WCW Researcher Presents Her Work in Australia

Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2004 

  Linda Williams, Ph.D. traveled to Brisbane, Australia, in September to present a paper, co-authored with Veronica Herrera, at the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) 15th International Congress. The paper, "Social Contexts in Understanding the Impact of Child Sexual Abuse on Males: A 20-Year Follow-up Study," examines differences in adult adjustment between abused and non-abused males. Relying on data from a 20-year follow-up study of boys treated for child sexual abuse at a city hospital in the U.S. in the 1970s, the paper examines the impact of child sexual abuse on men over the life course, focusing on the social-contextual factors that influence the already demonstrated connection between child sexual abuse and delinquency, adult criminality, and mental health symptoms.

The social-contextual variables included professional help-seeking, family environment and care-giving, incarceration, and exposure to and timing of other traumatic events. Williams also co-authored "Dyadic Adjustment and Sexual Satisfaction among Parents Reported to Authorities for Violence," with Benjamin Saunders of the Medical University of South Carolina, who presented it at the conference.