The Survey of Afro-American Behavior (S.A.A.B.) is a scale devised for specific use with mental health professionals to assess the affective and cognitive components of attitudes toward positive (favorable), negative (unfavorable), factual and stereotypic statements regarding Afro-American behavior in seven areas, two of which are examined in this paper: 1) family life patterns and marital relationships, and 2) sexual values and behavior. Significant differences on the factual and stereotypic items emerged among six groups of therapists divided by age and sex. There were statistically significant differences on family life and marital relationship items between the means of Afro-Americans over 45 years of age, who agreed more with positive statements, and Anglo-Americans under 35 years of age; and on sexual issues each of the three groups of Afro-Americans agreed more with the factual statements than three groups of Anglo-American cohorts. Sexual values and belief statements were the most controversial area of knowledge both within and between the two ethnic groups. The implications of this study are discussed in terms of prevention and early intervention programs for Afro-American communities with particular emphasis on the necessary training of mental health professionals to work effectively with Afro-Americans.
This article surveys findings on the lasting effects of child sexual abuse on individuals and on the family, child care, education, social service, health care, and legal systems. Child sexual abuse clearly has immediate identifiable effects, consistent symptom patterns, and adverse long-term effects on both boys and girls. It is suspected as the underlying ideology of a number of mental health disorders that have been resistent to treatment, including borderline and multiple personalities. There are, however, difficulties in establishing a linear relationship between sexual abuse in childhood and a specific outcome in adulthood. More work is needed to develop one conceptual model adequate to describe sexual abuse. Since 1976, the incidents of reported child sexual abuse has risen an estimated 27%. The role of reconstituted families in the increased incidents, and the effect of increased awareness of sexual abuse on teachers and other child care providers are discussed. It is recommended that effort be directed to locating the underlying causes of child sexual abuse, so social policy for prevention of child sexual abuse can take accurate aim at the source of the problem. It is necessary that prevention programs directed to children not prevent development of crucial trust. Specific recommendations for future research are made.
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