One in Ten

Child sexual abuse is never a child’s fault. Absolutely never. And it’s unrealistic to expect children to somehow fend off the predations of adult offenders. But do jurors believe that? Dr. Jonathan Golding, professor of psychology at the University of Kentucky, asked: What do potential jurors believe about children and resisting abuse? How do these beliefs shape their understanding of who is responsible for that abuse? And how does this influence the outcome at trial? The results of his study are concerning and have implications not only for juror education but also education of the general public at large.

Topics in this episode:

• Origin story (1:31)
• CSI effect and other extralegal factors (3:18)
• Hypotheses (9:44)
• Research results (12:02)
• Not their fault (15:48)
• College students and community members (18:09)
• A lack of progress on this issue (21:41)
• Implications for juror education (32:36)
• What’s next in research (42:53)
• For more information (46:54)

Links:

Jonathan Golding, Ph.D., is a professor of developmental, social, and health psychology at the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences

“Impacts of Victim Resistance and Type of Assault on Legal Decision-Making in Child Sexual Assault,” Kyle P. Rawn, Mary M. Levi, Andrea M. Pals, Holly Huber, Jonathan M. Golding, Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, DOI: 10.1080/10538712.2023.2180468

Gail S. Goodman, Ph.D., director of the Center for Public Policy Research at the University of California, Davis, previously appeared on One in Ten to discuss “How Accurate Is Memory After 20 Years?”

Elizabeth Loftus, Ph.D.

Kyle P. Rawn

Steven Ceci, Ph.D.

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at NationalChildrensAlliance.org. Or visit our podcast website at OneInTenPodcast.org. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast.

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For professionals, one of the saddest aspects of child sexual abuse is the way in which many victims struggle with blaming themselves for the terrible actions of others. This self-blame and feelings of guilt can cause suffering throughout a lifespan if it’s left untreated. Many evidence-based interventions specifically target these negative feelings and erroneous thoughts. But how do children come to believe this in the first place? What makes children mistakenly believe that they’re somehow responsible for the actions of adults? 

Dr. Jouriles’ research set out to examine the relationship between whether and in what way caregivers’ and peers’ blame of victims influenced victims’ self-blame. And, while the results may not be surprising, the implications certainly are for child abuse professionals. How do we talk to parents and caregivers at the very earliest points of disclosure about the importance of supporting their child? How do we provide caregivers support in a way that ensures that they themselves have the emotional resources and resiliency needed to provide support to their children? And most importantly, how do we ensure that children know and believe that abuse is never, ever their fault?

Topics in this episode:

• Origin story (1:58)
• What are non-supportive responses? (3:42)
• Findings: the effect of non-supportive responses (10:46)
• Do the poor responses outweigh the good? (16:47)
• Advice for child abuse professionals (20:08)
• Future research needed (27:50)
• Engaging families in treatment (31:17)
• Rewarding work (38:46)
• For more information (40:47)

Links:

Ernest Jouriles, Ph.D., professor and co-director of the Family Research Center at SMU

“Non-supportive responses to adolescents who have experienced sexual abuse: Relations with self-blame and trauma symptoms,” Ernest N. Jouriles, Melissa J. Sitton, Adrianna Adams, Mindy Jackson, Renee McDonald. Child Abuse & Neglect, 2022, Vol. 134. doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2022.105885

Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center, Dallas, Texas

We discussed the Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention (CFTSI) with Dr. Carrie Epstein in “PTSD Interrupted?” (Season 5, Episode 2; February 17, 2023)

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at NationalChildrensAlliance.org. Or visit our podcast website at OneInTenPodcast.org. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast.

Support the show

Did you like this episode? Please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.

In this panel discussion recorded at the 2023 NCA Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C., on June 6, 2023, Dr. Melissa Brymer, Dr. Angela Moreland, and licensed mental health counselor Melissa Sommerville who speak from their personal experience in responding to incidents of mass violence in Sandy Hook; Charleston, South Carolina; Buffalo, New York; and more. How can organizations that support children and families support healthy coping and identify evidence-based trauma and grief treatments when additional assistance is needed? How can we address the additional pain when these incidents target one’s identity—race, ethnicity, gender identity, or religion? And how can we care for our own well-being and that of our staff, and create our own coping plan to help us get through these challenging times?

Topics in this episode:

• Our objectives (0:10)
• Personal experiences (15:00)
• First steps  (19:54)
• Basic needs (35:11)
• Social media (41:34)
• Resources (44:42)
• Pause, Reset, and Nourish (48:19)
• Q&A (51:56)

Links:

Melissa Brymer, Ph.D., Psy.D., director of the Terrorism and Disaster Program at UCLA/Duke University’s National Center for Child Traumatic Stress

Angela Moreland, Ph.D., associate professor of the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center at MUSC and associate director of the National Mass Violence and Victimization Resource Center

Vision 21

Melissa Sommerville, LMHC, project director of the Mobile Child and Family Trauma Treatment Team at Best Self Behavioral Health

National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN)

National Center for PTSD (NCPTSD)

Psychological First Aid

Skills for Psychological Recovery

Child Family Traumatic Stress Intervention (CFTSI)

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)

Trauma and Grief Component Therapy

Antiterrorism and Emergency Assistance Program (AEAP) grant

Transcend NMVC app

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at NationalChildrensAlliance.org. Or visit our podcast website at OneInTenPodcast.org. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast.

Support the show

Did you like this episode? Please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.

In our culture, when we think of examples of leadership bravery, we often think of huge risk and very heroic images. Hollywood reinforces this with movies like Sully, about a pilot that landed his plane on the Hudson River, or war movies—really, too many to even name. And business TED Talks and articles likewise focus on turnaround artists or grandiose start-ups.

Once we set aside the fictionalized accounts of gutsy leadership, how do we know what bravery in leadership really looks like? Our guest today, leadership coach and author Nicole Bianchi, argues for something more real and within the reach of every single leader: the next small brave move.

What could that look like for us as child abuse professionals? For our organizations? And for our multidisciplinary teams? And how might we change ourselves and our agencies and the system for kids by making successive small brave moves?

Topics in this episode:

• Origin story (1:34)
• Bravery is an acquired behavior (3:19)
• The top three fears (5:22)
• Examples of small brave moves (9:15)
• The process (15:16)
• When a small brave move doesn't go well (25:30)
• The table read (prepare!) (27:16)
• Working with teams (37:13)
• What's next for Nicole (40:28)
• Nicole at NCA's Leadership Conference (43:32)

Links:

Nicole Bianchi is a founding partner at Bravium HD, where she is a professional speaker, facilitator, and master coach designing and facilitating transformational workshops in leadership, team alignment, and culture-building 

Nicole’s book is Small Brave Moves: Learn Why Little Acts of Bravery Are the Key to Life-Changing Leadership; her second book, about leaders learning to have tough conversations, will be released in August 2023

She will give the closing keynote speech at the 2023 NCA Leadership Conference, June 5-7, 2023, in Washington, D.C.

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at NationalChildrensAlliance.org. Or visit our podcast website at OneInTenPodcast.org. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast.

Support the show

Did you like this episode? Please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.

Everyone’s heard of the vengeful ex-wife who accuses her ex-husband of child abuse just to get back at him during a divorce. There’s even a scientific-sounding term for it: parental alienation. But is parental alienation real? And are judges taking allegations of abuse seriously enough? In this rebroadcast of one of our earliest shows, we speak to Prof. Joan Meier from George Washington University Law School who has some frankly startling data on the subject. How does alleging abuse affect custody decisions? Is there scientific proof that alienation exists? And what can we do to persuade the courts to do a better job of investigating abuse?

Topics in this episode:

• Realizing children aren’t being protected (1:30)
• Junk science: parental alienation syndrome (2:47)
• The myth of the vengeful ex-wife (7:57)
• Women are not considered as credible as men (13:15)
• Effects on custody decisions (20:54)
• What should the courts be doing? (23:54)
• Reaction by judges (29:52)
• Advice for child abuse professionals (32:54)
• For more information (36:20)

Links:

This episode originally aired on January 5, 2020 

Joan S. Meier, professor of clinical law and director of the National Family Violence Law Center at the  George Washington University Law School

The study referred to in this episode, “Child Custody Outcomes in Cases Involving Parental Alienation and Abuse Allegations,” and other research by Professor Meier are available on the law school’s website

“‘A gendered trap’: When mothers allege child abuse by fathers, the others often lose custody, study shows,” is a Washington Post article about the study.

Domestic Violence Legal Empowerment and Appeals Project (DV LEAP) provides pro bono appellate representation in compelling domestic violence cases and trains attorneys and courts around the country

DV LEAP’s Legal Resource Library include briefs and court opinions, training materials, publications, links to domestic violence organizations, case digests, and custody resources

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at NationalChildrensAlliance.org. Or visit our podcast website at One in Ten podcast. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast.

Support the show

Did you like this episode? Please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.

In 1998, the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study showed that traumatic events in childhood were common and could have lasting effects—on everything from SAT scores while we’re in school to long-term physical health issues as adults. But are all ACEs created equal? In this rebroadcast of an intriguing interview from our first season, we invite Dr. Lisa Amaya-Jackson from the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress to discuss the benefits—and the limitations—of keeping score. Have we oversimplified the way in which we talk about ACEs? What’s the role of the community in developing resilience? (And why does she think “resilience” is both a beautiful word and a burden?) What do we need to know to help survivors heal?

Topics in this episode:

• Defining trauma (1:34)
• All ACEs were not created equal (5:29)
• The problem with oversimplification (8:58)
• How an ACEs assessment fits into the CAC rubric (20:23)
• Advice for child abuse professionals (26:20)
• Resilience and helping kids recover (29:43)
• What’s coming up at NCTSN (40:53)

Links:

The original Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study

National Child Traumatic Stress Network

National Center for Child Traumatic Stress

Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope (2016 documentary)

Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, at TEDMED 2014, “How childhood trauma affects health across a lifetime”

Prevent Child Abuse America

Core Curriculum on Childhood Trauma, including The 12 Core Concepts: Concepts for Understanding Traumatic Stress Responses in Children and Families

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at NationalChildrensAlliance.org. Or visit our podcast website at One in Ten podcast. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast.

Support the show

Did you like this episode? Please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.

Online exploitation of children is sadly not a new phenomenon or topic. But what is new is the dramatic growth of sextortion cases. In “Growing Up Online: Addressing Child Sextortion,” we speak with Katie Connell. Katie is unit chief of the Child Victim Services Unit at the FBI. 

These cases—whether fueled by financial, sexual, or revenge motives—trade on children and youth’s fear that nude or sexual images of them will be shared if they don’t meet offenders’ demands for money or more images. Tragically, the fear, shame, and stigma that victims feel has resulted in isolation, further exploitation, and even suicide. 

How do we prevent sextortion from happening in the first place? And if it does happen, what can we do to respond effectively and with compassion?

Topics in this episode:

• Origin story (1:21)
• Types of cases FBI sees (3:40)
• What is sextortion? (5:15)
• What is fueling the growth in cases? (9:43)
• Who are the offenders? (13:00)
• How are children targeted? (15:54)
• Preventing and responding to cases (19:19)
• Public policy implications (30:47)
• Advice for child abuse professionals (34:58)
• For more information (38:53)

Links and mentions:

Katie Connell, MSW (Catherine S. Connell), unit chief, Child Victim Services Unit, FBI; child/adolescent forensic interview specialist in the FBI’s Macomb County, Michigan Resident Agency

Debra Poole, Ph.D., experimental faculty, Department of Psychology, Central Michigan University

APSAC, the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children

Kimberly Poyer, section chief, FBI

Martha J. Finnegan, MSW, child/adolescent forensic interview specialist, FBI

TFO, task force officer

Innocent Images 

CAFI, child and adolescent forensic interviewer

FBI-NCA MOU (memorandum of understanding) began in 2015 and was updated in 2022; it ensures our law enforcement partners have access to CAC services needed to investigate and prosecute federal child abuse cases

NCMEC, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

Thorn

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at NationalChildrensAlliance.org. Or visit our podcast website at OneInTenPodcast.org. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast.

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Did you like this episode? Please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.

One of the most compelling problems in child sexual abuse prevention has been how to describe to parents, caregivers, and the general public exactly what signs to look for to identify concerns. Frankly, much of the discussion has been so general because, what might, with hindsight, have been a sign of abuse, might well in another setting be of no concern at all. Describing what grooming behaviors are has up until now been fraught and difficult.

Now enter researcher Elizabeth Jeglic from John Jay College, whose research looks at which behaviors are most clearly linked to child sexual abuse. And even more importantly, it identifies red flag behaviors that any mandatory reporter, parent, or professional can recognize to sound the alarm. This research has the potential to revolutionize both mandatory reporter training and the prevention education we conduct with kids in schools. And wait until you hear the implications for investigators and prosecutors as well. This is a seminal piece of research, and one we are all going to be citing and referring back to for years to come. Please take a listen.

Topics in this episode:

• Origin story (1:48)
• What is grooming? (4:12)
• The hindsight bias (7:20)
• High-risk grooming behaviors (8:56)
• The kids abusers target (12:05)
• Favoritism and trust development (17:34)
• Post-abuse maintenance (24:33)
• Implications for prevention (27:35)
• Implications for investigation (32:24)
• For more information (38:21)

Links:

Elizabeth Jeglic, Ph.D., is a researcher and professor of psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She is the co-director of the Sex Offender Research Lab at college. The co-author of two books, Sexual Violence: Evidence Based Policy and Prevention and Protecting Your Child from Sexual Abuse, she also blogs for Psychology Today

 Georgia Winters, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the School of Psychology and Counseling at Fairleigh Dickinson University

The research paper we’re discussing today is “Identification of red flag child sexual grooming behaviors,” by Elizabeth L. Jeglic, Georgia M. Winters, and  Benjamin N. Johnson. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2022.105998 This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC_ND license.

Sexual Grooming Model

Level of Concern Guide

Post-abuse maintenance chart

Megan’s Law

Jenna’s Law

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at NationalChildrensAlliance.org. Or visit our podcast website at OneInTenPodcast.org. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast.

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Did you like this episode? Please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.

One of the most vexing questions in child abuse intervention is: How do we know that the work we do makes a difference? We can count the number of kids we serve and the services we provide, but how do we know this actually makes a meaningful difference in the quality of the multidisciplinary team response and to the children and families we serve every single day?

We speak with Seth Boughton, director of data and innovative techniques at the Ohio Network of Children’s Advocacy Centers, about how we measure the impact of our work. Our Outcome Measurement System, started a decade ago by the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Texas includes caregiver feedback surveys, multidisciplinary team surveys, and youth feedback surveys. In the wake of our recent report, Healing, Justice, and Trust, we take stock of what we know about children’s and families’ outcomes, and further areas to explore.

Topics in this episode:

• Origin story (2:02)
• Practical uses for data (3:45)
• Outcome Measurement System (6:39)
• Turning our assumptions on their heads (10:54)
• Benchmarks and their uses (15:29)
• ChildSafe (18:05)
• Using data with partner agencies (25:38)
• Future research needed (30:02)
• For more information (45:31)

Links:

Seth Boughton, MSW, is director of data and innovative techniques at the Ohio Network of Children’s Advocacy Centers. He previously served as a research intern at National Children’s Alliance and still consults with NCA from time to time, including on the 2022 edition of our Healing, Justice, and Trust report.

Healing, Justice, and Trust 2022, a public version of the 2022 report. is available on our website; NCA members can access the member version with detailed data on NCA Engage; an Engage account is required.

Outcome Measurement System

Children’s Advocacy Centers of Texas

CAC Census; some materials are for members and partners only 

E3 program, Enhance Early Engagement

TF-CBT, Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

EMDR, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing

CACs and MDTs, Children’s Advocacy Centers and multidisciplinary teams

ChildSafe San Antonio story from NCA’s 2021 Annual Report

MSW programs, master of social work

NIJ, National Institute of Justice

NCMEC, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

Eyes Up Appalachia

SACWIS, Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System

Support the show

Did you like this episode? Please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.

We’ve learned so much about the trauma experienced by children who’ve been abused. We know about their clinical symptoms. We know how these affect their functioning at home and at school. And we know about the lifelong impacts of leaving these trauma symptoms untreated. We’re grateful that not only child abuse professionals but your average citizen is now aware that victims of child abuse can develop PTSD at rates and severity to those of soldiers who’ve been to war.

But is that cycle of abuse, trauma symptoms, and PTSD development inevitable? Is it possible to interrupt that cycle in such a way that symptoms reduce and PTSD never develops in the first place? CFTSI—the Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention—is an evidence-based intervention that can do just that for some kids. We speak with Carrie Epstein, co-director of the Yale Center for Traumatic Stress and Recovery and co-developer of CFTSI about how this brief, early intervention can help reduce symptoms in children and caregivers.

Topics in this episode:

• Origin story (1:30)
• The development of CFTSI (5:42)
• What is CFTSI? (12:25)
• Different perceptions of symptoms: child and caregiver (19:18)
• The benefit to caregivers (21:40)
• Really? A short-term treatment? (29:15)
• Recent study of how CFTSI helps different groups (40:31)
• What’s up next in research (47:30)
• For more information (53:33)

Links:

Carrie Epstein, LCSW-R, is the co-director of the Yale Center for Traumatic Stress and Recovery, an assistant professor at the Yale Child Study Center, and co-developer of the Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention (CFTSI)

Safe Horizon (NY)

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)

National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN)

Steven Marans, MSW, Ph.D., is the co-developer of CFTSI with Epstein

“Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention (CFTSI) reduces parental posttraumatic stress symptoms: A multi-site meta-analysis; Hilary Hahn, Karen Putnam, Carrie Epstein, Steven Marans, and Frank Putnam; Child Abuse & Neglect, June 2019; doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.03.010

“The Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention: Factors associated with symptom reduction for children receiving treatment”; Carla Smith Stover, Hilary Hahn, Kaitlin R. Maciejewski, Carrie Epstein, Steven Marans; Child Abuse & Neglect, December 2022; doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2022.105886

Youth mental health: Current priorities of the U.S. Surgeon General

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at NationalChildrensAlliance.org. Or visit our podcast website at OneInTenPodcast.org. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast.

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Did you like this episode? Please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.