Treatment of Incarcerated, Sexually-Abused Adolescent Females: An Outcome Study

Abstract

This study examined the psychosocial functioning of 100 adolescent females (ages 12-17) sentenced to secure care in a southeastern state and the impact of gender-specific, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) intervention on the psychosocial functioning of subjects who reported a history of sexual abuse. The Multidimensional Adolescent Assessment Scale (MAAS) was used to assess psychosocial functioning. Pre-test scores on the MAAS revealed significantly higher scores on 12 of 16 dimensions of psychosocial functioning and higher rates of serious criminal behavior for youth who subsequently disclosed sexual abuse histories as compared to those without such histories. At post-test, statistically significant improvements in psychosocial functioning were observed on 14 of 16 MAAS subscales for those who received the CBT intervention. Thus, incarcerated female adolescents who reported a history of sexual abuse demonstrated more impairment in their functioning as compared to those without a reported history of sexual abuse and responded positively to gender-specific, CBT-based intervention.

Juveniles in Detention: How Do Girls Differ From Boys?

“…12, No. 1, January 2006 battering relationships (Arnold et al, 2003;Chesney-Lind, 1997;McCabe et al, 2002). Female participants in this sample were more than 15 times more likely to report unwanted sexual contact than males.…”

“…Some researchers have argued that abuse, in particular sexual abuse, plays a larger role in the pathway to delinquency for female than for male adolescents (Hoyt & Scherer, 1998). Consistent with this belief, several studies have found higher rates of sexual abuse among incarcerated girls compared with boys (Anaya, Cantwell, & RotheramBorus, 2003;Arnold et al, 2003).…”

The current state of gender-specific delinquency programming

“…Identified programs such as Go for Greatness (Guthrie & Flinchbaugh, 2001), Girl Talk (Schafer & Rosay, 2003;Schaffner, 2006), GirlRising (Beck, Bermudez, & King, 2003), and the Girls' Advocacy Project (Lederman & Brown, 2000) did not have evidence of evaluated effects. On occasion, outcome evaluations were available but lacked a description of the program itself (E. M. Arnold et al, 2003) or of the evaluation design (Daniel, 1999). Clearly, there is a focus on program content and development in this literature, with availability of program outcomes lacking behind.…”

When structural violences create a context that facilitates sexual assault and intimate partner violence against street-involved young women

“…While some authors have been interested in street-involved young women as an "at risk" population that needs to be protected, others have denounced a vast corpus of studies focusing on their delinquency (Bellot, Sylvestre, & St-Jacques, 2013;Campbell & Eid, 2009). Both homelessness and criminal behaviors are associated with violence and family conflict experienced by young women during childhood (Arnold et al, 2002;Belknap & Holsinger, 1998;Dhillon, 2011;Loper, 1999;McCabe, Lansing, Garland, & Hough, 2002;Medrano et al, 1999). While family factors and interpersonal violence experienced in the street are well known, there is a lot to understand about how institutions could reinforce violence and homelessness among street-involved young women.…”