Positive Resolution of Childhood Sexual Abuse Experiences: The Role of Coping,Benefit-Finding and Meaning-Making

Resolution of the trauma of childhood sexual abuse (CSA), and the current adjustment of 60 adult female CSA survivors were explored through qualitative and quantitative analyses of their coping strategies, perceived benefits, and meaning-making attempts. While the majority of the women (87%) perceived at least some benefit resulting from coping with the CSA experience, many (29%) found it impossible to make any meaning of their trauma. Specific benefits that were associated with various aspects of positive adjustment (marital satisfaction, better physical health, less isolation) included improved relationships with others, religious or spiritual growth, and improved parenting skills. Some perceived benefits were actually associated with a negative outcome. Increased knowledge of sexual abuse was associated with more isolation and lower marital satisfaction. When positive meaning could be derived from the coping process, the women reported less isolation. Avoidant coping was strongly associated with more depressive symptoms and poorer resolution of abuse issues. Results highlight the importance of considering coping strategies and cognitive restructuring efforts in designing therapeutic interventions with this population. Portions of this paper were presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Psychological Association, May 2004, Chicago, IL.     

性权利与婚姻的冲突与衡平

婚姻是对性的某种束缚,配偶权与性自主权之间存在固有的张力和冲突。平衡配偶权与个人性权利的关系,不仅要考虑到个体的自由,也需要捍卫婚姻的合理价值。为此,强化配偶间的忠实义务、同居义务的同时,对非婚性行为、婚外性行为适度宽容和规范,改革离婚法,以促进个体的性权利的实现。     

Sex and the genuine marriage: consummation and conjugality in Canadian citizenship

The idea of consummation as definitive of a marriage seems antiquated today. Yet, consummation operates as a central criterion in determinations of a ‘genuine marriage’ in Canadian immigration law. Drawing on the marriage and migration literature, theorizations of sexual citizenship, and critical multiculturalism, we explore recent judicial considerations of consummation in Canadian family sponsorship adjudications. We searched the CanLII database (a Canadian database of legislation and judicial records) for the keywords ‘non-consummation’ and ‘genuine marriage’ and identified 68 cases. Of these cases, three primary themes emerged: the use of consummation as a ‘technology of love’ – a requirement for assessing the authenticity of the spousal relationship and hence the worthiness of sponsorship; the discursive construction of sexual and gendered norms in expectations around marital intimacy, and the articulation of liberal tolerance and the cultural other in the assessments of genuine marriages among primarily racialized Canadians or permanent residents and their foreign spouses. We challenge these discursive narratives and conclude by arguing that instead of consummation as the basis for genuine marriage, the Law Commission of Canada’s ‘close personal relationship’ model is a better way to assess the ‘genuineness’ of relationships for determining Canadian citizenship.     

Performance of the supervised learning algorithms in sex estimation of the proximal femur: A comparative study in contemporary Egyptian and Turkish samples

Sex estimation standards are population specific however, we argue that machine learning techniques (ML) may enhance the biological sex determination on trans-population application. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) versus nine ML including quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA), support vector machine (SVM), Decision Tree (DT), Gaussian process (GPC), Naïve Bayesian (NBC), K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN), Random Forest (RFM) and Adaptive boosting (Adaboost) were compared. The experiments involve two contemporary populations: Turkish (n = 300) and Egyptian populations (n = 100) for training and validation, respectively. Base models were calibrated using isotonic and sigmoid calibration schemes. Results were analyzed at posterior probabilities (pp) thresholds >0.95 and >0.80. At pp = 0.5, ML algorithms yielded comparable accuracies in the training (90% to 97%) and test sets (81% to 88%) which are not modified after employing the calibration techniques. At pp >0.95, the raw RFM, LDA, QDA, and SVM models have shown the best performance however, calibration techniques improved the performance of various classifier especially NBC and Adaboost. By contrast, the performance of GPC, KNN, QDA models worsened by calibration. RFM has shown the best performance among all models at both thresholds whereas LDA benefited the best from using both calibration methods at pp >0.80. Complex ML models are not necessarily achieving better performance metrics. LDA and QDA remain the fastest and simplest classifiers. We demonstrated the capability of enhancing sex estimation using ML on an independent population sample however, differences in the underlying probability distribution generated by models were detected which warranted more cautious application by forensic practitioners.     

从性别政治到性欲政治——台湾女性思潮变迁的一个侧面

近30年来，台湾女性运动与思潮发展迅猛。特别在上世纪90年代，焦点一度从争取参政权、财产权等公共领域转入“私领域”，更多地关注女性的性欲和身体。这一发展，深刻地显示了台湾社会女性思潮的重大变化。     

美国刑法中的重罪谋杀罪规则评析

重罪谋杀罪是英美刑法中比较特殊,并引起很多批评和质疑的罪名。目前,美国大部分州的刑法仍保留有该罪名,但其适用范围和条件受到越来越多的限制,实际上被限于在实施重罪过程中故意或过失造成死亡结果的情形。由于该罪名的设置仍具有一些积极意义且限制了适用范围,尽管存在比较严厉的批评之声,但绝大多数州的刑法仍然保留了重罪谋杀罪规则,短期内没有被废除的迹象。     

Childhood Sexual Abuse and HIV Risk Among Men Who Have Sex with Men: Initial Test of a Conceptual Model

Childhood sexual abuse has been associated with HIV transmission risk behavior in men who have sex with men. This study examined an adapted model that was originally developed to explain the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and HIV risk behavior among women in a sample of men who have sex with men. Men attending a large gay pride event (n=647) completed anonymous surveys that assessed demographic characteristics, childhood sexual abuse, symptoms of dissociation, trauma-related anxiety, borderline personality characteristics, hopelessness, substance use, and sexual risk behavior. A latent variable partial least squares analysis was conducted to test the interrelationships between childhood sexual abuse, exchanging sex for money or drugs, emotional disturbances, drug use, substance use in the context of sexual behavior, and sexual risk behavior. The model fit the data well and accounted for 10% of the total variance in sexual risk behavior. History of childhood sexual abuse predicted exchanging sex for money or drugs and this relationship was partly accounted for by active drug use. Substance use proximal to sexual behavior also emerged as a key factor in predicting sexual risk behavior. Findings from this study, therefore, indicate a direct association between history of child sexual abuse and high risk for HIV infection related to engaging in sex trade.     

Sex differences in the experience of child sexual victimization

This study analyzed 390 (303 girls and 87 boys) cases of child sexual abuse to understand sex differences in child sexual victimization. Analyses focused on three domains that have received considerable empirical attention: victims' relationships with the offender, type and extent of abuse, and disclosure. Findings largely replicated previous efforts that reported sex differences in terms of victims' relationships with offenders. Although results also replicated previous findings about sex differences in disclosure patterns, these sex differences were minor in comparison with similarities in the way most instances of abuse were eventually identified. In terms of type and extent of abuse, results were the opposite of previous findings: girls, not boys, were the victims of more physical injury, violent threats, and use of force; and girls, not boys, were more likely to have physically resisted abuse. Divergences in findings were interpreted in terms of memory biases and social forces operating differently on the sexes.     

Sexual Assault Policies and Consent Definitions: A Nationally Representative Investigation of U.S. Colleges and Universities

ABSTRACT

Campus sexual assault (SA) policies and sexual consent definitions have not been widely studied. The study team conducted a nationally representative review of college and university websites (n = 995), assessing the prevalence of publicly accessible online policies and definitions and examining associations with school characteristics. A content analysis was performed on a subsample (n = 100) of consent definitions. Most schools (93.0%) had an SA policy and consent definition (87.6%) available online. Schools were more likely to have a policy or consent definition if they were large (≥5,000 students), public, or had a female enrollment of ≥33%. Detail and comprehensiveness of definitions varied. Findings highlight opportunities for schools—especially small schools, private schools, and those with more male students—to increase access to SA policies and consent definitions.     

Calling Attention to the Importance of Assisting Male Survivors of Sexual Victimization

ABSTRACT

Most of the research focusing on sexual victimization on college campuses has focused on females as victims. This attention is warranted given that studies have consistently found that females are at more risk of experiencing victimization compared to males. However, a drawback of this emphasis is that laypersons may incorrectly believe that men cannot be victims too. This belief is directly challenged by various findings that indicate college men are also sexually assaulted. In order to draw attention to this under researched topic, we used data from a recent climate survey conducted at a mid-sized rural institution of higher education. The results of this study indicated that males, in addition to females, experienced various types of sexual victimization in this setting.