Silent Injuries, Inc. | Robert Emerick, M.Ed.

In 1998 researchers estimated one out of every six American women or a total 17.7 million women are a sex crime victim during their lifetime. (National Institute of Justice and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1998.] Among adult women who report that they were sexually assaulted during childhood, only 2% of those who were abused by a family member and 6% of those who were sexually abused by an unrelated offender reported the incident(s) to criminal justice officials (Russell, 1983). Researchers have shown adult and adolescent sexual offenders commit many more assaults than victims report (Groth, Longo, & McFadin, 1982; Abel, Becker, Mittelman, Cunningham-Rathner, Rouleau, and Murphy, 1987; Emerick & Dutton, 1993).

Three factors combine to describe a person's sex offending problem. The first factor, sexual promiscuity, refers to a person's permissive sexual boundaries. The second factor, social deviance, refers to a person's abnormal social interests. The third factor, sexual deviance, refers to atypical sexual interests. Together these three factors make it possible for a person to violate personal, family, community, and spiritual norms.

The acting-out stage to a sexual offender’s offense cycle (process of abuse) comprises four behavioral phases: engagement, grooming, assault, and concealment. The complexity to each phase defines the offender’s characterological deficits, sexual interests, and the victim's risk to develop trauma symptomatology (Emerick, 1993). Clinician-researchers describe nine additional factors that can aggravate the child sexual abuse survivor’s trauma symptomatology (Beitchman, Zucker, Hood, DaCosta, Akman & Cassavia, 1992; Hindman, 1989; Summit, 1983).

The seminar is a core class for Child Protective Service Workers, Police officers, Prosecuting Attorney’s, victim advocates and support personnel who attend Arizona’s Forensic Interviewer training sponsored by the Arizona Governor’s office for Children.

The seminar defines sexual deviance and provides the attendee with a research based model differentiating between pedophiles and child molesters. Attendees will learn the Process of Abuse from both offender and victim perspectives. Attendees will learn the relationship between understanding course content material and reducing Silentinjuries risk as a primary responder to child sexual abuse cases.

Seminar attendees develop improved understanding of sexual deviance and victim trauma symptomatology. Contemporary research indicates professionals achieving curriculum comprehension criteria are less vulnerable to manifesting severe trauma symptomatology as a primary responder to child sexual abuse cases. Though unconfirmed, it is assumed the professional’s forensic interviewing skills are positively affected.

Burnout (Vieth, 2001), Compassion Fatigue (Figley, 1995), and Vicarious Victimization (McCann and Pearlman, 1990b) are terms researchers use to describe the psychological consequences to professionals exposed to a victim’s traumatic experiences. Analyzing ongoing anonymous professionals’ responses to the Silentinjury Questionnaire reveals a universal toxin to child sexual abuse professionals. The toxin is related to the professional’s exposure to an abuser’s social/sexual deviance. The toxin comprises three distinct prongs, each contributing individually and collectively to cognitive, emotional, social, and sexual injuries (Silent Injuries) among child sexual abuse professionals. The data analysis also indicates there are distinct administrative and personal factors that reduce a professional’s vulnerability to severe professional and social injuries.

The seminar defines a universal toxin to child sexual abuse professionals and the prevalence of severe toxin exposure among ten child sexual abuse professions. Attendees will learn the relationship between beginning one’s career with an empirically guided knowledge base about child sexual abuse and reduced vulnerability to severe silent injuries.

Severe toxin exposure is related to increased risk to experience depression, family problems, sexual response cycle injuries, and divorce. Attendees will learn strategies to manage severe toxin exposure. Though unconfirmed at this time, attendees are expected to reduce their vulnerability to depression, family problems, sexual response cycle injuries, and divorce as they are related to severe toxin exposure.

Seminar Three
Supervision Strategies to Conserve Child Sexual Abuse Professionals

Critical incident debriefing is not a new concept. Numerous approaches to critical incident debriefing are described throughout the literature (Mitchell, 1983; Blak, 1991; Mitchell, 1999). However, Dunning (1999) described outcome studies related to critical incident debriefing as inconclusive, contradictory, and negatively associated with psychological well being. Silentinjury Questionnaire data analysis indicates child sexual abuse professionals believe agencies should make counseling services available and this belief is directly related to the severity of sexual response cycle injuries.

Current Applications

The seminar examines the prevalence of social/sexual challenges to child sexual professionals and subsequent beliefs about agency provided counseling services. Three additional administrative practices professionals believe will reduce their vulnerability to Silent Injuries are defined.

Professionals learn to manage toxin exposure by using the self-administered cognitive behavioral ACT NOW principles. Ultimately, vulnerability to Silent Injuries are reduced.