The Perception of Children on Child Sexual Abuse:The Case of Children in Some Selected Schools in the Cape Coast Metropolis, Ghana — Oak Academic Publishing
Research ArticleOpen AccessGoogle Scholar indexed
The Perception of Children on Child Sexual Abuse:The Case of Children in Some Selected Schools in the Cape Coast Metropolis, Ghana
Department of Sociology & Anthropology, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana
,
Department of Sociology & Anthropology, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana
1 Department of Sociology & Anthropology, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana
2 Department of Sociology & Anthropology, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana
Children are mostly the victims of child sexual abuse however, most children have little or no idea about what child sexual abuse entails and the forms it takes. In addition, the opinions of children have mostly been neglected in cases of child sexual abuse. The study therefore was carried out to explore how much children know about child sexual abuse and to suggest ways of publicising the phenomenon among children. A proportional sample of 256 children was selected from five public basic schools in the Cape Coast Metropolis to participate in the study. From interviews with the children, varied ideas were obtained. Parenting styles, child’s age, child’s educational level and sex of the child were found to influence the perception of the child on child sexual abuse. The cultural belief of “sex as a secret” was also found to be integrally related to child’s perception on sexual abuse in Cape Coast. Recommendations are made and the most important thing that the Ghana Education Service should intensify is sex education in the basic schools’ curriculum to enable them to identify and report such cases whenever experienced.
KeywordsAbuseCape CoastChildSexualGhanaPerception
Arata, C. M. (1998). To tell or not to tell: Current functioning of child sexual abuse survivors who disclosed their victimization. Child Mal treatment: Journal of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, 3, 63-71.
Bailey, K. D. (2001). Systems theory. In J. Turner (Ed.), Handbook of sociological theory (pp. 131-154). Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
Bammeke, F., & Nnorom, C. C. P. (2008). Adolescent sexuality educa tion and the cost of conspiracy of silence: Lessons from Nigeria. The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, 3, 67-74.
Baron, R., Burgess, M., & Kao, C. (1991). Detecting and labeling pre judice: Do female perpetrators go undetected? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 17, 115-123. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/014616729101700201
Briere, J. (1992). Methodological issues in the study of sexual abuse effects. Journal of Consultingand Clinical Psychology, 60, 196-203.
Brown, C. K. (2002). A study on sexual abuse in schools in Ghana. Cape Coast: University of Cape Coast/UNICEF Ghana.
Dawes, R. M. (1988). Rational choice in an uncertain world. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Davis, J. L., & Petretic-Jackson, P. A. (2000). The impact of child sexual abuse on adult interpersonal functioning: A review and syn thesis of the empirical literature. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 5, 291-328. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1359-1789(99)00010-5
Draucker, C. B., & Martsolf, D. S. (2006). Counselling survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Finkelhor, D. (1986). A sourcebook on child sexual abuse. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Follette, V. M., & Pistorello, J. (1995). Couples therapy. In C. Classen, & I. D. Yalom (Eds.), Treating women molested in childhood (pp. 129-161). San Fransisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Galenson, E., & Rophie, H. (1974). The emergence of genital aware ness during the second year of life. In R. C. Friedman (Ed.), Sex dif ferences in behaviour. New York: Wiley.
Ghana News Agency (2011). Cape coast metropolis in retrospect. wwww.ghanadistricts.com/districts/?news&r=3&_=50
Hanson, R. F., Saunders, H. S., Saunders, B. E., Kilpatrick, D. G., & Best, C. (1999). Factors related to the reporting of childhood rape. Child Abuse & Neglect, 23, 559-569. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0145-2134(99)00028-9
Himelein, M. J., & McElrath, J. V. (1996). Resilient child sexual abuse survivors: Cognitive coping and illation. Child Abuse & Neglect, 20, 747-758. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0145-2134(96)00062-2
Johnson, S. M., & Williams-Keeler, L. (1998). Creating healing rela tionships for couplesdealing with trauma: The use of emotionally focused marital therapy. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 24, 25-40. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-0606.1998.tb01061.x
Karp, D. A., & Yoels, W. C. (1993). Sociology in everyday life (2nd ed.). Itasca, IL: F. E. Peacock Publishers.
Kendler, K. S., Kuhn, J., & Prescott, C. (2004). Childhood sexual abuse, stressful life events and risk for major depression in women. Psy chological Medicine, 34, 1475-1482. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S003329170400265X
Krug, E., Dahlberg, L., Mercy, J., Zwi, A., & Lozano, R. (2002). World report on violence and health. Geneva: World Health Organization.
Leach, F., Fiscian, F., Kadzamira, E., Lemani, E., & Machakanja, P. (2003). An investigative study of the abuse of girls in African schools. London: DFID. http://www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/investudyafricaedpaper54
Mead, G. H. (1934). Mind, self, and society. In C. Morris (Ed.), Chi cago: University of Chicago Press.
Parrot, A., & Cummings, N. (2008). Sexual enslavement of girls and women worldwide. London: Praeger.
Proulx, J., Koverola, C., Fedorowicz, A., & Kral, M. (1995). Coping strategies as predictors of distress in survivors of single and multiple sexual victimization and nonvictimised controls. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 25, 1464-1483. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.1995.tb02627.x
Saewyc, E. M., Pettingell, S., Lara, L., & Magee, L. L. (2003). The prevalence of sexual abuse among adolescents in school. The Journal of School Nursing, 19, 266-268. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/10598405030190050401
Sanderson, C. (2006). Counselling adult survivors of child sexual abuse. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Smith, D. W., Letourneau, E. J., & Saunders, B. E. (2000). Delay in disclosure of childhood rape: Results from a national survey. Child Abuse & Neglect, 24, 273-287. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0145-2134(99)00130-1
UNICEF (2008). Abus, exploitation et violence sexuels a l‘encontredes enfants a l’ecole en Afrique de l’ouest et du centre. UNICEF Bureau Regional, Afrique de l’Ouest et du Centre.
Webster, R. E. (2001). Symptoms and long-term outcomes for children who have been sexually assaulted. Psychology in the Schools, 38, 533-547. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pits.1041
Whiffen, V. E., Thompson, J. M., & Aube, J. A. (2000). Mediators of the link between childhood sexual abuse and adult depressive symp toms. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 15, 1100-1120. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/088626000015010006
Wurtele, S. K., & Miller-Perrin, C. L. (1992). Preventing child sexual abuse. London: University of Nebraska.
Wyatt, G. E., & Newcomb, M. D. (1990). Internal and external media tors of women’s sexual abuse in childhood. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 58, 758-767. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.58.6.758