Youth Sex Abuser Theraputic Group Theory

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Sexual abuse is a devastating epidemic in the United States, impacting millions indiscriminately from each gender and every race, class, and faith. A staggering twenty percent of American children under the age of eighteen have been the victim of this appalling crime, and in just 2009 alone 3.3 million allegations were reported to authorities. (Child Help) These abused children and adolescents will exhibit different symptomatic behaviors as a result of their trauma. Although there is no sure-fire standard for detecting whether or not a child or adolescent has been or is being abused, there are a number of possible signs, including: • Sexually-transmitted disease • Unexplained pregnancy • Bruising/bleeding in the rectal, thigh, and/or genital areas • Frequent complaints of stomach and abdominal pain • Evidence of regressive bed-wetting, incontinence, etc • Drastic change in weight and/or eating habits • Abnormally precocious sexual knowledge • Radical mood swings • Nightmares, insomnia, sleepwalking, and other sleep disturbances • Radical change in school performance (for better or worse) • Fears regarding specific people • Depression, crying episodes, etc. • Expression of "damaged goods" syndrome • Angry, hostile, or aggressive behavior • Fear of being photographed • Anxious reaction to authority figures • Regressive, infantile behavior • Intense efforts to gain attention/affection from adults • Self-mutilative behavior • Newly acquired fear of the dark • Becoming withdrawn, isolated, and/or excessively worried • Excessive or early masturbation • Victimizing themselves, targeting a child, sibling, or friend (Survivors and Friends) When abuse in children goes undetected by their caregivers, it is liable to continue and escalate. When the abuse is finally ended, the abused are far from out of the nightmare, as their anxieties manifest in their
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