345 REVIEW GUIDE 346 ■ CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS 347 SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES 348 ■ RECOMMENDED READING 348 INTERNET RESOURCES 349 PART IV Maltreatment of Elderly and Disabled People 12 Abuse of Elderly and Disabled People 353 Historical Context 355 Defining Elder Maltreatment 357 Incidence and Prevalence 358 Estimates of Domestic Abuse 359 Estimates of Institutional Abuse 360 Indicators of Elder Abuse 361 Indicators of Physical Abuse 363 Indicators of Neglect 363 Indicators of Financial or Material Exploitation Impact 364 364 Kemp.book Page x Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM x Contents Understanding the Problem 367 The Macro Level: Broad Cultural and Social Factors 368 The Meso Level: Family and Relationship Factors 370 The Micro Level: Individual and Personality Factors 373 Intervention 376 Federal, State, and Local Initiatives 376 Intervention with Domestic Maltreatment 377 Intervention with Institutional Maltreatment 382 Summary 383 REVIEW GUIDE 385 ■ CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS 386 SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES 387 ■ RECOMMENDED READING 387 INTERNET RESOURCES 388 PART V Emerging Issues 13 Abuse by Clergy 391 Sexual Misconduct by the Clergy 395 Context 395 Definition and Prevalence 395 Dynamics 396 Impact 398 The Ecological Perspective 401 Intervention 402 Clergy-Perpetrated Sexual Abuse 403 The Priest Abuse Scandal 404 Ecclesiastical Context 406 Current State of Affairs 419 Challenges and Reform 421 Summary 423 REVIEW GUIDE 425 ■ CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS 426 SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES 426 ■ RECOMMENDED READING & VIEWING 427 INTERNET RESOURCES 428 14 Abuse in Sports Abuse in Youth Sports 429 432 Context 432 Sports Subculture 433 Hazing 434 Failure to Protect 439 Physical Abuse 441 Psychological Maltreatment Sexual Exploitation 446 445 Kemp.book Page xi Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM Contents xi Abuse in Adult Sports 455 Bullying 455 Locker Room Culture and the Absence of League Oversight 459 Disabling Injuries 460 Family Violence 466 Performance Drug Abuse 466 Gambling 468 Summary 469 REVIEW GUIDE 470 ■ CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS 472 SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES 472 ■ RECOMMENDED READING & VIEWING 472 INTERNET RESOURCES 473 PART VI Conclusion 15 The Road Ahead: An Epilogue and a Way Forward Where We’ve Come From 478 How We’ve Responded 479 Child Abuse and Neglect 479 Intimate Partner Violence 480 Abuse of Elderly and Disabled People 481 Abuse by Clergy 482 Abuse in Sports 484 Trauma Theory: A Revolution 486 Intervention: What We’ve Done About It 487 Clinical Intervention 487 Social Intervention 489 The Road Ahead: Where We Go from Here 495 REVIEW GUIDE 495 ■ CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS 496 SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES 496 ■ RECOMMENDED READING 497 INTERNET RESOURCES 498 Glossary 499 References 521 Index 603 477 Kemp.book Page xii Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM About the Author Alan R. Kemp is Professor of Sociology at Pierce College, Fort Steilacoom, where he was named as the recipient of the Outstanding Faculty Award. In a previous assignment at Pierce, he was the coordinator of, and a professor in, the college’s social service educational programs. He is the author of two other published textbooks, Abuse in the Family: An Introduction (Thomson/Cengage) and Death, Dying, and Bereavement in a Changing World (Pearson/Routledge). He holds master’s degrees in divinity and social work. He earned his doctorate at the then amalgamated colleges of St. Stephen’s and St. Andrew’s, in Edmonton, Alberta, and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. He is both an ordained member of the clergy and a licensed mental health professional. The National Association of Social Workers recognizes him as a Diplomate in Clinical Social Work (DCSW). For five years he worked with military families under contract with the U.S. Air Force, including work in its “family advocacy” program. He is himself a Vietnam veteran who was among the last American advisors serving on patrol with Vietnamese forces aboard Swift Boats (PCFs) operating from Hon Tre, an isolated duty station in the far southern part of the country. He currently lives with his wife, Claudia, and a menagerie of “critters” at their cabin on property in rural western Washington. xii Kemp.book Page xiii Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM Preface Why Do We Need a Text on Abuse in Society? I don’t think anyone can deny that abuse, in one form or another, is now a major social concern. Over the last 50 years or so, both the public and members of the professional community have become increasingly concerned about the issues. I happen to be a clinician as well as a sociologist. When I was preparing for my clinical career, I didn’t have the advantage of formal training on handling abuse issues. Most of what I learned had taken place when I was already in practice, usually through workshops, self-directed study, and professional supervision. Learning to handle abuse issues in the field is something like reading the repair manual after your car has already broken down. As a result, I’ve become convinced that we ought to start teaching prospective providers about abuse before they embark on their careers. When I began my college teaching career, I coordinated a clinically oriented professional-technical program. With this assignment came the task of developing new curriculum for a program that was in transition at the time. One of the first courses I developed was on the topic of abuse. It made sense to offer such a course, since so much of what we encounter in social services has to deal with abuse. However, I soon learned that formal courses on the topic were a rarity. I also discovered that finding a textbook wasn’t so easy. While I found a number of professional books dealing with specialized types and aspects of abuse, none of the available books seemed geared to the classroom. Who Is This Text For? This book is written for students in a variety of academic disciplines (such as sociology, psychology, and anthropology) and human service professions (such as social work, family therapy, mental health counseling, psychiatry, and psychiatric nursing), who need an introduction to the topic of abuse. It is intended to serve as a readable yet instructive introduction rather than an exhaustive examination of this evolving field. A number of other professional and technical volumes deal extensively with specialized topics in intervention and treatment (some of which are included in the Recommended Reading section located at the end of each chapter). xiii Kemp.book Page xiv Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM xiv Preface I don’t assume the reader already has a background in the social sciences, and I certainly don’t assume the reader has already been out in the field, although some may already have been. I hope the text will appeal to a broad audience, including those who want to pursue careers in social work, pastoral counseling, mental health counseling, marriage and family therapy, psychology, psychiatry, and nursing, although I it should serve as a useful resource for anyone who wants to know more about the subject. I attempted to write it in a style I thought would be appropriate for use in the field as well as in community-college, university, and graduate-school courses. Philosophy of the Book For the most part, I have attempted to approach the topic from an ecological perspective. In essence, this means that we shouldn’t be interested in just single explanations but, rather in the interacting explanations from a variety of perspectives and levels of analysis: societal and cultural, family, and, individual. My sense is that when we approach the topic this way, a number of important questions emerge, reminding us about the complexity of the kind of issues we’re dealing with are complex. What social and cultural influences are at play? How do family relationships influence behavior? What personality and individual factors are at work? The domain of abuse has not been a unified field of study. Until recently it has been divided into a number of semi-autonomous research fields: child physical abuse, child neglect, child emotional or psychological maltreatment, child sexual abuse, sexual offenders, domestic violence, and elder abuse. Members of the research community usually focus their attention on one or more very specialized areas. Sometimes even within a particular specialty, such as child physical abuse, one might concentrate on just a small part of the issue. Clinicians, however, have had to deal with whatever they encounter in the field, which often forces them to engage in a more generalist form of practice. As a consequence, researchers and professionals have sometimes carried out their work somewhat independently. By bringing each of the topic areas together in this book, with an eye to practice, one of my hopes is that it will provide readers a more unified view. The first incarnation of this book, which addressed abuse in the family, had eight chapters; Abuse in Society has fifteen. In addition to updating the original material, this book has a significant amount of new content, including chapters on bullying and sibling abuse, courtship violence and date rape, and abuse in the relationships of sexual minorities. I’ve also included two chapters on emerging issues: abuse by clergy and abuse in sports. Finally, I have included an epilogue that attempts to integrate the topics of other chapters and take a look at what may lie ahead. The discussion is grounded in a review of the research as well as current practice. To make the material more approachable, I have included case examples and media reports to add relevance and pique reader interest. Figures, charts, tables, and other aids will also enhance readers’ understanding of complex material. Kemp.book Page xv Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM Preface xv Although the chapters differ in content, each is structurally similar. A chapter Summary, a Review Guide, Suggested Activities, a Recommended Reading list, and Internet Resources appear at the end of each chapter. Since critical thinking has become an increasingly important in higher education, you will also find a section titled Critical Thinking Questions near the end of each chapter. Much like the Socratic method of inquiry, these questions are designed to encourage students to critically examine issues and ask ethical questions. Key terms and concepts appear in bold type throughout the text. While descriptions and definitions accompany the terms and concepts in the discussion, I have included a glossary at the back of the book. A Few Personal Observations Those of us who teach and practice do not do our work in a vacuum. We live in society too, and some of us may have been exposed to abuse in one form or another. The kind of material presented here can be a painful reminder of personal issues related to prior maltreatment. One of the reviewers of the earlier edition really brought this point home. She commented that over half of all students taking her courses are in various stages of recovery from maltreatment. I have found this to be true in students taking my courses as well. If reading this material brings up uncomfortable issues for you, it may be better to grapple with them now, rather than unexpectedly encountering them when in the field. Regardless of your personal experience, however, working with abuse issues can be emotionally challenging for anyone, so you should probably be prepared to do some personal introspection and be open to experiencing discomfort. If you find yourself distressed, let your professor know. And don’t be shy about seeking professional assistance if you need it. I hope you will take a close look at your feelings and attitudes about each of the issues addressed in this book. I do want to challenge you to examine whatever feelings surface, and to use them as a way to learn more about yourself in relation to others. Why do you think or feel as you do? How well do your old beliefs fit with the new information you are being exposed to? What are the implications of this new information? Does it change your preexisting attitudes? If so, why? If not, why not? How to Use This Text While reading the book, you will naturally find some material that particularly interests you. After completing a chapter, you may want to go back and take a second, closer look. The chapter summaries may help you take in the “big picture.” As mentioned earlier, each chapter contains a series of legal and ethical questions designed to spark discussion and critical thinking. The Review Guides are designed to help you master the material. Initially, I suggest you use them to assess how much of the material you’ve already learned. While terms are defined within the context of the discussion, you might also want to use the glossary at the back of the book to reinforce your understanding. Kemp.book Page xvi Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM xvi Preface Since a text of this nature cannot possibly deal with every issue, I have appended a Suggested Readings section at the end of each chapter. Some are considered classics, while others represent cutting-edge work. Reading and discussing the material presented in this book is one thing, but fully integrating it may require going deeper—doing something active or getting involved. To provide some direction in this regard, I’ve included Suggested Activities at the back of each chapter. While you probably don’t have the time to do them all, you may find that doing at least some of them makes the material more meaningful. One of the things I always like to share with my students is this: Any system of education is also a system of ignorance. Any time an educator prepares a lecture, prepares a paper, or writes a chapter, we tell our intended readers what we think is important. There are many other relevant and important things that we don’t include. The danger in this situation is that other important insights and ideas may be overlooked. While I’ve done my best to be as comprehensive as possible, because of time and space constraints there is much that isn’t included. I encourage you to be a critical consumer of the concepts, positions, and information presented. By all means, go to the original sources and explore other issues that spark your interest. If you have comments or questions, I’d be happy to hear from you. Acknowledgments When I began to think about writing the acknowledgments, I came to realize just how many people I needed to thank. Each has helped make this a better text and helped make me a better person, and for this I am truly grateful. First and foremost among these is my wife, Claudia, who has had to live with me while I was working on this and other projects. Second, a special thank-you goes to my friend and former colleague Dennis Morton, who died a year ago. Not only did Dennis give me a living example of how an educator can impact students, he also taught me how important it is for a social scientist to have a big heart. Dennis read drafts of the previous edition in its various stages of development and was there to bounce some of the big-picture ideas back and forth. I miss him terribly. Many other friends, colleagues, and students have helped me in important ways. They were tolerant when I was caught up with the writing. They were forgiving when I got stretched too thin and even got a little cranky. My students are always a source of inspiration, especially those who share their own stories of hope and recovery. A special thank-you also goes to my colleague Denise Arnold, who used manuscript versions of this text in her abuse classes, allowing me to use her students as guinea pigs to field-test the material. The people in my own department also deserve thanks, especially Leon Khalsa-Maulen and Daniel Suh, who looked at and provided feedback on various pieces. I want to thank Neil Rowe, my publisher at Waveland Press. Neil became more like a partner. He was ever patient and ever diligent, putting up with delays but demanding a book that fully lived up to the original proposal. His interest in and enthusiasm for this project meant a lot to me, and I can’t say enough about what a nice experience it was to have this kind of relationship. I am especially Kemp.book Page xvii Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM Preface xvii grateful to Gayle Zawilla, my editor at Waveland Press, for whom I have enormous respect. I am thankful for her good sense, candor, and attention to detail. I cannot say enough about the hard work she put into making this the best possible text. She is a consummate professional who epitomizes my idea of what an editor should be. Finally, dear reader, I want to thank you. Were it not for you, this book would not exist. I hope you find it useful in your studies, your practice, and your life. Alan R. Kemp Key Peninsula, Washington Kemp.book Page xviii Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM Kemp.book Page xix Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM Introduction The abuse of power and people is likely more pervasive than any of us want to realize. It includes child abuse (physical abuse, neglect, psychological maltreatment, child sexual abuse, bullying, and sibling abuse), intimate partner violence (courtship violence, date rape, domestic violence, and abuse in the lives of sexual minorities), and the maltreatment of elderly and disabled people. Its existence in the family, religion, and sports is now becoming better understood, but its presence in other social institutions is still less well known. For example, up until now we have paid scant attention to its manifestation in the film industry, education, health care, business, the criminal justice system, and government—in short, the rest of society. Attending to the problem may well be among the most important challenges facing us today. For this reason it may be in our best interests to learn about it, manage its impact, and change how we administer our social institutions—and ultimately how we relate to one another. Part I, The Nature of Abuse and Neglect, contains only a single chapter—but it is an important one, for it introduces the topic of abuse in society and provides a context for studying it. Chapter 1, The Abuse Landscape, explores abuse in its various forms: physical, psychological, emotional, and sexual. Abuse is perpetrated against different target populations—children, adults, and the elderly— and we touch on each of these here, with expanded discussion in later chapters. This section includes an overview of the various forms of maltreatment and presents the systemic or ecological perspective adopted in the rest of the text—the macro, meso, and micro levels of analysis. In this regard, we examine social, cultural, relationship, and individual influences on abuse. We also provide some basic grounding in the social sciences and the theory-research cycle. We survey the various approaches and techniques social scientists use for conducting research on abuse in its different forms and perpetrated against several population groups. The two distinctive research approaches—deductive and inductive—are introduced. Also discussed are a variety of specific quantitative and qualitative research methods: the experiment, survey research, secondary analysis of existing data, and field studies that employ participant-observation, ethnography, and case studies conducted with general and clinical populations. Part II, Child Maltreatment, examines child abuse, one of the most heartwrenching issues of our times. Chapters 2 through 5 deal with child physical abuse, child neglect, child psychological maltreatment, and child sexual abuse, respecxix Kemp.book Page xx Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM xx Introduction tively. These chapters attempt to define the topics, report incidence and prevalence estimates, address the theories used to explain the phenomena, and explore ways to intervene and combat abuse and maltreatment. Chapter 6 focuses on sex offenders, including an analysis of sexual predators and the legal issues involved. Chapter 7 explores bullying and sibling abuse. Chapter 8 reviews child maltreatment surveys and addresses the legal and ethical issues in child maltreatment including investigation, risk assessment, court involvement, treatment, and intervention. Part III, Intimate Partner Violence, examines abuse against adults occurring within the context of one’s adult relationships, Chapter 9 discusses courtship violence and date rape, including a discussion of stalking. Chapter 10 covers the problem of domestic violence—its definitions, possible causes (including society’s attitudes about women), and some new (and, I think, exciting) research. We discuss steps that are being taken to help victims and things we can do to deal with perpetrators. Chapter 11 focuses on abuse in the relationships of sexual minorities. Part IV, Maltreatment of Elderly and Disabled People, includes but a single chapter. It addresses the abuse and neglect of individuals who are vulnerable because of declining or impaired physical, mental, or emotional functioning. Chapter 12 describes the often-neglected issue of this type of abuse. This is a timely topic, since the so-called “Baby Boom” generation, among the largest in recent history, is in or approaching old age. We investigate the explanations for this type of abuse, including society’s attitudes about elderly and disabled people. Part V, Emerging Issues, contains two chapters, each of which addresses issues of abuse that have only recently emerged in the public consciousness and have not gotten much scholarly attention. Abuse by clergy (Chapter 13) has come to light because of revelations about abuse by Roman Catholic priests and the cover-ups by their bishops. We discuss clergy sexual misconduct, the exploitation of adult congregants by religious leaders, and clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse, which has been the focus of the priest abuse scandal within the Roman Catholic Church. Chapter 14 addresses abuse in sports (both youth and adult). Abuse in sports varies from abuse that occurs elsewhere primarily in the context in which it takes place and the dynamics that are unique to sports. Abuse in sports has emerged largely because of media reports of hazing in youth sports, the sexual abuse of athletes by coaches, violence perpetrated by NFL players, and the effects of repetitive head injuries experienced by NFL players, as well as the sexual abuse scandal at Pennsylvania State University involving former football Defensive Coordinator Jerry Sandusky and the boys he sexually exploited. It is a rare thing when we can “take in” a territory as vast as abuse in society, re-examine this social problem in the light of emerging insights, and speculate about what might be different in the future. We endeavor to do so in Part VI, the final chapter of this book. Included is a brief historical overview, a discussion of trauma theory (which can be applied to survivors of various forms of abuse), a summary of key social policy responses to abuse, and a survey of both clinical and social interventions. In conclusion, we review the insights that emerge in the preceding chapters and briefly speculate upon what lies ahead regarding abuse in society, exploring trends and topics that seem likely to emerge at some future point in time. Kemp.book Page 1 Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM PART I The Nature of Abuse and Neglect People who are abused are taught to keep quiet about what has happened to them, yet exposing abuse is a first step in effectively dealing with it. Kemp.book Page 2 Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM Kemp.book Page 3 Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM 1 The Abuse Landscape CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS Professional Attention Defining Maltreatment Basic Human Needs Ambiguous Boundaries Continuums of Abuse Family Abuse Spillover Theory, Research and Practice The Theory-Research Cycle Research Methods Theory and Practice The Macro Level: The “Big Picture” The Meso Level: Family and Small-Group Influences The Micro Level: Individualist Explanations The Complex Nature of Abuse 3 Kemp.book Page 4 Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM 4 Chapter One We ask professionals to respond to a whole range of social problems, including trauma, abuse, and neglect. The field of abuse encompasses maltreatment in its many forms, such child physical abuse, child neglect, child sexual abuse, child psychological maltreatment, bullying and sibling abuse, courtship violence and date rape, domestic violence, and the maltreatment of elderly and disabled people—indeed, the abuse of anyone by someone in a position of trust. Terms like family maltreatment, family abuse, and family violence have all been used more or less synonymously in the field. Former US Attorney General Janet Reno once described abuse as the leading contributor of most other social problems. The problem of abuse has caught on with the general public—for good when it increases awareness and inspires the desire for remedial action, and for ill when shock leads to knee-jerk reactions that, in the end, don’t contribute to either a thoughtful understanding or to finding solutions. We have been inundated with reports of abuse of all kinds in recent years, including cases like that of Josh Powell, who killed his two boys and himself before setting their house on fire in Washington state (Alcindor, 2012; Smolowe et al., 2012) or Los Angeles-area teacher Mark Berndt, who was charged with 23 counts of lewd conduct with his third-grade students (Audi et al., 2012; Lovett & Nagourney, 2012); and a spate of allegations about abuse by priests (Farrell, 2009); as well as the conviction of former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky of 45 counts of sexually abusing ten young boys he befriended though his charity, Second Mile (Amber, 2012; Chan & Takagi, 2011; Drape, 2012) (see Kemp.book Page 5 Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM The Abuse Landscape 5 Box 1.1). Add to these examples the abuse that takes place behind closed doors and we have a troubling situation. Box 1.1 A Few Selected High-Profile Cases Involving Allegations of Abuse Josh Powell On Superbowl Sunday, 2012, a social worker brought Charlie and Braden Powell, ages 7 and 5, respectively, to their dad’s newly rented home near Graham, Washington. The boys were in the custody of their maternal grandparents but the judge had ordered supervised visits. When the social worker and the boys arrived, Josh Powell, their father, grabbed the boys and pulled them into the house. The social worker used her cell phone to call 9-1-1, but it was already too late. Josh had struck each of the boys with a hatchet and set the house on fire. Within minutes the house was engulfed in flames and everyone inside was dead (Breuer, 2010; Paulson, 2012). Josh Powell had lost custody of the boys after his own father, Steven Powell, with whom he and the boys were living, was arrested for voyeurism and possessing child pornography. While Josh was not implicated in his father’s case, he did live in the same home and was named as a “person of interest” in the disappearance of his wife, Susan Cox-Powell, less than two years before. Only days before the murder-suicide, the judge in the custody case ordered Josh to undergo a psychosexual evaluation. Mark Berndt Mark Berndt, 61, who had taught at Miramonte Elementary School in Los Angeles for over 30 years, was arrested in 2012 and charged with 23 counts of committing lewd acts with children, his third-grade students. The case came to light when a photo developer called the police about pornographic photos of the students, presumably taken by Mr. Berndt. The photos included images of the naked children bound and gagged. Jerry Sandusky After a three-year investigation, former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was arrested in 2011 on 40 counts of child rape and sexual abuse. The cases involve at least 8 young boys he met through his charity, the Second Mile Foundation. Earlier in 2001, graduate assistant Mike McQueary had reported the rape of a boy in the shower to Sandusky’s boss, legendary coach Joe Paterno. In 2011, as a result of the charges Paterno and the president of the university were fired. One June 22, 2012, Sandusky was found guilty of 45 counts of sexually abusing 10 young boys (Drape, 2012). While the jury was deliberating, Sandusky’s own adopted son, Matt, disclosed that he too had been sexually abused by his dad. Professional Attention We can think of professional attention as a reflection or extension of community needs and demands, but really it’s a back-and-forth proposition. The professional community both informs the public about problems it uncovers and responds to public concern. Once the public becomes aware and concerned, it wants something done. Then, it is only appropriate for professionals to respond. To get a sense of professional involvement, you don’t have to go any further than the person credited with launching the whole business of psychotherapy, Kemp.book Page 6 Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM 6 Chapter One Sigmund Freud. Based on reports of his patients, Freud first attributed early trauma, often in the form of sexual abuse, as the cause of a psychiatric disorder he named hysterical neurosis (Eissler, 2001). If we have a difficult time dealing with family maltreatment issues today, it was certainly no easier in the late 1800s and early 1900s, when Freud was doing his pioneering work. In Victorian Viennese society, sex was a touchy subject, and Freud’s patients were making allegations of sexual abuse by parents and other caretakers, most of whom were highstatus members of their society. Indications are that when Freud asserted that the recollections of his patients represented real events, his ideas were rejected. Recent explorations about the development of Freud’s ideas suggest that it was only when he modified his theory to suggest that these disclosures were really tied in to guilt-ridden fantasies rather than real events that Freud gained professional acceptance (Masson, 1984). This modification of theory purported that the patients, when children, had secret sexual fantasies involving their opposite-sex parent. Some scholars (Masson, 1984) believe that this marked the beginning of a long period of professional neglect regarding child sexual abuse that lasted from the beginning of the 20th century to the early 1980s (a topic that we discuss in more detail in Chapter 5). Back in Freud’s day it was quite normal for people to feel it was a parent’s right to treat their children almost any way they wanted. It wasn’t until 1962, when pediatrician C. Henry Kempe and his colleagues wrote a startling article about what they called “battered child syndrome” that appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Carter, 2015; Kempe et al., 1962) that we began paying attention to the problem of abuse. Building on reports from other physicians as well as his own experience, Kempe and his associates began to use x-ray technology to reveal a troubling phenomenon. X-rays revealed numerous broken bones in some children, each in differing stages of healing, which suggested a pattern of severe physical abuse. The article by Kempe et al. (1962) is rightly credited with jolting the professional community into awareness about the seriousness of child physical abuse. According to one source, child sexual abuse became a semiautonomous specialty in the late seventies (Finkelhor, 1992), and by the mid-1980s it caught on as a public and professional issue. Some suggest that 1984 marked the beginning of intense attention to the issue of child sexual abuse, with the breaking of the McMartin day care case (Haugaard & Repucci, 1988) and several other cases involving multiple allegations of sexual abuse by child care providers. Public interest intensified in the wake of publicity surrounding these cases (Haugaard & Repucci, 1988) (see Box 1.1). Now, we know that many of the techniques used by the investigators were highly suggestive, discrediting the original allegations (Schreiber et al., 2006). The early 1970s marked the beginning of public and professional concern about the problem of domestic violence. It was in 1972 that the term spouse abuse first appeared in the social science indexes (Gondolf, 1985), and battered women’s shelters began to appear. In 1975, the National Organization for Women launched an effort to study the problem of battering (Gelles, 1993a). Some sources say that our more enlightened contemporary awareness of family violence Kemp.book Page 7 Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM The Abuse Landscape 7 began in earnest as a result of the women’s movement. When women began speaking out about their abuse, others began to listen (see Gelles, 1980). It was also in the 1970s that the media picked up on the issue. A book and TV movie, The Burning Bed, appeared and stirred public sentiment (McNulty, 1980). According to one source, there was very little professional literature on domestic violence until the early 1970s (Gondolf, 1985). This source also suggests that the scant professional literature found prior to that time tended to characterize victims as provokers of their own abuse, something we now call “blaming the victim.” Even now, people raise questions about why women stay in abusive relationships—the implication being that they are somehow to blame for their own misfortune. One pioneering researcher in the area, Lenore Walker, wrote a groundbreaking book in the late 1970s, applying Seligman’s theory of learned helplessness to explain that severely battered women are often caught up in a cycle of violence over which they have no control (Walker, 1979). In addition to Walker’s book, other works appeared in the mid-to-late 1970s that are now regarded as classics (Gondolf, 1985). It is also likely that the 1970s marked the beginning of public and professional attention to the issue of elder abuse, which came about at the instigation of advocates for the elderly (Gelles, 1993a). However, interest in this area was largely neglected until the mid-1990s (see Chapter 12). Since public intervention and research funding are limited, there is also competition for dollars. If there is a disadvantage to giving attention to any specific type of abuse, it would be that it takes away from other areas that also need attention. For example, David Finkelhor (1992) has suggested that when there was a great deal of publicity about child sexual abuse, research dollars shifted away from child physical abuse. Finkelhor (1992) also observed that both physical abuse (Chapter 2) and sexual abuse (Chapter 5) pale in comparison to neglect cases (Chapter 3), which represent the largest part of many child protective service caseloads but which have been largely overlooked. Psychological or emotional maltreatment is now regarded by many in the field as an overarching form of maltreatment (Chapter 4). However, it has gotten only scant attention. What Is Maltreatment? So far, we’ve done a brief review of the major forms of maltreatment: child physical abuse, child sexual abuse, child psychological maltreatment, child neglect, domestic violence, and elder maltreatment. Though most of us have a pretty good idea about what these various forms of maltreatment are, we’ve yet to define our terms. Maltreatment can be loosely defined as an act, failure to act, or pattern of behavior by someone in a position of trust that results (or can result) in serious physical injury or emotional harm (Doak, 2011). An assault, which may or may not in and of itself constitute abuse, can be defined as a threat or any single abusive act, psychological or physical. A pattern of active physical, sexual, or emotional assaults that results in injury or harm constitutes abuse. The failure to attend to the basic human needs of a dependent person for whom one has responsibility constitutes neglect. Physical abuse represents a physical assault or pattern of Kemp.book Page 8 Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM 8 Chapter One behavior that attacks the victim’s physical integrity. While there is controversy over where to draw the line between acceptable parental punishment and abuse, any act of punishment that results in injury is generally defined as abuse. Any physical assault that represents part of a pattern of harmful behavior or is sufficiently severe also can be considered physical abuse. Emotional or psychological maltreatment can be understood as a pattern of verbal attacks, or the neglect of genuine psychological or emotional needs. Sexual abuse can be thought of as the inappropriate use of another, which includes sexual contact for the purpose of sexual gratification, domination, or both. Sexual abuse by its very nature may also be an assault on an authentic sense of self, including one’s sexuality. Not only is abuse usually defined according to its type but it is also classified according to the status of the victim (child, spouse, or elder) and the relationship between victim and offender. Domestic violence, for instance, is a pattern of abusive behavior in which one person establishes power and control over one’s intimate partner. Sexual contact with children by an adult or significantly older person is child sexual abuse, even if the victim participates, because children lack an understanding of the long-range consequences of their involvement and therefore can’t consent. Because children are known to engage in sexual exploration with each other, a five-year age difference, while arbitrary, has been used to differentiate between abuse and exploration (Finkelhor, 1986b). Child sexual abuse can be either incest (if it is perpetrated by a close relative) or non-incestuous abuse (if it is perpetrated by someone other than a close relative). It is interesting that, while cultures vary in what they consider to be incestuous (e.g., what the relationship is between the parties), all cultures have an incest taboo—that is, all cultures define certain kinds of intimate sexual contact between family members as forbidden. In the past, when people thought of sexual abuse, they usually thought of unnatural acts of non-incestuous abuse as being perpetrated by sexual deviants with a sexual preference for children. These individuals exist and are professionally classified as pedophiles. While predatory pedophiles do exist, most child sexual abuse is perpetrated by family members or close personal friends, some of whom may or may not be pedophiles. Basic Human Needs The matrix sketched in Table 1.1 below suggests that we can differentiate between abuse and neglect on the basis of whether the person is physically, sexually, or psychologically maltreated or whether their basic needs are neglected. This assumes that basic human needs are critically important. The work of a founding father of humanistic psychology, Abraham Maslow, suggests that each of us comes into the world with certain basic human needs. These needs exist at different levels from the most basic to the more abstract (Maslow, 1954). They include essential physical necessities such as food and water, a certain degree of safety and security, love and belonging, and self-esteem, as well as self-actualization or psychic/spiritual completion or wholeness. According to Maslow’s scheme, we do not work to achieve fulfillment at higher levels unless lower-level needs are at least somewhat satisfactorily achieved. In the area of abuse, the sig- Kemp.book Page 9 Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM The Abuse Landscape Table 1.1 9 Family Maltreatment Matrix Abuse/Neglect Can Be Physical or Nonphysical Physical Assaults Sexual Assaults Emotional Assaults Child Punishment assault or physical abuse Child sexual abuse Psychological assault or child psychological abuse Spouse/ Domestic Partner Domestic violence Spousal rape Psychological assault or abuse Elder Elder physical abuse Rape or elder sexual abuse Elder psychological assault or abuse Failure to Attend to Basic Needs Child neglect Elder neglect nificance of this model is that victims of abuse cannot be expected to be whole if the achievement of basic needs is interrupted by abuse or neglect. These ideas can assist us to think about ways abuse and neglect can impact the ability of their victims to experience life in a positive, creative, and fulfilling way. Maslow’s simple but classic hierarchy of needs can also help us to establish such nonphysical human needs as affection, belonging, and self-esteem as essential to human existence. Studies have shown that nontangible needs such as love and self-esteem are essential to normal growth and development. This, as well as the role of human development, will be covered more extensively when we address the problems of neglect and psychological maltreatment (Chapters 3 and 4). Ambiguous Boundaries When dealing with abuse in the family, there aren’t always clear lines between the types of abuse; it’s common for more than one type to occur simultaneously. Psychological or emotional abuse, for instance, comes into play when any of the other forms of abuse are present. Some experts in the field believe that psychological maltreatment is the form of abuse that underlies all other types of maltreatment (see Chapter 4). We can use what happens in domestic violence as one example. As our definition states, domestic violence can be seen as a pattern of behavior in which a person is abusive as a way to establish power and control over a person with whom he has or has had a close personal relationship. In contrast to popular belief, the actual battering may be a relatively infrequent activity. It doesn’t have to be used continually in order for the abuser to maintain power and control. The implied threat it causes is often powerful enough. At other times, the abuser uses various forms of manipulative, coercive, and otherwise psychologically abusive behavior as additional tools to establish and maintain dominance. All the physical, emotional, and sexual forms of domestic violence can thus be thought of as expressions of a more central process—that of maintaining domination and control. Kemp.book Page 10 Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM 10 Chapter One Continuums of Abuse Models called continuums of abuse are representations of abusive behaviors arranged on a line from least to most severe. They are often employed in the domestic violence field to help educate victims and professionals about abusive patterns. Three common continuums are the physical abuse continuum, sexual abuse continuum, and psychological abuse continuum. These seem so simple and obvious that one can miss their significance. As a clinician I’ve found that abusers are often so practiced at rationalizing their behavior that they develop a distorted view of what they are doing. Most batterers will justify and explain away their behavior as being anything but abuse. The continuums, which contain very practical and concrete examples, serve as a way to do a “reality check.” If the suspected perpetrator is engaging in a range of specific behaviors depicted on a continuum, the abuse pattern materializes easily enough—that is, if the human service professional is willing to ask questions about the behaviors on the continuum and if people are willing to disclose. The range of physically, sexually, and emotionally abusive behaviors, which serve to establish and maintain domination and control, can be graphically depicted as shown in Figure 1.1. Continuums such as these have been commonly used in domestic violence education. They are not intended to be precise but to graphically show the kinds of behaviors commonly associated with various types of abuse. Some of these may also apply to cases of child emotional and physical abuse when the motivation revolves around dominance and control. Though some noted child abuse pioneers (Groth & Burgess, 1977, as cited in Sgroi, 1982; Sgroi, 1982) argue that sexual abuse is an “acting out” of power and Figure 1.1 Continuums of Abuse in Domestic Violence Physical Pinching Squeezing Pushing Shaking Cornering Restraining Throwing things Breaking bones Internal injuries Denying medical care Disabling Disfiguring Maiming Murdering Source: Based on Kemp (1998) Emotional or Psychological Ignoring Demeaning Withholding affection Minimizing feelings Ridiculing Yelling Isolating Insulting Accusing Humiliating Destroying valued things Questioning sanity Threatening pets Threatening to abandon Threatening violence Sexual Treating as sex object Minimizing sexual needs Criticizing sexually Obsessive jealousy Sexual name calling Demanding sex Forcing to strip Promiscuity Forcing to observe sex Forcing unwanted acts Forcing unwanted sex Forced sex after beatings Using weapons to force sex Injuring during sex Kemp.book Page 11 Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM The Abuse Landscape 11 control needs, there also seem to be qualitaFigure 1.2 A Continuum of tively significant differences in how these Grooming Behavior in Child needs are expressed in child sexual abuse Sexual Abuse and other types family violence cases. These differences center on motivation. In child Nonsexual game playing sexual abuse cases, the purpose of the gradaGames involving touching tion of behaviors seems to focus on graduInnocent kissing ally enticing the child into more intimate Mouth-to-mouth kissing sexual activity, a process called grooming. In Exposing or undressing Observing while toileting the case of the sexually abusive behaviors Touching when undressed acted out in other types of family violence Fondling private parts cases, the behaviors seem to be an expresHas child touch private parts sion of a sense of entitlement and part of a Penetration with objects more general pattern of domination and conSexual penetration trol. Behaviors that could be more useful on Taking sexual photos a child sexual abuse continuum would inThreatening to injure clude qualitatively different examples from Injuring during sex those in the domestic violence, such as the range of behaviors that child sexual abusers Source: Based on Kemp (1998) engage in as part of grooming their victims. The grooming behavior involves the offender beginning his preparation of a child victim with relatively innocent forms of interaction and gradually increasing the level of activity until the perpetrator seduces the child into participating in sexual activity (see Figure 1.2). Family Abuse Spillover Family violence inflicted on one family member impacts other family members. Others in the family very often witness it or become aware of it later. In the case of spouse abuse, for example, even if the children are not actually present in the room where it occurs, they are usually well aware of what’s going on. Sometimes in these situations children try to intervene and end up being hurt themselves. Even when children stay clear and are not victims of the physical abuse, simply being aware of one parent abusing the other is distressing. It is probably sufficiently traumatic to constitute emotional or psychological abuse in its own right, and there are now jurisdictions in which exposing a child to spousal abuse is defined as a form of child abuse. Theory, Research, and Practice Since this text is designed for those wishing to better understand abuse, and since there are so many theories, models, and statistics, it seems only appropriate to put the topic into the context of science and social science. The Theory-Research Cycle One way to begin this discussion is to introduce the theory-research cycle (Wallace, 1971). We can think of a theory as a tentative explanation for some phe- Kemp.book Page 12 Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM 12 Chapter One nomenon, a set of logically interrelated statements that attempts to describe, explain, and sometimes predict how the phenomenon will behave. While a theory may provide a way of looking at phenomena and may guide research, a theory doesn’t in and of itself constitute evidence, or provide proof, of its own claims. This is where research comes into play—as a systematic process that provides evidence supporting theory. In what is sometimes referred to as the classic or empirical research method, the experiment, the researcher tests theory in a controlled environment to see if it holds up. When engaging in this type of research, the investigator typically reviews the literature, conducts the experiment, gathers the data; and analyzes it in the search for new knowledge. Theory and research are also interdependent. They rely on each other. Although theory often guides research, research is the accepted process for testing existing theory, confirming it, or disconfirming it, which in turn leads to modifications in theory or to the development of new theory. Walter Wallace (1971) describes the relationship between theory and research as being that of a continuous cycle (see Figure 1.3 below) (Kemp, 2014). Figure 1.3 Theory-Research Cycle DEDUCTIVE APPROAC H Theory The researcher begins with a theory, which assumes a cause-and-effect relationship between two or more variables. Generalizations Hypothesis The researcher attempts to make sense of the results or observations— describing, explaining, and perhaps even attempting to predict what will occur in particular situations. The research design is developed. The variables are “operationalized.” The variable believed to cause change is the independent variable. The variable it is believed to influence is the dependent variable. Observations The researcher begins with observations, often in the natural environment. INDUCTIVE APPROAC H Source: Based on Wallace (1971) and further adapted from Kemp (2014) and Kendall (2016) Kemp.book Page 13 Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM The Abuse Landscape 13 According to the research-theory cycle the investigator can begin with a theory or direct observations (Wallace, 1971). If one begins with a theory, the investigator designs a research project to test it, makes observations, gathers and analyzes the data, and then tries to come to some up with conclusions or generalizations (a hypothesis) about what it all means. This is called the deductive approach (sometimes called the “top-down” approach). The investigator starts with a general idea and tries to deduce a conclusion based on theory. An investigator can also start on the opposite side of the theory-research cycle. The observer sees something in the natural environment that causes him or her to ask questions about what it means. The researcher looks for patterns, or broader generalizations, that might lead to conclusions about what the phenomenon means, which could then lead to new theory. This is called the inductive approach (or “bottom-up” approach). With the inductive approach the investigator begins with specific observations which forms the basis of new theory (Trochim, 2006). Research Methods There are also many specific methods of research: the experiment (classical or empirical research), survey research, case study, field study, participant-observation, historical analysis, and even the secondary analysis of existing data, in which the investigator interprets in new ways the data gathered by others. Examples of each type of research are integrated throughout this book, or in any good text on abuse. Why? Because it is important to understand and because abuse researchers come from such diverse backgrounds. Some methods are better than others depending on what it is the investigator is trying to learn. In the experiment (a form of classical or empirical research), the investigator tries to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between two or more variables using the principles of scientific method. Social scientists often regard this type of research as the benchmark of academia—the standard by which all other methods are judged. However, in the abuse field it is generally considered unethical to conduct direct experimental research, necessitating the use of other methods. This means we must often look for alternatives. For a summary of key elements of scientific method, please refer to Table 1.2 on the following page. Qualitative, “softer” methods of research are also used. The researches uses these nonnumeric approaches in an attempt to “get at” and describe an experience. Rather than being done in a controlled environment, where the investigators attempt to control the variables, qualitative research tends to be done in the natural environment, often relying upon naturalistic observations. Generally speaking, quantitative methods are associated with the deductive approach and qualitative research is usually associated with the inductive approach. Table 1.3 (on p. 15) attempts to visually summarize the key features of each type of research: deductive and inductive, quantitative and qualitative, and the general placement of various research methods on a continuum from deductive, quantitative and explanatory to inductive, qualitative and exploratory. Science is the process of systematically testing ideas in order to differentiate between myth and certainty. Science is usually divided into the natural sciences, Kemp.book Page 14 Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM 14 Chapter One Table 1.2 Basic Elements of the Scientific Method Description Information about the phenomena being studied must be both valid (accurately related to the focus of inquiry) and reliable (repeatable—i.e. consistently yielding similar results when following the same procedures). Prediction The results of experimentation should be predictable based on the theory used and the hypothesis tested. Control The researcher should be able to control at least one variable (the independent variable) in order to test the effect on at least one other variable (the dependent variable). This helps determine if a cause-and-effect relationship exists between the two. Understanding Specific criteria must be met before the phenomena under study are said to be understood: Covariation of events—the predicted variation of one variable (the dependent variable) in response to the manipulation of the other (the independent variable) must occur as predicted. Sequence—the hypothesized cause (the independent variable) must in fact precede in time the observed effect (the dependent variable). Elimination of alternative explanations—steps must be taken to insure that some other intervening variable did not cause the observed effect. Source: Based on Kemp (2014), p. 14 or “hard sciences” like chemistry and physics, and what is referred to as the “soft” sciences, or social sciences. The goal of the social sciences is to uncover and explain human behavior. As in the natural sciences, scientific method is the generally accepted process, though there is also now a greater acceptance of qualitative research as another way of knowing. The scientific method essentially involves identifying a question or problem to be solved, developing some tentative ideas or guesses about what causes it (the hypothesis), and then testing this hypothesis to see whether or not it can be supported. This is done by operationalizing the key concepts to be tested in the hypothesis, following accepted methods in doing the hypothesis testing, and then describing and explaining the results. When social scientists believe the results apply to what we’re really trying to study, we say the results are valid. When different researchers apply the same research methods and get the same results, we say the results are reliable. The scientific method implies that the universe, including human behavior, operates according to predictable rules that can be identified and observed. In order to test hypotheses and generate new knowledge social scientists usually simplify the process as much as possible. Social scientists are looking for causation—in other words, a cause-and-effect relationship is presumed to operate. In order to find causation they want to exclude extraneous or intervening variables as much as possible, so they can be confident that whatever conclusions they arrive at are solid. This is important if future research is to build on the results. Based on the challenges in carrying out systematic research on family abuse, it’s not hard to see why the study of the various forms of abuse seems so segmented. In Kemp.book Page 15 Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM The Abuse Landscape Table 1.3 15 Comparing Approaches to Research Deductive begins with theory forms hypothesis makes observations, tests hypothesis generalizes results modifies theory Inductive begins with observations makes generalizations results may help give shape to new theory Quantitative Research deductive explanatory emphasis on determining cause and effect attempts to control variables natural science worldview examines behavior of individual variables goal: to determine cause and effect focus on objective reality positivistic outcome oriented reality can be observed and measured Qualitative Research inductive exploratory emphasis on an exploration of phenomena naturalistic (no attempt to control variables) anthropological worldview holistic goal: to understand actor’s view focus on actors’ subjective reality phenomenological process oriented reality is subjective General Placement of Selected Research Methods experiment field research survey research participant observation secondary analysis of existing data ethnography case studies historical analysis Source: Based on Kemp (2014), p. 15 addition to the investigators having different interests, it is absolutely necessary to try to reduce the scope of study to manageable proportions so that the search for causative explanations can go forward. In the area of family abuse, numerous social scientists have studied an array of suspected factors. One of the most consistent findings that emerges is that single-cause explanations do not seem to work; and multiple, interrelated factors are suspected to interact, contributing to the problem. Causative explanations (i.e., explanations that try to establish cause-and-effect relationships) are often hard to come by. The type of studies that can help us arrive at causative explanation are called controlled studies or experimental studies. An important cautionary note is appropriate here. Researchers strive to be very careful about the kind of generalizations, or assumptions, they make about how the world really works, even when doing controlled or experimental studies. Only when the data seem valid and reliable and the samples being studied seem to represent the population as a whole should researchers conducting experimental studies be willing to go out on a limb and make claims about how human behavior operates. Kemp.book Page 16 Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM 16 Chapter One CORRELATIONAL STUDIES When causative explanations can’t be found, social scientists generally look for the existence of factors that seem to be related to each other in some way. When we can establish that two factors are related, but can’t establish cause and effect, we call this kind of information correlational data. The two variables are correlated but do not necessarily have a cause-and-effect relationship. If one variable increases when the other variable increases, they are said to be positively correlated. In other words, the variables move in the same direction. For example, when the unemployment rate goes up, so do reports of domestic violence and child abuse. When one variable increases as the other variable decreases, they are said to be negatively correlated. For example, when treatment services are provided to victims of abuse, their symptoms of disturbance decline. We can measure correlation mathematically, and when we do so it is typically called r. The value of correlation is reported on a continuous scale or continuum (from –1 to +1), as illustrated below in Figure 1.4. Correlational data is less compelling than causative data. Where cause-and-effect relationships can be established, the factors associated with abuse can be called predictors. Where the relationships are only correlational they are called markers. Figure 1.4 Perfect –1 Correlation Continuum Strong Moderate Weak Zero 0 Weak Moderate Strong Perfect 1 DESCRIPTIVE AND INFERENTIAL STATISTICS When information simply defines or describes some observation, it is called descriptive data. Statistics that merely describe incidence but don’t establish a relationship between variables are called descriptive statistics. Descriptive statistics are like snapshots with numbers. They describe a phenomenon at a certain place and time and have less explanatory power than even correlational data. With inferential statistics we make generalizations, or inferences, about the whole population on the basis of studying a sample. Inferential statistics are used in formal, controlled research. KEY RESEARCH ISSUES As we discussed earlier, abuse in the family has reemerged relatively recently as a focus of professional attention. While we have been accumulating a large body of information, we still have a very long way to go in the understanding of family abuse. Studying something as personal and sensitive as abuse poses special challenges. Much of the knowledge we have been able to gather is either descriptive or correlational, with some exceptions. The two most common Kemp.book Page 17 Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM The Abuse Landscape 17 sources of information are clinical samples from victims or offenders who have already been identified; and population samples drawn from the general population. There are difficulties associated with each. One of the chief problems is that abuse, by its very nature, is something generally carried out in secret—it is the rare perpetrator who wants to disclose his or her abusive behavior. As for victims, they often are unable to identify their mistreatment as abuse, or they may fear the consequences of disclosing abuse. Since asking people about prior abuse may be safer, this is the approach that is often taken. Research such as this tends to be done by sampling the general population. Retrospective studies draw population samples by asking adults about their childhood experiences. While it may feel safer to disclose childhood abuse from the distant past as opposed to abuse that is currently occurring in adulthood, retrospective studies have another problem—the reliability (or lack thereof) of memory. In addition to the general problems associated with reliability, memory was at the heart of a major controversy in the field of family maltreatment: the false memory/repressed memory debate. Those on the “false memory” side of the debate asserted that so-called repressed memories are often artifacts of subtle suggestion on the part of therapists or victim advocates. Those on the “repressed memory” side of the debate asserted that memories that surfaced later in life were real. They counter arguments from the other side with the contention that abuse is so traumatic that memories are repressed unless triggered later in life. We discuss the false memory/repressed memory debate at greater length in Chapter 8. In contrast to population samples, clinical samples are not representative of the population as a whole since they are drawn from groups of people who are receiving counseling or mental health services. As a result, we need to be careful about the kinds of generalizations we make from data gathered from them. Certain questions arise: Because a large number of people in clinical samples have been maltreated, can we assume that maltreatment causes the psychological or behavior problems? Do people in clinical samples report abuse partly as a way to explain their current problems, when other factors could be at play? While the results of research done with clinical samples can be interesting and informative about these specific populations, it is hard to generalize from them about the population as a whole. OFFICIAL REPORTS AND SURVEY DATA The kinds of statistics the layperson is most likely to come in contact with are those from official reports or large surveys. In order to understand how best to use information from these sources, we can think of family maltreatment as being like an iceberg. The part we can see would be like the tip of the iceberg, while much of it remains unseen and submerged. The official reports of abuse would be like the tip of the iceberg, leaving much information beneath the surface. While research that uses the scientific method attempts to explain maltreatment, official reports tell us how much abuse is reported; large surveys try to inform us about abuse that has occurred but has not necessarily been reported. There are several widely used reports: the FBI Uniform Crime Reports, the National Crime Victimization Survey, the National Family Violence Surveys, the Kemp.book Page 18 Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM 18 Chapter One National Incidence Study of Child Abuse (NIS), and the National Elder Abuse Incidence Study. The Uniform Crime Reports can help us track fatalities but are not helpful in other areas of family maltreatment. Two well-known self-report surveys are the National Crime Victimization Survey and the National Family Violence Surveys. The National Crime Victimization Survey, prepared by the Bureau of the Census for the Department of Justice, provides details about various acts of abuse based on a representative sampling of 60,000 households. The National Family Violence Surveys, conducted by a team of researchers headed by Murray Straus, are really two surveys that used large representative samples taken ten years apart—in 1975 and 1985. In the United States today, the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect conducts a periodic study of child abuse and neglect, the National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (usually abbreviated as NIS) (Doak, 2011). The most recent version is NIS-4 (Sedlak et al., 2010). It is regarded as the single most comprehensive source of information on child abuse and neglect. Reporting child abuse and neglect is mandatory in all 50 states but is virtually nonexistent for domestic violence. The National Elder Abuse Incidence Study was last done in 1998 and is now becoming dated. However, it still serves as a starting point for information on elder abuse. CONFUSION AND MISUSE OF THE DATA So far we’ve outlined three different types of research information: experimental, correlational, and descriptive data. Sometimes even professionals can get confused about what each kind of information can tell us, especially when the issue is as emotionally charged (and sometimes polarized) as this field can be. One team of early maltreatment researchers undertook a critical examination of the explosion of research published on the subject and expressed some significant reservations about the value of much of it (Hotaling & Sugarman, 1986). Most of the studies they surveyed performed only correlational comparisons yet attempted to make assertions about causality. Another criticism of some of the early research is that it was done without using comparison groups. Hotaling and Sugarman (1986) pointed out that we should be extremely careful about accepting conclusions based on correlational data, especially when these studies do not use comparison groups. (For more detailed discussion of how Hotaling and Sugarman applied social science methods to the literature on domestic violence, see Chapter 10). If we need to be careful about the conclusions we draw from correlational data, we need to be all the more careful with the kinds of conclusions we arrive at on the basis of descriptive information. Theory and Practice The pioneers in the field of abuse came from a range of professions and academic disciplines—sociology and social work, criminology and law enforcement, psychology and counseling, medicine and nursing, theology and chaplaincy, and many others. From its beginnings the field has been multidisciplinary, embracing diverse perspectives and experience. I like to use an often-quoted Hindu parable about a group of blind men when considering the interdisciplinary nature of fields like abuse in society. In the para- Kemp.book Page 19 Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM The Abuse Landscape 19 ble, the blind men are asked to describe an elephant. The first approaches the elephant and grabs its tail. He says the elephant is like a rope. The second puts his arms around a leg and says an elephant is like the trunk of a tree. Then, a third grabs the snout at exactly the same moment the elephant shoots a stream of water, so he says the elephant is like a water hose. The fourth grasps an ear and says an elephant is like a fan that circulates the air. The moral is that each description is both correct and incorrect—correct because the account, as far as it goes, is accurate; and incorrect, because none of the men was able to understand the totality of the elephant. A solution to the paradox only becomes apparent when one recognizes that the descriptions are really complementary, not contradictory. The field of abuse and neglect is multidisciplinary because people from diverse fields and professions have joined its ranks. It is multidimensional because its practitioners recognize that dealing with sensitive problems like abuse requires them to work with whole persons—body, mind, and spirit—as well as networks of friends and colleagues, communities, and even society at large. Since graduate programs that train abuse professionals are a rarity, most people in the field have completed graduate education in other disciplines, each with its own body of literature and preferred research methods. To get a sense of how diverse these perspectives are, lets briefly look at just two academic disciplines: psychology and sociology. The field of psychology is concerned with understanding thinking, feeling, and behavior. Its focus tends to be on the individual and it has three main branches, or schools: behavioral, psychodynamic, and humanistic. At the risk of oversimplifying, the behavioral approach looks at how rewards, reinforcement, and punishment influence learning and shape behavior. The psychodynamic school, influenced by Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, tends to look at complex internal processes, including the unconscious. The humanistic branch, sometimes called the “third wave” in psychology, is interested in the uniquely human dimensions of subjective experience. In contrast, sociology is more broadly concerned with society and human relationships. It too has several branches, often referred to as “perspectives” or “paradigms.” The key ones are functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. Again, at the risk of oversimplifying, functionalism is interested in social structure, practices, and the role of social institutions such as the family, religion, and education. Conflict theory looks at inherent conflicts between classes of people (e.g., rich–poor; men–women; black–white; straight–gay), usually over such things as the control of resources and social influence. Symbolic interactionism is concerned with the social interpretation of experience and the effects of labeling. Like the blind men and the elephant, diverse disciplines and professions approach human experience differently. Each have their own strengths and limitations. In relation to the topic of abuse, some investigators attempt to explain it on the basis of the characteristics of individual perpetrators; others attempt on the basis of family dynamics; while still others look at broad social and economic conditions that seem to breed problems. Some of the research attempts to use controlled data; other research makes use of correlations; still other research tries to ferret out answers from large-scale survey data; while many other forms of research analyze and interpret official statistics. Since the issues are so complex, Kemp.book Page 20 Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM 20 Chapter One a conceptual framework seems in order. So, we will explore as much of the available research we can, and in doing so we will make use of a systems or ecological model, as discussed below. AN ECOLOGY OF ABUSE A number of abuse investigators have become interested in the various interrelationships and in understanding abuse in a more unified way. In these efforts, some have proposed ecological models (Bronfenbrenner, 1994, 1997a, 1997b), while others call for the adoption of systems approaches (for detailed discussions see Blau et al., 1993; Edelson & Tolman, 1992; Gondolf, 1993; Lewis, 2000; Milner & Crouch, 1993). Ecological and systems approaches emphasize the idea that complex interrelationships between individuals, families, communities, and the society at large interact and play a role in abuse. These approaches stress that human behavior takes place within a social environment or ecology: family, neighborhood, school, community, society, and so on. The terms “ecological” and “systems” are sometimes used almost interchangeably; however, “systems” is often used as a description for the dominant theoretical orientation in the field of marriage and family therapy. I should probably briefly mention that, when simultaneously discussing the area of domestic violence and the field of marriage and family therapy, there is some conflict related to key philosophical positions. I limit discussion here, since these issues are addressed in greater depth later (Chapter 10). However, following is the crux of the conflict. Basically, the family systems approach assumes that problems arise as the result of how the family system is organized and functions. The assumption is that there is dysfunction in significant relationships and that the best approach to therapy is to work on relationships. In the domestic violence field, on the other hand, the dominant view suggests that domestic violence occurs because of an imbalance of power. From this point of view, it is not appropriate to assume we are dealing with equals, since one member of the dyad has more power than the other. Therefore, the prevailing view is that we should not work with couples together because we may endanger victims if we require them to interact with their abusing partners. (In fact, advocates and therapists report that victims are often battered or endangered as the result of something they’ve said during a therapy session.) It is important to distinguish between the study of family maltreatment and the methods we employ when we try to intervene. The systems or ecological approach introduced here does not necessarily mean that we want to put victims and perpetrators together in therapy; however, it does attempt to provide a framework in which to study abuse. Keeping this in mind, let’s continue the discussion of the systemic or ecological approach. General Systems Theory. Systems theory has its roots in efforts to extend the principles long valued in the natural sciences to the social sciences. Ludwig von Bertalanffy (1934, 1968), a pioneer “systems thinker,” is credited with originating a broad theoretical framework called general systems theory. Bertalanffy also advocated for moving beyond examining simple, linear, cause-and-effect Kemp.book Page 21 Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM The Abuse Landscape 21 relationships to looking at the more complex interrelationships that exist in dynamic, living systems. He was himself a biologist and suggested that many of the principles of biology could be extended to all living systems, including human beings, and even to human social systems (von Bertalanffy & Sutherland, 1974). One of the most interesting concepts associated with systems theory is the notion that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Systems theorists have coined the term emergent characteristics to apply to the unique characteristics that result from the interaction of people in certain special relationships. When people marry, the marriage—with all its new obligations and possibilities—is an example of how the whole (in this case, the marriage) is more than just the combined lives of two individuals. It has great social meaning, as do families, extended families, communities, and society as a whole. Systems theorists are interested in exploring the social realities that result when individuals, families, groups, and whole societies act and interact. According to systems theory, all systems are goal directed (i.e., they strive to accomplish specific tasks). Human beings and human social systems are no exception. Individual human beings strive to fulfill all their basic needs, but in order to accomplish many of them, especially when young, they need the support and help of other people. Viewed in this model, families are systems and are essential to providing for the needs of the young and the old. The family is the one social institution where members should be able to fulfill their need for love, belonging, acceptance, and self-esteem, and ultimately where they can get the support and encouragement they need to seek higher meaning and truth. Communities and societies, by extension, serve similar functions on a grander scale. States and nations provide for economy, the internal security of citizens, and defense against outside aggression. In addition to trying to accomplish the fulfillment of basic goals, systems theory proposes that we strive to maintain homeostasis, or stability, within a certain range of functioning. If there is too little or too much of something, the system’s feedback mechanism will give an alert so that the system can take appropriate steps to return to its desired balance. Systems theory offers an explanation both for why systems change and why they stay the same. They change when they get feedback information that says they either need less of something they have or more of something they do not. According to the model, systems resist change if that change is perceived as a threat to stability or homeostasis. We can use this part of the model to help us understand and explore both the pain of living with family abuse and the resistance to change. That systems strive to accomplish basic life goals is an integral part of systems theory. The goal directedness of systems is sometimes referred to as cybernetics. Using an archer’s target rings as a model, we can imagine that we aim our arrow and attempt to hit the bull’s-eye in the center of the target. Becoming a good archer requires skill and experience, so we learn to modify what we do. If we hit too far up we then lower our aim; if we hit too far to the right we must aim left on our next shot, and so on. The cybernetic or goal-directed nature of systems can help us understand the role of goals and the use of feedback in trying to accomplish them. Much behavior, even incomprehensible behavior, is moti- Kemp.book Page 22 Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM 22 Chapter One vated by goals of one kind or another. When the feedback is ignored, the system is described as relatively closed. When communication is good, boundaries appropriate, and structural integrity in place, the system is said to be relatively open. According to the model, all systems have boundaries that separate systems from their environments and from each other. In order for a system to have internal integrity, its boundaries must also keep harmful elements out and allow for the inclusion of those things that are needed for the system to accomplish its goals and maintain itself. When boundaries perform the function of allowing in what is needed and keeping out what is harmful, they are called selectively permeable boundaries. In systems theory, living systems have a complex organization that includes many subsystems. Human beings, for instance, have a number of biological subsystems, including nervous, respiratory, digestive, and so on. Each subsystem has its own functions and plays its role in the maintenance and survival of the primary system. Within a human being we could also posit physical and psychological subsystems, each working in conjunction with the other. Not only do living systems have subsystems but they are also themselves parts (or subsystems) of other larger systems. On the social level, each of us exists within groups of other human beings that form families, friendship groups, classes, neighborhoods, communities, and societies. It is here, in discussing different levels of interaction, that we can apply ideas drawn from a systems or ecological perspective to help us organize our exploration of abuse. A Pioneering Ecological Model. A classic ecological model for describing abuse is the one adopted by Belsky (1980), based upon the earlier work of Bronfenbrenner (1977a, 1977b; 1997) and Tinbergen (1951). It is organized into a multilevel system. Belsky’s system (1980) has four factors or levels believed to be involved with abuse: an ontogenic level, a microsystem level, an exosystem level, and a macrosystem level. In Belsky’s framework (1980), the individual factors of the abuser make up the ontogenic level. The microsystems level is Belsky’s term for those factors in the child’s immediate environment, such as the home, the parents’ work, school, friends, and so on. The exosystem consists of relationships that indirectly affect people (e.g., community efforts to change laws, or the launching of a child abuse prevention campaign). Belsky characterizes the macrosystem as being all encompassing, taking in all the other levels and including broad and sweeping factors such as culture, attitudes, norms, values, sex roles, and the like. Many abuse authors have discussed the usefulness of using an ecological framework for understanding maltreatment (e.g., Cicchetti & Lynch, 1995; Garbarino & Eckenrode, 1997; Stockhammer et al., 2001). The Ecological Model Adopted in This Text. Belsky’s framework may be a bit more complex than is necessary for our purposes. In keeping with the principle of parsimony, or the idea that we should prefer the simpler models that explain as much or more, we will be using a three-level system to organize our discussion: macro, meso, and micro, meaning large, middle, and small (Kemp, 1998). We can use the macro level for explanations of phenomena that occur at the level of communities and the society. The exploration of the contribution of the culture Kemp.book Page 23 Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM The Abuse Landscape 23 occurs at this level and can include norms, economics, and political organization. Family systems would be at the meso level. Explanations about how family systems functioning contributes to or protects families from abuse occur at this level. We can use the micro level to apply to everything at the individual level. This includes all explanations about individual behavior, personality, personal motivation, and psychopathology. We will be looking at individual perpetrator factors, including personality and psychopathology, at the micro level; functional and dysfunctional family systems at the meso level; and factors in our culture and society that contribute to family abuse at the macro level. THE MACRO LEVEL: THE “BIG PICTURE” There are two measures of family maltreatment that can give us an estimate of the big picture, or macro level: incidence and prevalence estimates. Incidence estimates refer to the number of people who are abused during a given year. Prevalence estimates tell how many people living within a particular society have been abused. In addition to discussing some proposed explanations for abuse, we briefly survey some of the most frequently used statistics. The purpose is to start “framing in” the field. Since we will be discussing incidence and prevalence estimates in greater detail in the chapters that follow, we will only briefly discuss a few examples here. With issues as emotionally charged as abuse, people want to know how big the problem is. To look for answers we turn to statistics—although most of us also appreciate that statistics can be misleading if improperly used. There is an often-heard concern about the misuse of statistics that goes something like this: “There are liars, damn liars, and statistics.” Another concern is that statistics seem so complex, technical, and analytical that we can get bogged down in them and lose sight of what we really hope to understand. We do, however, need to examine statistics if we want to have any chance of determining the scope and size of the problem. As discussed earlier, statistics can be descriptive, correlational, or inferential. When trying to describe the incidence and prevalence of abuse we must turn to descriptive statistics, which, as the name implies, describes whatever part of the landscape we are able to sample. A number of abuse investigators have become interested in the various interrelationships and in understanding abuse in a more unified way. In these efforts, some have proposed ecological models (Bronfenbrenner, 1994, 1997), while others call for the adoption of systems approaches (for detailed discussions see Lewis, 2000; Our best estimates of child maltreatment probably come from the most recent National Incidence Study of Child Abuse, NIS-4). The NIS-4 data derive from a nationally representative sample of 122 counties (Sedlak, 2010). It uses information from sentinels, i.e. professionals who are in a position to know about abuse and neglect that may not be reported to the authorities. This report estimates that approximately 1.25 million children in the United States experience maltreatment, a number that includes both neglect and abuse (Sedlak et al., 2010). Of the maltreatment cases, the majority (61% or about 771,700) involve neglect, while the other 44% (about 533,300 cases) involve abuse. Of the neglect cases, approximately 47%, (about 360,500) are Kemp.book Page 24 Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:44 PM 24 Chapter One educational neglect; 38%, (295,300), physical neglect; and, 25% (193,400), emotional neglect. Of abuse cases, approximately 58%, (323,000) are physical abuse; 27%, (148,500), emotional maltreatment; and slightly less than 24%, (about 135,300 cases), sexual abuse. In addition to the National Incidence Studies (Sedlak, 2010), The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services annually collects data from the states on actual referrals and reports of child maltreatment. The most recent of these is Child Maltreatment 2014 (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2016). Referrals come from any source and are either screened in or screened out. Those that are screened in are called reports. Most reports are investigated to determine if they are substantiated or indicated. To be counted as substantiated CPS must have enough evidence to conclude that the allegations of maltreatment or risk of maltreatment were supported or founded by state law or policy. The term indicated is used when the suspected maltreatment could not be substantiated under state law or policy but there was reason to suspect that at least one child may have been maltreated or was at-risk of maltreatment. The total number of substantiated and indicated reports is somewhat lower than estimates from the National Incidence Studies. In 2014, there were substantiated or indicated cases involving 702,208 children. 75% of these involved neglect; 17% physical abuse; and about 8% sexual abuse (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2016). One incidence estimate of spousal maltreatment is drawn from the 2014 National Crime Victimization Survey, which samples 60,000 homes. It suggests that 2.4 per 1000 persons were victims of nonfatal intimate partner violence in 2014 (U.S. Department of Justice, 2015). It suggests that in 2014 approximately 635,000 violent crimes were perpetrated on victims by a spouse, ex-spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend. Chapter 10 looks at this problem in some depth. According to the National Center on Elder Abuse (2016), approximately 1 in 10 Americans aged 60+ have experienced some form of elder abuse. Some estimates range as high as 5 million elders who are abused each year. One study (Lachs & Pillemer, 2015) estimated that only 1 in 14 cases of abuse are reported to authorities. Data on reported cases substantiate about 192,000 cases of elder maltreatment (Teaster et al., 2006). As with child abuse and domestic violence, there are a number of different types of elder maltreatment, including physical, sexual, and psychological maltreatment as well as financial exploitation, neglect, and even “self-neglect” (see Chapter 12). Fatalities. In recent years, fatalities from child maltreatment have ranged from approximately 1,000 to about 1,500 per year (NCPCA, 1992; NCCAN, 1988; Gelles & Straus, 1988; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010; U.S. D...
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The topic of family abuse has always been a significant and troubling issue in our society.
Chapter one of the book Abuse in Society, An Introduction by Alan R. Kemp, delves into the
landscape of family abuse and how it has gained public awareness over the years. In this paper, I
will respond to the chapter, share what I learned, and explain why the topic is essential to our
society.
The chapter provides a comprehensive overview of family abuse, tracing the history of
public awareness and professional concern from Freud's time to t...


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