Child sexual abuse disclosures: An Irish perspective

Rosaleen McElvaneyDublin City University

The Irish story 1978 – Child Abuse Guidelines 1979 – establishment of Rape

Crisis Centre 1988 – Child sexual abuse

assessment centres The ‘X’ case 1994 – ‘Suffer Little Children’

TV documentary. Fr. Brendan Smyth

1996 – Dear Daughter TV documentary

1998 The Roderick Murphy Inquiry – investigation into swimming authorities

1999 – States of Fear TV documentary

2000 - Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse Act

2002 Suing the Pope & Cardinal Secrets TV documentaries

2002 – Residential Institutions Redress Act

2005, 2006 – Ferns Report, Archdiocese of Dublin Report, Cloyne Report

2009 Report of the commission to inquire into child abuse in Ireland, 2009

……

Ireland Population c4.5 million 10% immigrants “The most catholic country in the world”

(Blanchard, 1954, p.17) 93% of Irish respondents who were raised

as catholics still claim this affiliation. Although mass attendance has declined (90% once a week in 1973, 62% in 1988, 43% in 2008, Nic Ghiolla Phadraig, 2009)

Prevalence csa worldwide Prevalence rates for penetrative child sexual

abuse are higher for girls ranging from 2.9% to 10.5% (Sweden); 3% (UK); 4.9% (Turkey); 5.6% (Ireland); 7.8% (Greenland); and for boys, ranging from 0.6% and 5.5% (Sweden); 1% (UK); 2.7% (Ireland); and 3.2% (Greenland).

Broader definitions of contact sexual abuse range from 10% (UK); 11.3% (Turkey); 13.9% (Sweden); 15.8% (Denmark); 19% (Spain); 20.4% (Ireland); 39.8% (Switzerland) for girls; and for boys ranging 6% (UK); 6.7% (Denmark); 15.2% (Sweden); 15.5% (Spain); 16.2% (Ireland).

(Lalor & McElvaney, 2010)

Prevalence in Ireland SAVI (McGee et al., 2002) 1 in 5 women (20.4%) contact 1 in 10 (10%) non-contact 1 in 6 men (16.2%) contact 1 in 14 (7.4%) non contact Overall, almost one third of women

(30.3%) and a quarter of Irish men (23.6%) reported some level of sexual abuse in childhood in Ireland.

Disclosure Priebe and Svedin

(2008) N= 4,339 adolescents n=1962 some form of

sexual abuse(65% of girls and 23% of boys).

59.5 told no-one ‘friend of my own age’ 6.8% reported to

authorities

McGee et al. (2002)

N=3,118 adults Unwanted sexual

experiences under age of 17 years

47% told no one before the survey

33%

5%33%

29%

Delay in First Disclosure (n=162)

Immediately< 6 Months> 6 MonthsMissing

n=162129 female33 maleAge 10-1741% intrafamilial25% penetrative abuse

McElvaney, R. & Lloyd, A. (2014). Informal disclosures of child sexual abuse: A retrospective analysis. ISPCAN European Congress, Dublin.

Conceptual Model - Disclosure Containing the secret

Active withholding Pressure cooker effect Confiding

McElvaney, R., Greene, S. & Hogan (2011). Containing the secret of child sexual abuse. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, doi: 10.11/770886260511424503

Active withholdingC: I tried so many times to tell me Mam to tell me

dad like to tell me brother. Like I used to just come in and say ‘Mam I’ve something to tell you’ and then she’d say ‘what?’ an I’d say ‘No it doesn’t matter I’m only messing with you’ …and then I used to even think about telling me old primary school teacher … an then I tried to tell me brother. I remember one day he was coming out of his bedroom an I was like ‘(brother)’ he said ‘what?’ an eh I said ‘ah nothing it doesn’t matter’. He said ‘what’s wrong with you?’ an eh I says ‘Nothing it doesn’t matter’ an like I remember that night like and just crying and crying like and not knowing what to do like ringing (boyfriend) and saying ‘oh I can’t tell anybody I don’t know what to do’.

….R: it sounds like you were really trying so hardC: aw it was unrealR: how long was that going on for that you were

actually trying to tell somebody?C: about 2 years (C09).

Pressure cooker effect“I didn’t tell anyone for

a good few months and it was killing me” (C20),

“I kinda just tried to bury it and it didn’t work cos it kept coming up to the surface every now and again and I’d get angry and cry and I’d run up to my room” (C08).

Confiding “we were talking about our

problems… and em we were trying to help her with that. And then like out of nowhere like I just felt like saying it. Cos it was like built up and all of a sudden I just said it” (C08)

Containing the secret Sample of 29 young people

Only family members (n=6) Schools unaware (n=11) Siblings unaware (n=2) Extended family unaware (n=2)

Emotional response to abuse is ‘unmodulated and uncontained’ (Bentovim, 2002)

Self containment as means of self-regulating emotional impact of abuse; containment within relationships

To tell or not to tell?

being believed being asked shame/self-blame fears and concerns for self and others peer influence

McElvaney, R. Greene,, & Hogan, D. (2014). To tell or not to tell?

Factors influencing young people’s

infomal disclosures of child sexual abuse,

Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 29, 5, 928–947

DOI: 10.1177/0886260513506281

Current study Retrospective analysis of children’s files Potential sample of 1,000 Pilot study (n=39 files) Gender: 32 females, 7 males Age: 2-15 at beginning of abuse, 3-17 at

time of assessment 40% (n=15) intrafamilial abuse 40% (n=15) penile penetration

Content analysis (n=39)Theme no %

Feeling distressed

26 66%

Opportunity to tell

23 59%

Fears for self 21 54%

Peer influence 14 36%

Concerns for others

12 31%

Being believed 11 28%

Shame/guilt 11 28%

Books to read – Irish context

McKay, S. (1998). Sophia’s Story. Dublin:Liffey Press

Travers, O.,(1999). Behind the silhouettes: Exploring the myths of child sexual abuse.

McGee H. et al., 200The SAVI Report: Sexual Abuse and Violence in Ireland. Fublin: The Liffey Press

The end of innocence: Child sexual abuse in Ireland (Ed., Lalor, K., 2001) http://arrow.dit.ie/aaschsslbk/1/

Raftery, M. & O’Sullivan (1996). Suffer the little children. Dublin:

New Island

Goode,H. McGee, H. & O’Boyle,C., (2003). Time to listen: Confronting child sexual abuse by catholic clergy in Ireland. Dublin: The Liffey Press.

Kavanagh, J.,J & P & Quinn, M., (2011)Click, click click. Dublin:Hatchette Books

Keenan, M., (2011). Child sexual abuse and the Catholic Church.

New York: Oxford University Press