RESEARCH PROPOSAL
RESEARCH TITLE:
A retrospective study on the presence of mental disorders diagnosed on the sexually abused clients referred to the Women and Child Protection Unit at the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH).
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES:
1. To determine the incidence and comorbidity of mental illness found in the sexually abused clients referred at the NCMH from January – December 2001.
METHODOLOGY
A statistical study from representative data gathered from 100 clients with complete court reports referred to the NCMH from January to December 31, 2001.
PROPOSED BY:
Medical Office III
DISCUSSION
A total of 100 documented cases of family violence, obtained from the files of the NCMH covering the period from 2001-2002, were analyzed statistically, based on the list of factors that could provide a comprehensive profile of these clients. The following general findings of the study show the extent and the kind of abusive and violent environment the clients were in and the circumstances which have triggered such events to happen.
1. Violence in the family consists of several forms of abuses – physical, verbal, economic, emotional and sexual. Due to their vulnerability in the family structure, it is often the women and the children who are the recipients of such acts of violence. Figure 1 shows a graph of the different forms of abuse. For this study, the most common form of abuse is sexual assault (66%), followed by physical abuse (18%) and then by verbal abuse (10%). There was also an incidence of economic abuse (1%), plus an incidence wherein verbal, physical and economic abuse occurred simultaneously (1%). Other forms of abuse (3%) consisted mostly of varying degrees of emotional abuse with combinations of any of the aforementioned types.
Some of these abuses occur in different combinations. Sexual abuse is often accompanied by physical and verbal abuse .A typical example would be a case of a male neighbor molesting a young girl after which he menaces the girl with pernicious words and promises of retaliation if the victim seeks help. Another would be a case of a young girl being raped by a distant family relative and then being taunted by a series of physical and verbal threats.
Figure 1. Forms of Abuse
2. Victims experience violence repeatedly at varying periods of time (worst case was one victim who was raped every Sundays), in the hands of the same or different household members from brother to father or uncle to a male neighbor (the most frequent abuser) to the stepfather, in-laws, foster parents, siblings and employers (in the case of domestic helpers). The cycle of violence usually starts with one form of violence that leads to another. There have been cases wherein such abuses led to sexual molestation and rape.
Figure 2. Progression of Violence
Figure 2 shows the graph of the progression of violence. Typical progressions are: a) physical abuse to sexual abuse to rape (71%); and b) sexual molestation to rape and economic abuse to physical abuse (15%). There were also cases of verbal abuse that led to physical assault (7%) and verbal abuse that led to physical abuse, sexual molestation and finally, to rape (5%). In some cases, rape was also preceded by verbal abuse and physical assault (2%). Rarely is one abuse exclusive of another.
3. Figure 3 shows the age range of the clients. The average age of the victims is 15.27 years old. The most dominant group, comprising sixty-two percent (62%) of the clients, were between the ages eleven to seventeen. Twenty- two percent (22%) were young adult females, with ages between 18-24 years old. Twelve percent (12%) were of children’s age, between 4-10 years old. The youngest victims were a 5-year old boy and girl, while the oldest was a 48-year old widow.
Figure 4 shows the civil status of the clients, with ninety-nine percent (99%) of the respondents being single. Only one was a widow. On the other hand, figure 5 shows the gender of the clients. Almost all victims were female (95%) and only 5% were male.
Figure 7 shows the educational attainment if the clients. Almost all of the victims have been educated, half of which reached elementary education (58%), 1/3 reaching high school (31%), and 2% of them reaching college. Nine percent (9%) were still of pre-school age and even then, did not still go to school.
Figure 9 shows the employment background of the victims. About 82 % of the victims (8 out of 10) are not gainfully employed, since most of them are minors. The rest, who are of working age, toil in menial types of jobs.
Minors (aged 0-17) comprise an overwhelming 84% of the total victims of abuse. More than half of the cases of domestic violence against children and minors involve some form of sexual abuse. Figure 10 shows the most common abuses against minors. Rape is the most common form of assault against minors (46%). This is followed by sexual molestation (17%), physical abuse (12%), incestual rape (9%) and pregnancy out of wedlock (8%).
Figure 3. Age of Victim (in Years Old)
Figure 4. Civil Status
Figure 5. Gender
Figure 6. Address / Area
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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