College‐student survivors of incest and other child sexual abuse

Abstract

This chapter describes the dynamics of childhood sexual abuse, identijies the prevalence of college-student s m l abuse survivors, and addresses the major issues of child sexual abuse as they relate to college students.Since the late 1970s, incest and other forms of child sexual abuse have been a focus of attention for professionals concerned about the well-being of children. Changing laws, significant attention from the media, the creation of sexual abuse prevention programs, and the development of treatment and support services have contributed to the explosion of disclosures from children and adults (including college students) about memories of childhood sexual abuse. Child sexual abuse often remains secret and can disrupt personal development and trigger a lifetime of suffering. All aspects of life can be affected because sexual abuse not only is sexually intrusive but can also make an emotional, physical, and spiritual impact on the child.This chapter provides an overview of childhood sexual abuse and identifies the prevalence of survivors among college students. The major issues faced by survivors on campus are addressed and illustrated by case examples. A review of the results of a survey of college students explores the impact of childhood sexual abuse on students' current life functioning. The chapter concludes with recommendations to college campuses for developing more effective responses.

Reported Interpersonal Violence and Disposition Decisions: The Impact of Client and Counselor Variables

“…These findings support earlier research that found that men and women differed in their rates of sexual victimization but not in their rates of physical victimization (Duane et al, 1997, Sandberg et al, 1987, Worth et al, 1990. The findings that both incest and nonrecent rape survivors were more likely to have experienced physical abuse and that incest survivors were more likely to have experienced nonrecent rape confirm a previous finding (Witchel, 1991) that early violence may place a person at risk for later revictimization. Partial support was also found for the hypothesis that client and counselor characteristics would predict disclosure of interpersonal violence.…”