An exploration into the perspectives of Occupational Therapists in working with parents who are adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse in Scotland
Citation
(2016) An exploration into the perspectives of Occupational
Therapists in working with parents who are adult survivors
of childhood sexual abuse in Scotland, no. 79.
Abstract
Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is deemed as a traumatic event for adult survivors.
Research has shown that CSA survivors suffer short and long term negative physical and
psychological effects and have higher chances of developing psychiatric conditions and
behavioural issues.
Parenting is found to be one of the interpersonal difficulties faced by CSA survivors. The
literature review has shown that parents who have a history of CSA are likely to have low
parenting efficacy and poor performance capacity. This may hamper the parenting role
and thus affects the child's development and the relationship with the child. The
"Recovering Ordinary Lives" strategy recognises that parenting is an important role to
form social identity and Scotland's Survivor Scotland Strategy acknowledges that
healthcare professionals play an important role in providing support and care planning for
adult survivors of CSA.
Occupational therapy is a profession that work closely with various client groups to help
people maximise their potential and give them a sense of identity. It is noted that
occupational therapists in mental health settings were likely to work with CSA survivors.
However, there is currently no literature related to the role of occupational therapists
working with parents who are CSA survivors in the United Kingdom. Therefore, a research
is proposed to fill the gap.
A generic qualitative research is proposed to explore the perspectives and experiences of
occupational therapists in working with parents who are CSA survivors. Five mental health
occupational therapists from five different regions of Scotland will be selected to
participate in one-to-one semi-structured interviews. The interviews will be recorded and
analysed using thematic analysis. The results of this research may provide more insight
into the current practices of occupational therapists working with CSA survivors.