The impact of child abuse in community institutions and organizations: Advancing professional and scientific understanding.

Abstract

Although child abuse by family members has received considerable scientific and professional attention, knowledge on the impact of abuse committed by perpetrators in (nonfamilial) community organizations and institutions is lacking. We present a conceptual framework derived from child abuse studies, the authors’ collective clinical experience with adult survivors of nonfamilial abuse, and two independent panels of abuse survivors, practitioners, and researchers familiar with the impact of such abuse. The framework identifies abuse‐related factors that contribute to harmful outcomes, and dimensions of harm associated with such acts. Implications of the conceptual framework are discussed in relation to professional education and practice guidelines, policy and prevention initiatives, and research needs.

Investigating institutional abuse survivors’ help-seeking attitudes with the Inventory of Attitudes towards Seeking Mental Health Services

“…Institutional abuse is characterized by an omnipresent authority that exaggeratedly controls every aspect of children’s lives in institutionalized foster care settings (Goffman, 1987) and an inappropriate and potentially harmful use of power that threatens children`s well-being (Wolfe, Jaffe, Jette, & Poisson, 2003). The Austrian institutional abuse survivors reported experiences of abuse to a victim protection commission and were offered financial compensation and/or psychotherapy from the local government.…”

Institutional betrayal.

“…This "not knowing" is a second common barrier to recognition of institutional and systemic factors in our understanding of trauma. This pattern emerges in workplaces where sexual harassment is common and apparently condoned (Fitzgerald et al, 1997), in schools where abuse is "common knowledge" but unaddressed (Wolfe et al, 2003), and in churches where clergy are reassigned or moved to a new parish after allegations of abuse surface but are otherwise not reprimanded (Dale & Alpert, 2007). Yet this barrier (i.e., maintaining unawareness of injustices around us) is a very human quality, particularly if this knowledge would be threatening to our well-being (Freyd & Birrell, 2013).…”

The characteristics of sexual abuse in sport: A multidimensional scaling analysis of events described in media reports

“…Not surprisingly, abuse has been reported in educational settings, the church, the care system, the workplace, and sport (Woolfe, Jaffe, Jette, & Poisson, 2003). Most studies of abusers have tended to focus on those detained in prison and have, therefore, been caught.…”

“…It is inevitably more difficult to study abusers who remain largely undetected and, as such, less attention has been paid to sex offending within professional, recreational, or institutional settings where authority structures inhibit reporting by victims (Brackenridge and Kirby, 1997;Woolfe et al, 2003). Because of this, the prevalence of sexual abuse is often difficult to determine accurately and can only be estimated.…”