Journal of Sociology and Social Work

Child Social Workers Preparedness in Working with Children who Sexually Abuse Other Children across Practice Settings
Allen E. Lipscomb, PsyD, MSW, LCSW; Gabrielle Cuaderes Emeka, MSW

Abstract
The purpose of this article is to explore the current thoughts, feelings and interventions utilized by Child Social Workers (N = 15 CSW) across various practice settings (i.e. child welfare organizations, schools, hospitals, private practice, and mental health agencies) providing services to Child Sexual Abusers (CSA) and identify what interventions are effective when working with this often stigmatized and forgotten population. The research questions were as follows: 1) What barriers are in place that prevent working with this population? 2) What areas need strengthening within the child welfare system? And 3) are there interventions in place that have been shown to be successful when working with this population? The methodology utilized was electronic anonymous qualitative survey questionnaire. Electronic surveys were distributed via snowball sampling utilizing social media outlets and emails sent to various organizations and agencies within the Los Angeles area. The results indicated that Child Social Workers experienced various challenges from vicarious impact of hearing of the sexual abuse to inherent ethical dilemma (i.e. punitive actions or restorative healing actions to prevent psychological harm) when working with this population. Recommendations and practice implications will also be explored in this article.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jssw.v7n2a3