Abuse, Sexual – Contact(s) between a child and an adult, or person significantly older, or in a position of power or control over the child, where the child is being used for sexual stimulation of the older person.
Accessory – A person who contributes to or aids in the commission of a crime, before or after it is committed.
Accommodation – Fitting in or conforming to the environment. This can refer to positive changes such as a child who shifts interests to accommodate to a new step-family, or negative changes, such as a child who becomes less resistant and assertive when repeatedly sexually abused by a member of the family.
Accomplice – A person who, knowingly, assists the primary perpetrator in a crime.
Acquittal – The finding in a criminal case that a defendant is not guilty of the crime charged.
Adult survivor of sexual abuse – A person who has undergone abuse as a child.
Conduct Disorder – A disruptive behavioral disorder during childhood and/or adolescence, characterized by persistent violation of the rights of others. This is a pattern often found in children legally determined to be delinquent, and can sometimes be found in adolescents who commit sexual offenses to younger and more vulnerable children as one of many exploitative and negative behavioral patterns.
Defense Mechanism – Unconscious attempts to provide relief from emotional conflict. Common ones include; denial, displacement, dissociation, projection, rationalization, and regression. There are others. Offenders almost always use denial to reduce the negative self-esteem that comes from realizing how destructive child molestation behaviors are.
Defendant – The alleged wrong doer in a criminal or civil case.
Delusion – A false belief system despite clear external evidence to the contrary. The most common delusions are of persecution or grandeur.
Denial – One of the primitive defense mechanisms involving disavowal of negative thoughts, feelings or behaviors that are true or have occurred. It differs from lying in that the person, at least partially, believes his/her own distortion. Rejecting the full reality and responsibility of an inappropriate behavior. Denial is common among sex offenders and persons with substance addictions.
Developmental Disability – A substantial handicap or impairment occurring prior to the age of 18.
Deviant Sexual Arousal – A pattern of sexual interest for inappropriate activities or objects. Sexual interest in prepubescent children is one example and is referred to as Pedophilia. Many other forms of deviant sexual arousal are also possible.
Empathy – The capacity for participating in another person’s feelings or ideas; putting oneself into the psychological frame of reference of another person so the other person’s thinking, feeling, and acting are understood. During the act of abuse of a child, empathy is usually missing from the abusing adult. Thus, measurement of empathy is thought to be an important aspect to assessment of recidivism risk for abusers.
Enuresis – Repeated voiding of urine into inappropriate places past the age of 4 and not due to a direct physiologic problem. Enuresis can be a symptom of many different problems, sometimes but not always, including sexual abuse.
Homosexuality – Sexual interest in persons of the same gender. Homosexuality is no longer considered a disorder and is currently believed to be unrelated to increased probability of sexual orientation toward children.
Hostile Witness – A witness who is subject to cross-examination by the same party who called him/her as a direct witness due to antagonism demonstrated during DIRECT EXAMINATION.
Hymen – Thin membranous tissue covering the opening to the vagina. It may be of various normal configurations other than the most commonly known shape of a ring of tissue narrowing the vaginal opening.
Incest – Sex / sexual relations with a relative.
Interrogation – An interview of a suspect believed to have committed a crime with the goal being a confession. An interrogation is not the same as an interview in that a conclusion has already been reached by the law enforcement investigator and the goal is less focused on obtaining new information
Juvenile – In Georgia, a person under the age of 18; MINOR.
Juvenile Court – A court specifically established to hear cases concerning minors as victims of deprivation or as perpetrators of juvenile crimes.
Mental Status – Psychological and behavioral functioning determined through observation and questioning. A “mental status exam” reviews such functioning covering such things as; affect, speech, thought content, perception, and cognitive functions.
Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) – Collaborative efforts of professionals from different disciplines toward a common goal. Effective intervention of child sexual abuse seems to be best accomplished through an MDT approach in which the common goal of reducing child sexual abuse, and reducing the negative effects of child sexual abuse, have more characteristics of O-AFFECT than pursuing one’s individual or one’s profession’s goals while ignoring the broader goals of the entire team.
Perpetrator/Abuser – The person who sexually abuses a child for his/her own sexual gratification.
Pedophilia – One of the PARAPHILIAS indicating sexual interests and behavior by an adult generally towards prepubertal children.
Pedophile – An adult who indulges in sexual acts with a minor child and attains sexual gratification.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) – A disorder following exposure to an overwhelming stressor involving threat of injury, death or threat to self plus a feeling of extreme helplessness and fear followed by symptoms of persistent mental re-experiencing of the trauma, avoidance of things associated with the trauma which are not dangerous, and hyper arousal of the AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM. Many victims of sexual abuse show some or all signs of PTSD, although some show none of these symptoms
Prevention – Taking active steps that reduce the PROBABILITY that an undesirable outcome may occur. Prevention of sexual abuse must include experiences for children and families that support thoughts, feelings and behaviors in opposition to abusive actions.
Probation – A method of allowing a person convicted of a minor offense to remain in community but having to follow special rules, and being supervised by a Probation Officer.
Prognosis – The prediction of the future course of an illness including mental health problems.
Projective Tests – Psychological tests used for diagnosis in which there is a wide range of possible responses thought to allow for a “projection” of internalized issues into the test data. Examples include projective drawing tests, inkblots, and imaginative story telling to pictures. Projective tests are useful in uncovering unconscious material, but tend to be less RELIABLE in scoring compared to objective tests that are NORMED. The value of projective test results is highly dependent on the clinical skill of the examiner.
Psychiatric Social Worker – A social worker with a master’s or doctorate degree and specialized psychiatric training. In Georgia, the term more commonly used is Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW).
Psychiatrist – A licensed physician with specialized training in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental disorders. A Board Certified Adult Psychiatrist has a 4 year medical degree, medical license, and specialized psychiatric training to work with adults. A Board Certified Child Psychiatrist has this training as well as another subspecialty with children and adolescents. Psychiatrists can do psychotherapy, medication, and hospitalize persons for psychiatric disturbances. Sometimes their medical training is also related to psychiatric symptoms actually tied to physical problems (e.g. depression in a patient due to thyroid problems).
Psychologists – In Georgia, a person holding a doctoral degree (Ph.D. or Psy.D.) in psychology from an accredited program. There are many different specialty areas of psychology, not all of which deal with persons’ mental, behavioral or emotional problems. School Psychologists must be certified through the State Department of Education to be employed within the schools. Clinical and Counseling Psychologists must be licensed in order to practice psychology independently.
Psychopathology – The manifestation of significant mental disorders. Also, the study of the origins and processes of these disorders.
Psychosexual Assessments – Interview approaches and tests focused on sexual functioning, especially sexual dysfunctioning and PARAPHILIAS.
Psychosexual Development – A psychoanalytic term referring to stages of development from a Freudian perspective.
Psychosomatic – An adjective used to describe physical symptoms that are at least influenced by psychological factors (e.g. headaches related to tension).
Psychotherapy – An intervention approach to reduce psychological symptoms.
Psychotropic – An adjective describing medications used for psychiatric symptom relief.
Relapse – An individual who has recovered or improved and subsequently experiences a return of symptoms is said to have experienced a relapse. A relapse of paraphilic symptoms that are illegal would be considered an example of a relapse and of RECIDIVISM
Sexual Abuser /Sex Offender – A person whose sexual behavior is directed at another who refused, or were not able, to offer their consent.
Survivor – The victim who learns to cope or is healed of the sexual abuse and has learned to relegate it to his past events with the clear understanding that he is not at fault. By this time he has more power to heal.
Sodomy – Sexual penetration of the ANUS by the penis of a male
Traumatic Amnesia – Difficulty being able to intentionally recall part or all of an extreme trauma event which became dissociated from normal consciousness and memory. Some of the worst trauma persons have experienced may be difficult to intentionally recall and discuss because of the process of dissociation. This subject is a topic of great controversy in contrast with the explanation of FALSE MEMORY.
Vagina – The female genital opening from the LABIA inside to the uterus.
Verdict – The final judgment of a jury or judge in either a civil or criminal case.
Vigilance – Alertness to potential danger. In victims of severe trauma, vigilance often includes the general alerting function or sentinel activity of the nervous system resulting in over responding and difficulty in returning to a relaxed state.
Victim – The child who suffers the abuse and is helpless and powerless.