About Me

My name is Briana G. Melendez, I am 19 years old and I graduated from Canutillo High School, class of 2010.  I love sports, especially basketball.  I have a twin brother (we were born 5 minutes apart) who goes to college in Austin and is studying culinary arts.  I also have an older sister who is a registered nurse and works at a local hospital.  I live with my Mom and my Aunt/Godmother and cousin. We have 2 cats named Isha and Blue and a dog named Zoe.  I love to play basketball and get together with my friends to play any chance I get and we also get together to go watch basketball games whenever possible.   I enjoy watching horror movies but I will also sit with my Mom and watch Lifetime movies to make her happy.  At home when our family gets together we like to play games such as Uno, Scrabble and other card games.  Whenever possible we (the family) get together and spend the weekend in Ruidoso just to "get away."  My goal is to get my college degree in the medical field.  I would also love to travel all over the United States and then overseas to as many countries as possible to see other lands, other cultures and other traditions.

Discourse Community Map

Visual Argument

Opinion Piece

June 4, 2011

Being a victim of child sexual abuse myself I believe that people should be more informed about this traumatizing occurrence. More often then not this crime goes unreported and the consequences may have a great impact emotionally and psychological on the victims for the rest of their lives. There may be someone out there you know that may be a victim of child sexual abuse that can help today.

According to The Center for PTSD child sexual abuse contains a great range of sexual behaviors that take place between a child and an adult and these behaviors are meant to arouse the older person in a sexual way. Researchers estimate that every 1 in 6 boys and 1 in 4 girls are being sexually abused meaning that out of all the kids at your son’s, little brothers, or even neighbor’s kids birthday party at least one of the children are suffering inside and are to scared to speak up feeling it is their fault.

Only 10% of abusers are strangers in most child sexual abuse cases. In most cases it’s a family member, acquaintance, a friend, even a neighbor so individual should be more aware.

The consequences of child sexual abuse may harm a victim for the rest of their lives. Ranging from chronic depression to low self-esteem even sexual dysfunction or multiple personalities. The worst outcome may be attempted suicide or suicide itself.  A fifth of all victims develop serious long-term psychological problems, according to the American Medical Association. In addition usually victims of child sexual abuse become abusers as adults.

With early detection and the correct treatment, society can prevent some victimized children from becoming adult perpetrators. In order to intervene early in abuse, parents should educate their children about appropriate sexual behavior and how to feel comfortable saying no.

Do something today and prevent a child from suffering the pain!

Briana Melendez

Visual & Rhetorical Analysis

My picture is concerning child sexual abuse and how the silence of it needs to be stopped. It also gives statistics about the number of girls and boys being abused. It evokes its message in the picture and text with ethos, logos, and pathos. Ethos dealing with credibility, logos having to do with the logic of the argument, and pathos deals with the emotion part of it.

The text in the picture is credible because it came from a survey from Tulir Center for Prevention and Healing of Child Sexual Abuse. Tulir meaning the first tender leaves of a plant; leaves symbolizing children and the belief in regeneration of the human spirit. Tulir (CPHCSA) is a registered, nongovernmental, non-profit organization committed to working against child sexual abuse in India. The picture is added to the text to get the point across and it is from http://prolife.deviantart.com. The website is a place to get images/art about various things and issues.

The image attempts to portray a sad emotion and straight forwardness about the silence of sexual child abuse. The picture doing that by the way the text is written especially key words and the way the image is captured. The message is clearly being sent to the audience.

The text contains information about sexual child abuse such as the percentage of boys and girls it occurs to. It emphasizes “Shatter the Silence” in bigger font because that is the main message being sent. The black background and white text make the message easier to read. The image is grey giving off a gloomy feel. The picture of the young man and children’s hands covering his eyes and mouth also sending the message across that there should be no silence in sexual child abuse. The way it is set up with the picture on the top left corner, the main message on the top right corner, and the rest of the text below is easy to understand.

The intended audience for this picture is anyone and everyone. It is issued in public interest to educate and inform individuals a little more about child sexual abuse.

Including how often this abuse occurs and the definition of it. In the hopes of maybe helping someone gain the confidence to speak up and stop an abuser from harming anyone else again.

Report on a Community Problem

Briana Melendez

English 1311

Childhood Sexual Abuse

March 9, 2011

Approximately 7.7 million Americans have post-traumatic stress disorder (Whealin 2009.) This can affect an individual by becoming emotionally numb, sleep problems, or even in relationships where an individual can become emotionally detached. One of the main emotional/psychological side effects of sexually abused children is post-traumatic stress disorder, without treatment this may negatively influence a victim for the rest of their life.

According to the National Center for PTSD the definition of child sexual abuse involves a broad extent of sexual behaviors that take place between a child meaning someone below the age of 18/minor, and an older person meaning an adult(Whealin 2009.) These actions are meant to stimulate the older person in a sexual way. The abuser gives no thought to what effect the behavior may have on the child. In most cases the abuser does not care about the reactions or choices of the child. The legal definition for child sexual abuse consists of touching sexual offenses, non-touching sexual offenses, and sexual exploitation. Touching sexual offenses include: Fondling, making a child touch an adult’s sexual organs, penetrating a child’s vagina or anus no matter how slight with a penis or any object that doesn’t have a valid medical purpose. Non-touching sexual offenses include: Engaging in indecent exposure or exhibitionism, exposing children to pornographic material, deliberately exposing a child to the act of sexual intercourse, masturbating in front of a child. Lastly sexual exploitation includes: Engaging a child a child for the purposes of prostitution and using a child to film, photograph or model pornography (U.S Department of Health and Human Services 2007.) The above is defining child sexual abuse broadly. A short brief legal definition of child molestation in most states is an act of an adult who forces, blackmails or threatens a child to have any form of sexual contact or to engage in any type of sexual activity.

Abusers of sexually abused children come from various cultures, genders, races, ages, and backgrounds. Adolescent perpetrators consist of as many as one-third of the offenders. Child abusers victimize children by intimidating victims, offering attention or gifts, using hostile behavior or showing a combination of these methods. One common factor is that victims frequently know and trust their abusers. About 60% of offenders are non-relative acquaintances, such as a friend of the family, baby sitter, or neighbor. About 30% of those who sexually abuse children are relatives of the child, such as cousins, uncles, even fathers. Strangers are offenders in about only 10% of cases. In most cases men are the abusers, victims being a boy or a girl. Although in 14% of cases reported against boys and about 6% of cases reported against girls the offender is a woman. Strangers, for instance child pornographers, make contact with children through the internet.

Despite most myths where sexual assault occurs in alley ways most of the crimes are committed in the victims or offenders home. One researcher found that family conditions placing children at higher risk for sexual abuse involve mothers working outside the home, absence of and/or problems between parents, and weak relationships between parent and child (Finkelhor 2008.) Some studies even suggest girls with stepfathers are twice as likely as other girls to be a victim of sexual abuse, and fathers who demand obedience from children and believe that women are inferior to men are more at risk than other men to be abusers of children. That being said girls are more likely than boys to be a victim of childhood sexual abuse.

Proving child sexual abuse may be very difficult at times where the child victim might be the only witness and their statement may be the only evidence. The question most of the time is if the child could be trusted or not. The crime is usually found in one of a few ways, either a confession by the child’s family member making a statement, the victim develops an std or becomes pregnant, or an eyewitness of the crime. This traumatic experience is reported up to 90,000 times a year. Estimations suggest that 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will experience sexual abuse before the age of 18 but the number of unreported cases is much higher due to being ashamed or the victim feeling like it is their own fault. Warning signs of sexual abuse is not always physical but instead behavioral unusualness, unfortunately in many cases it is mistaken for disobedient manners. The damage of sexual abuse can be devastating to the child.

According to the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) a victim of child abuse may develop low self-esteem, withdrawn and mistrustful of adults, depression, and even a distorted view of sex. If a witness to this kind of behavior take caution because this may be a suggestion that this child is a victim of sexual abuse. Those being just short-term damages from the incident, left untreated long-term social, psychological and emotional effects may occur (Clancy 2009.)

As the victims grow into adults they may have a lower self-esteem and a sense of worthlessness leading to being emotionally and socially withdrawn. Some additional psychological effects are a sense of guilt, shame, and being excessively depressed accompanying a higher likelihood of committing suicide and substance use, gang affiliation, pregnancy, running away, and risky sexual behavior this being that the victim has difficulty relating to others except sexually later becoming prostitutes or even become child abusers themselves as they grow older. Research also suggests, as adults, victims may have fear or trouble with touch or sexual arousal (Easton 2011.) Researchers at the University of Southern Mississippi and Illinois at Chicago of Social Work reported nearly all the sexually abused children in their study experienced some level of post-traumatic stress disorder meaning later in on life they may face employment problems, relationships problems including violence and divorce, reliving the event such as having flashbacks, avoiding situations that can hinder on a victims life, feeling numb for example not interested in activities they use to enjoy, and/or feeling a sensation of hyper-arousal signifying feeling like everyone is out to get them which in other words means trust issues(U.S Department of Health and Human Services 2007.) These are some of the many side effects that could greatly impact a victim’s life without proper care and treatment.

One way to avoid your child or someone else’s of being sexually abused is to educate them what is and isn’t proper. Inform a child what is inappropriate sexual behavior. Let them know if anyone has touched them in any way that has made them uncomfortable you will be there to listen and help. Most importantly keep an eye on them when they interact with someone and notice if they are uneager or afraid to go with a certain individual.

If discovered that a child you know is a victim of sexual abuse support them. They need to feel they may speak openly to an adult and that they can be trusted. Victimized children always need to be assured that it is not there fault and they are not responsible for anything that has happened to them. Above all report it as soon as possible to a local child protective services agency. Professionals associated with children by law are required to report notion of neglect or abuse. In 20 states citizens are obligated to report suspected abuse, a statement or firsthand observation is all that is needed in order for it to be reported. You might be the only person who is able to help a child of sexual abuse s offer encouragement and help as much as possible. If in need of help or information go to http://www.rainn.org/ or a local center is the Child Crisis Center Of El Paso located at 2100 N. Stevens 79930 and the number to be reached at is (915)562-7955

                     References

Faust K.D. , Runyon J. , Kenny M.K. , Maureen C. (2002). Behavior Problems in Sexually Abused Children of Depressed Versus Non-depressed Mothers. Journal


Tyler, K. A. (2002) Social and emotional outcomes of childhood sexual abuse: A review of recent research. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 7 (6) p.567-589

Avery L. , Massat C. , & Lundy M. (2000). Post-traumatic Stress and Mental Health Functioning of Sexually Abused Children. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 17(1), p.19-34

Clancy, S.A. (2009). The trauma myth: the truth about the sexual abuse of children--and its aftermath. New York, Ny: Basic Books.

Rogers, A.G. (2006). The unsayable: the hidden language of trauma. New York: Random House

Gartner, R.B. (1999). Betrayed as boys: psychodynamic treatment of sexually abused men. New York, Ny: The Guilford Press.

Easton, S., Coohey, C., O'leary, P., Zhang, Y., & Hua, L. (2011). The Effect of Childhood Sexual Abuse on Psychosexual Functioning During Adulthood. Journal of Family Violence, 26(1), 41-50. doi:10.1007/ s10896-010-9340-6

Finkelhor, David. (2008). Sexually assaulted children:national estimates and characteristics [ 11, [1] p. : digital, PDF file.]. Retrieved from http:// www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/214383.pd

Smith, M.J. (2008). Child sexual abuse: issues and challenges . Nova Science Publishers.

Kinnear, Karen. (1999). Childhood sexual abuse [xii, 333 p. ; 24 cm.].

Whealin, Julia, & Barnett, Erin. Department of Veterans Affairs, (2009). Child sexual Abuse Washington, DC: Retrieved from http://www.ptsd.va.gov/ professional/ pages/ child_sexual_abuse.asp

U.S Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth, and Families. (2007). Child maltreatment Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. Retrieved from http:// www.americanhumane.org/children/stop-child-abuse/fact-sheets/child-sexual- abuse.html

Annotated Bibliography

1. Faust K.D. , Runyon J. , Kenny M.K. , Maureen C. (2002). Behavior Problems in Sexually Abused Children of Depressed Versus Non-depressed Mothers. Journal   

of Family Violence, 17(2), 107-116. 

The authors, researchers at Nova Southeastern University Center for Psychological Studies, use information from the Beck Depression Inventory, Children Depression Inventory, and the Revised Children Manifest Anxiety Scale to test their hypothesis that depressed mothers report more difficulties in their behavior for their sexually abused children than would non-depressed mothers. The main purpose of this study is to determine whether children psychological adjustment following sexual abuse is impacted by environmental variables such as maternal depression. Participants were 58 children (and their mothers) who were referred for trauma symptoms related to sexual abuse.  Results reveal that depressed mothers reported more conduct problems, inattention/immaturity, and psychotic behavior than did non-depressed mothers. The children of depressed mothers reported increased levels of depression, but not anxiety, when compared with children of non-depressed mothers. Although both groups of mothers reported symptoms to be clinically significant, the children did not endorse their symptoms in clinically significant ranges. This information provides facts that sexual abuse has an impact on  victims throughout their lives.

2.Tyler, K. A. (2002) Social and emotional outcomes of childhood sexual abuse: A review of  recent research. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 7 (6) p.567-589

The author, researcher at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Department of Sociology, used data from 41 articles examining the social outcomes of childhood sexual abuse. Tyler concluded that some of the after affects of sexually abused children included suicide and substance use, gang affiliation, pregnancy, running away, post-traumatic stress disorder, risky sexual behavior, and behavioral problems. Some studies found differences in outcome according to gender, race, and age. Although findings related to abuse characteristics were found to vary from study to study, severity of the abuse, use of force, and victim's relationship to the perpetrator were found to be especially important. Other factors, such as family support and parental monitoring, were found to also attribute to a negative outcome. Factual information to back up my topic that childhood sexual abuse psychologically affects an individual.

3. Avery L. , Massat C. , & Lundy M. (2000). Post-traumatic Stress and Mental Health Functioning of Sexually Abused Children. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 17(1), p.19-34

The authors, researchers at the University of Southern Mississippi and Illinois at Chicago of Social Work, examined their hypothesis of the relationship between levels of post-traumatic stress and overall mental health functioning of 53 sexually abused children. Unlike numerous earlier studies, standardized instruments were used for data collection. Non-Offending Parents Project data analysis supported the hypothesis that the post traumatic stress level of children who have been sexually abused is associated with level of child mental health functioning. Nearly all the children in the study were experiencing a clinical level of post-traumatic stress. Child Assessment Schedule sub-scale areas which were related to post traumatic stress level included worries, physical complaints, moods, school functioning, family, and fears. This supports that children sexually abused are emotionally impacted as well.

4. Smith, M.J. (2008). Child sexual abuse: issues and challenges . Nova Science Publishers.

Actual statistics on child sexual abuse are hard to collect due to problems such as under-reporting and lack of one exact definition of abuse. However there is a general agreement that child sexual abuse is not uncommon that has become more widely aware because of the internet. In this book Smith presents significant research around the world including developmental consequences of childhood sexual abuse, criminal careers of Dutch Adolescent Sex Offenders, culture and the “hidden arm” in sexual abuse of pupils of teachers in Zimbabwe, those among other important issues she discusses throughout the book. This presents closest possible statistics about child sexual abuse.

5.Clancy, S.A. (2009). The trauma myth: the truth about the sexual abuse of children--and its aftermath. New York, Ny: Basic Books.

This book is based on interviews with adults all of whom were sexually abused as children. They were participants in a study at Harvard University between October 1996 through August 2005. Main topics in this book written by Clancy include the personality of the people who were abused, interpersonal dynamics they faced during the abuse and the after-math, and the multiple ways this crime affects them throughout their lifetime. Actual victims names, occupations, and such were substituted for different names to honor their confidentiality. This book contains information that proves children sexually abused without treatment are affected into their adulthood including their personality and relationships.

6.Rogers, A.G. (2006). The unsayable: the hidden language of trauma. New York: Random House

Annie Rogers with a Ph.D in clinical psychology for the past 20 years has learned to understand the silent language of girls who will not or cannot speak about past sexual abuse. Abuse is sometimes too painful to put into words but it does have a language though of coded signs and symptoms that conventional therapy fails to understand. In this book Rogers reveals how she has influenced many girls into finding expression and healing for past childhood sexual abuse. 

She starts off the book with her own account of sexual abuse as a child and how it has changed her. Through her experience and the help of French psychoanalyst Lacan and his theory of language she focuses on her assisting of a particular young female who admits of being sexually abused through non-verbal ways. This book points out nonverbal language sexually abused girls do and their of expressing behavior that can educate readers.

7. Gartner, R.B. (1999). Betrayed as boys: psychodynamic treatment of sexually abused men. New York, Ny: The Guilford Press.

Not often enough is their books or other sources discussing boys being sexually abused as children and the side effects. In this book Gartner focuses specifically on the experience of sexually victimized boys and men. Linking essential elements of psycho-dynamic and trauma-oriented clinical practice. This book contains how sexual betrayal affects boys, the ways they carry this into adulthood, and how therapists can deal with the adverse needs of men with sexual abuse histories. All doing so by exploring the impact of abuse on men emotional development, gender and sexual identity, and relationships including in-depth consideration of individual and group treatment issues. A variety of case examples informs readers on direct experience of these clients and the clinicians who work with them.This book links
sexual abuse stories of men withe the side affects of the trauma showing that child abuse occurs amongst boys not just girls.

8. Easton, S., Coohey, C., O'leary, P., Zhang, Y., & Hua, L. (2011). The Effect of Childhood Sexual Abuse on Psychosexual Functioning During Adulthood. Journal of Family Violence, 26(1), 41-50. doi:10.1007/ s10896-010-9340-6

The authors, researchers at the School of Social Work at the University of Iowa, School of Social Sciences at the University of Southampton,Department of Bio-statistics, College of Public Health at the University of Iowa, and the Center for Bio-statistics in AIDS Research, Harvard School of Public Health, tested their hypothesis of how childhood sexual abuse influences three elements of psycho-sexual functioning including emotional, behavioral, and evaluative during adulthood. Fear of sex and guilt during sex contained the emotional dimension of the test, sexual satisfaction was tested for the evaluative dimension, and problems with touch and sexual arousal consisted of the evaluative portion of it. The test contained 165 adults who were abused sexually as children and of those the results were that the victims who reported their abuse, who were abused first, abused by a family member or abused by more than one abuser were highly probable to encounter problems with psycho-sexual functioning in at least one area. Younger children who reported the abuse were less seemingly to fear sex and have problems with touch during adulthood compared to older children. Factual information how childhood sexual abuse impacts adults sexual life.

9.Gudjonsson, G., Sveinsdottir, T., Sigurdsson, J., & Jonsdottir, J. (2010). The ability of suspected victims of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) to give evidence. Findings from the Children's House in Iceland. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology, 21(4), 569-586. doi: 10.1080/14789940903540784

The authors, researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry in London, University Hospital in Iceland, and the School of Health Sciences at the University of Iceland, central intent int this study was to better understand the age-related alterations in children ability during questioning to give an account of assumed sexual abuse. The data that helped their hypothesis was the video recordings of 285 interviews involved by police and judges to the Children's House in Reykjavik over a five-year period were studied. Children between the ages of 3½-5 years of age, and almost all of the older children, had the capability to give testimony even though there was high differences in their response to open-ended questions about the suspected abuse, understanding of why they were being interviewed, ability to sustain concentration during the investigation among a few other things. The results show that the Child Advocacy Model principles and protocol used in the Children House for interviewing children is being used effectively in Iceland.