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CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE & RUNAWAY BEHAVIOR.
Term Paper ID:20640
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Essay Subject:
Review of statistical studies on abuse as cause of runaways, prostitution, health issues, physical abuse, victimization. Annotated bibliography.... More...
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7 Pages / 1575 Words
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Paper Abstract:
Review of statistical studies on abuse as cause of runaways, prostitution, health issues, physical abuse, victimization. Annotated bibliography.
Paper Introduction:
Introduction
Papalia and Olds (1992) report that in the United States two million children per year are abused and neglected and that a substantial portion of these children are victims of sexual abused or incest. One way in which many young people respond to childhood sexual abuse/incest is by running away from home. The purpose of this paper is to examine a sampling of the current literature (studies conducted from 1990 to 1993) for connections between childhood sexual abuse and youth runaway behavior.
Childhood Sexual Abuse & Youth Runaway Behavior
As just noted, one finding that has been repeatedly observed in the childhood sexual abuse and runaway literature is that sexually abused children often runaway from home as teens. This can be seen in a study conducted by Feitel, Margetson, Chamas and
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This was a comparison study of runaway and nonrunaway youth receivingservices at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles' High Risk Youth clinic.The findings revealed a number of differences between the two groups ofteens. This article analyzed intake data of 1 young people receiving long-term case management services from a center for runaway and homeless youth. These findings indicate that not only are sexually abuse childrenlikely to become runaways, they are also likely to suffer from conductdisorder or some form of severe depression. Childhood Sexual Abuse & Youth Runaway Behavior As just noted, one finding that has been repeatedly observed in thechildhood sexual abuse and runaway literature is that sexually abusedchildren often runaway from home as teens. In anextensive study of child welfare services and runaways, Kufeldt (1991)stated that services may contribute to, rather than ameliorate the problemsince in many cases it was found that runaways have not left home butrather have left state institutions and services in which they were placedas a consequence of abuse (both sexual and physical) and/or neglect in thehome. In one such study, Cohen, MacKenzieand Yates (1991) administered a psychosocial interview instrument, HEADSS(Home, Education, Activities, Drug use and abuse, Sexual behavior, SuicideBehavior and Depression) to High Risk Youth Clinic clients during theirinitial visits to Children's Hospital of Los Angles. & Jarvis, S.V. (7) Social welfare services aimed at meeting the needs of runawaysin general and those with histories of abuse in particular may not only befailing to meet the needs of this population but may also be contributingto the problem through a reluctance to get deeply involved and throughefforts aimed at controlling youth rather than caring for them. One section of the text covered the general topic ofchildhood abuse and neglect with subsections specifically directed toward adiscussion of the incidence of childhood sexual abuse, its psychoemotionalconsequences, personalities of sexual abusers, and methods of preventionand treatment. & Olds, S.W. Special Issue: Homeless youth. Regarding these disorders, it was found that: 59 percent ofrespondents had conduct disorder, 75 percent were depressed, 41 percent hadconsidered suicide, and more than 25 percent had actually attemptedsuicide. (5) Runaways with histories of childhood sexual abuse are more atrisk for psychoemotional and medical problems than are runaways withhistories of physical abuse. Introduction Papalia and Olds (1992) report that in the United States two millionchildren per year are abused and neglected and that a substantial portionof these children are victims of sexual abused or incest. (4) Runaway teens in general and sexually abused runaway teens inparticular are more likely to be white than of minority ethnic backgrounds. HEADSS, apsychosocial risk assessment instrument: Implications for designingeffective intervention programs for runaway youth. Homeless and runaway youth mental healthissues: No access to the system. Specifically, the authors noted that their data suggested aconnection between family makeup (exposure to family breakdown, being thevictim of physical and/or sexual abuse), substitute care, and runningbehavior. & Swofford, A. It was found that ofthese visits, 467 were made by young people not involved in prostitutionand 153 visits were made by young people who were involved in prostitution. Kennedy, M.R. Further,runaway/homeless youth demonstrated all forms of drug abuse, engaged infirst sexual intercourse at an earlier age, and experienced a higherincidence of childhood sexual abuse and prostitution. They found a reluctance on the part of the state to intervene ifparents were available, especially for older children; and if there wasstate intervention, it tended to be more in the form of control, ratherthan care. Conducted for the adolescent division of Children's Hospital of LosAngeles, this study examined prostitution, medical problems, health-compromising behaviors, depression, suicide, and drug abuse in the intakedata of runaway and homeless youths arriving at the outpatient clinic.Data revealed that runaways with histories of childhood sexual abuse wereat greater risk for both prostitution and the medical risks attendant tothe lifestyle. (1992).Psychosocial background and behavioral and emotional disorders of homelessand runaway youth. Kufeldt, K. Findings further showed that 53percent of the youths receiving long-term services experienced physicalabuse while 3 percent of the sample experienced sexual abuse. Results of the study showed that homeless teens tended to be younger,female, and white in comparison to their nonhomeless counterparts. Special Issue:Homeless and runaway youth. Findings showed that there were significant differences in theproblems reported by physically abused and sexually abuse youth whencompared to their nonabused peers. In addition thefinding of this study confirmed the findings of other studies showing thathomeless youths were more likely to have been sexually abused as children,to suffer from some form of depression, and to respond to depressiveepisodes by considering or attempting suicide. Journal of Family Issues, 12(3), 361-379. Findingswere surprising in that they showed that a substantial proportion ofrunaway behavior was not from the home but from state institutions wherechildren had been placed, often due to abuse and neglect in the homesituation. One way in whichmany young people respond to childhood sexual abuse/incest is by runningaway from home. Journal ofAdolescent Health, 12(7), 545-548. Results were said to suggest thatearly sexual abuse increased the probability of involvement in prostitutionirrespective of any influence exerted through factors such as running awayfrom home, substance abuse, and other deviant activities. Based on the findings of the reviewed studies, severalconclusions can be formulated regarding relationships between runawaybehavior and childhood sexual abuse. Journal of Health and Social Policy, 2(4), 37-49. The finding that runaway teens with a history of either general abuseand/or sexual abuse engage in destructive behaviors like alcohol abuse hasalso been observed in other studies. (1991). This study examined the question of whether, at least among whites,runaways were more likely to become prostitutes than nonrunaway homelesswomen. Interestingly, sexually abused young people reported more personalproblems but fewer family problems than either physically abused youngstersor nonabused youth. This book is an introductory text on human development. (1992). Annotated Bibliography Cohen, E., MacKenzie, R.G. Extrapolating these findings, it can be seen thatsexually abused youth are more likely to runaway, more likely to engage inprostitution after they leave, more likely to engage in high-riskbehaviors, and therefore more likely to contract the HIV virus. Interviews,(which included both open-ended and closed-ended questions), were conductedwith 4 runaways (ages 14 to 18 years of age) and 95 homeless women whoseaverage age was in the late twenties. The notion that sexually abused runaways are more likely to engage inprostitution has been studied in several recent studies. Also of interest in Kennedy's (1991) study were findings related toalcohol drinking and depression and/or suicidal feelings and behavior. Findings showed that while the problems faced byphysically abused youth are similar to those faced by sexually abusedyouth, the degree of problematic behavior is stronger for young people whohave been sexually abused in childhood. Special Issue:Homeless youth. Cohen, MacKenzie and Yates (1991) compared Homeless/runawayyouths to nonhomeless youths in-a number of areas, including risks forhuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Journalof Adolescent Health, 12(7), 576-579. Problems ofmaltreated runaway youth. (1991). The author formulated the following recommendations for improvingservices: (1) a shift in policies toward families, children and youth thatwas more responsive to the needs of children at risk of being runaways, and(2) that social services for children and adolescents acknowledge andimplement programs and projects designed to remedy the negative impact ofthe school environment, the non-ability of many youth needing services toaccess services on their own, the need for reform in the care experience,and the need for support and security rather than containment and control. (The extent to which findings generalize to those who did notreceive long-term case management cannot be known on the basis of thestudy). This study compared physically abused and sexually abused runawayswith nonabused runaways. Both groups were primarily white. Moreover, earlychildhood sexual abuse was found to generally set women up forvictimization because of its strong contribution to risky lifestyles (IVdrug use, prostitution). Journal of Adolescent Health, 12(7), 539-544. However, they alsoshow that teens are likely to engage in alcohol abuse. Social policy and runaways. & Whitbeck, L.B. Further, it was found that physicallyabused young people showed a need for ongoing help to resolve or cope withthe burden of long-standing family, school, and personal problems. Special Issue: Homeless youth. This study examined the impact of child welfare services onpreventing runaway behavior in adolescents - this regardless of whetheradolescents were or were not physically and/or sexually abused. Human development, 5th edition.New York: McGraw-Hill. A clearer picture of the actual numbers of runaway youth who haveexperienced childhood sexual abuse is offered in a study conducted byKennedy (1991) who collected data from a center for runaway and homelessyouth that provided services to over 1, clients during the 13 month datacollection phase of the study. This study constituted survey/interview research designed to examinefor connections between sexual abuse and conduct disorder and depression ina sample of runaways seeking shelter in New York City. As in previous studies, a highpercentage of youths involved in prostitution reported a previous historyof sexual abuse which, according to Yates, MacKenzie, Pennbridge andSwofford (1991), suggested the need for intervention by the childprotective service system as part of the general treatment services offeredto runaway teens. However, the group most vulnerableto psychoemotional and medical problems were the runaways who had historiesof both physical and sexual abuse. If thesefindings are used as a basis for "guestimates" about the general populationof runaways, it could be that about one-third of this population hasprobably experienced childhood sexual abuse. The authors were specifically interestedin obtaining information about runaways' backgrounds as well as theincidence of diagnostically valid behavioral and emotional disorders ofthose young people seeking help from the shelter. Regarding abuse, intake data revealed that 62 percent of the teensreported multiple abuse (physical and sexual abuse) in the home, while 3 percent experienced severe neglect. Summary and Conclusions This paper reviewed several very recent studies examining factorspertinent to relationships between childhood sexual abuse and runawaybehavior. Given that many runaways are children who have been sexually abused,a key question is what can child welfare services do for these childrenbefore they decide to handle the situation through running away? Inthis regard, it was observed that about 81 percent of youths reported veryfrequent alcohol use, and 58 percent reported either considering suicide oractually attempting it. It was found that regardless of whether or not females wererunaways, a history of early childhood sexual abuse increased thelikelihood that females would engage in prostitution. (1991). It seems reasonable to suggest that if provided services are to beeffective, then there is a need to understand the diverse and sometimesdifferent problems that can be faced by teen runaways who have beensexually abused and teen runaways who have been physically abused.Precisely because of this need for a more specific understanding, somestudies of childhood sexual abuse and runaway behavior have specificallycompared physically abused children with sexually abused children as wellas both groups of abused children with nonabused controls. Simons, R.L. In terms of comparisons regarding contraction of the HIV virus(AIDS) and other sexual or sexually-related behaviors, runaway youths werefound to be far more at risk than nonrunaway youths. Sexual abuse as a precursorto prostitution and victimization among adolescent and adult homelesswomen. Feitel, B., Margetson, N., Chamas, J. (1991). One point stressed in the study was that youth involved inprostitution are at greater risk for contracting and transmitting humanimmunodeficiency virus. Kurtz, P.D., Kurtz, G.L. In another study of runaways, prostitution and childhood sexualabuse, Yates, MacKenzie, Pennbridqe and Swofford (1991) assessed datacollected during 62 initial visits of runaway/homeless youths to anoutpatient medical clinic over a one-year period. (1991).A risk profile comparison of homeless youth involved in prostitution andhomeless youth not involved. Of the 1, 15 new patients completing intake instruments, 63 percentwere homeless/runaway youths and 37 percent were living with theirfamilies. Adolescence, 26(1 3), 543-555. These conclusions are: (1) A substantial proportion of the two million children sufferingabuse yearly in the Unites States are victims of sexual abuse. Comparative analyses of these two groups revealed that runawaysinvolved in prostitution were at greater risk for a wide variety of medicalproblems and health-compromising behaviors, including drug abuse, suicide,and depression. (3) Runaway teens with histories of childhood sexual abuse are morelikely to become prostitutes and to engage in unsafe sexual practices as aconsequence thereof, and to generally be more at risk for victimization asa result of lifestyle than runaway teens with no history of sexual abuse. Youth were also at emotional risk of suicide and depressiveepisodes.----------------------- 1 The purpose of this paper is to examine a sampling of thecurrent literature (studies conducted from 199 to 1993) for connectionsbetween childhood sexual abuse and youth runaway behavior. Also,homeless youth were more likely to have dropped out of school and were farmore likely to be depressed and actively suicidal. Also, it wasfound that early sexual abuse indirectly affected the chances ofvictimization in general by increasing the likelihood of a lifestyle basedon participation in risky activities and events. & Yates, G.L. (1991). In one such study, Kurtz, Kurtz and Jarvis (1991) examined thefamily, school, and personal problems of maltreated runaway adolescents.In the study, an 85-item client information record was completed on 2, 19runaways (aged 18 years or older at the time of the study) by shelter stafffrom eight different states. It was also observed that the higher level of multipledrug abuse, the greater likelihood of gay or bisexual male involvement, andthe greater number of sexual partners. (2) Many runaways who have suffered from childhood sexual abuseare, as adolescents, exhibiting symptoms of conduct disorder, severedepression, suicidal urges and attempts, and substance abuse problems. (6) The group of runaways most vulnerable to psychoemotional,medical, and social problems are those whose histories contain incidents ofboth physical and childhood sexual abuse. Papalia, D.E. This can be seen in a studyconducted by Feitel, Margetson, Chamas and Lipman (1992) who interviewed14 clients (aged 13-22 years) receiving services in a shelter forhomeless youths in New York City. & Lipman, C. Hospital & Community Psychiatry, 43(2), 155-159. Yates, G.L., MacKenzie, R.G., Pennbridge, J. Interview data revealed that most of the teens using the shelter camefrom backgrounds characterized by severe emotional deprivation as well asphysical and/or sexual abuse. Interviewed youth(N=14 ), consisted of young people between 13 and 22 years of age.Findings showed that every respondent in the study had suffered from eitherneglect, physical abuse, or sexual abuse. In terms of psychological and emotionaldisorders, of the 14 youths who completed the full interview, 9 percentfulfilled Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders III-Revised(DSM III-R) criteria for an emotional or behavioral disorder. The authors also noted that there were several obstacles to the provisionof services to runaway youth. Young people who had been both physically and sexuallymaltreated were judged to be most at risk for significant and long-termpsychoemotional and medical problems; specifically, this group ofyoungsters was significantly more vulnerable and much worse offpsychoemotionally than those who only experienced either physical or sexualabuse. Liketheir physically abused peers, most sexually abused youth ran away due toproblems in their relationships with parent figures. Findings evidenced connections between general abuse, childhood sexualabuse, alcohol substance abuse, and depression in teens receiving services. For example,Simons and Whitbeck (1991) studied direct and indirect models of the impactof early sexual abuse on prostitution and victimization. Kennedy's findings clearly support those of Feitel, Margetson,Chamas, and Lipman, (1992) in that they show an association between runawaybehavior, sexual abuse, and feelings of depression. Of those receiving services, intake datawere obtained from 1 young people who received long-term case managementservices. Moreover, almost all of theyoung people interviewed also suffered from either some form of depressionor from conduct disorder as defined by the Diagnostic and StatisticalManual of Mental Disorders (Revised Edition) published by the AmericanPsychiatric Association. The generalthrust of the text is upon developmental continuity throughout the lifespanwith emphasis being placed upon: (1) the ways in which experiences at onetime of life affect future development, and (2) the relative contributionto human development made by genes, general society, and the immediatefamily system. These obstacles included: (1) lack ofadequate funding, (2) ineffective and unnecessary procedures for voluntaryplacements and for hospitalizations; (3) lack of long-term shelterfacilities, (4) lack of programs to address substance abuse problems anddifficulties affecting many of the young people applying for services, and(5) lack of treatment and support systems for human immunodeficiency virus(HIV)-positive youth.
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