A study of the effectiveness of group counselling as a treatment modality for adolescent female incest victims

McCormack, Marilyn Howell (1986) A study of the effectiveness of group counselling as a treatment modality for adolescent female incest victims. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

This qualitative-descriptive study reports data on the effectiveness of a time-limited, goal-oriented group counselling approach for a specialized group of adolescent victims of incest. The sample of seven girls (n ~ 7) had all been confirmed victims of father-daughter incest. The girls were all involved in eight group counselling sessions between October 6, 1981 and October 29, 1981 at the Department of Social Services, St. John's, Newfoundland. The group counselling sessions were planned and conducted by the author and a co-leader, both graduate students at the School of Social Work, Memorial University of Newfoundland. Data was collected by a questionnaire which was administered before and after the group sessions. The questionnaire was broken down into two parts: Part I dealt with factual data of a general nature such as age, education, employment background, family background, duration of incest, and frequency of incest. Part II was made up of six self- report standardized and two non-standardized measures. Measures of the criterion variables were determined by the girls' pre and post self-ratings of the Index of Self- Esteem (ISE), the Index of Family Relations (IFR), the Index of Peer Relations (IPR) , the Child's Attitude Toward Mother (CAM), the Child's Attitude Toward Father (CAP), and the Rathus Assertiveness Scale (RAS). The two non-standardized scales, the Index of Responsibility and the Index of Guilt were comprised of self-report open-ended questions. -- Analysis indicated that all seven girls were of adolescent age and most had been involved in incestuous relationships with their fathers for several months or years. All of the families were dysfunctional and socially disruptive activities such as alcoholism, violence and promiscuity were frequent occurrences. Following incest disclosure, four of the parental couples remained living together. -- Analysis of the major indices or scales used in addition to clinical observation and judgement indicated that the characteristics of the girls in this study resembled the characteristics of girls from incestuous families and their members as depicted in the literature. The objective measures revealed significant positive change in some of the domains for most of the participants in the group counselling. In this regard, all group members appear to have been helped by the group counselling sessions.

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