CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE - AN EXAMINATION OF FAMILY FUNCTIONING

A sample of 80 college women retrospectively reporting childhood sexua l abuse and 92 college women failing to report any history of abuse we re examined to investigate the patterns of family functioning existing in the homes of childhood sexual abuse victims. In addition, the rela tionship between family functioning and the occurrence of various patt erns of abuse was explored. Using a typology based on the Family Envir onment Scale, women's families were classified by type. Results indica ted that victims and nonvictims were not equally distributed across th e family types. More victims than nonvictims were found to have been r eared in disorganized families, and fewer victims than nonvictims were found to have been reared in support-oriented families. No significan t relationships were evident between family functioning and abuse char acteristics. The relationship between these family types and risk for abuse is discussed.