Learning disability staff responses towards allegations of sexual abuse

Turnbull, K 2011, Learning disability staff responses towards allegations of sexual abuse , PhD thesis, Salford : University of Salford.

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Abstract

Peckham (2007) has argued that people with learning disabilities are at a greater risk of abuse than members of the general population however, no research has investigated paid carers' responses to allegations of sexual abuse. The current research aimed to investigate: factors affecting care staff responses in this situation, the relationship between attributions, emotions and helping responses, and test predictions derived from Weiner's (1985; 1986) cognitive-emotional model of attributions. A vignette methodology was used. Sixty four residential services support staff (32 females, 32 males) answered a questionnaire describing a scenario in which a service user alleged they had been sexually abused. The characteristics of the person making the allegation were varied across eight versions of the scenario according to gender, whether they were known to be sexually active and if they had reported being abused before. Participants were asked to describe what they thought the most likely cause (or causes) of the claimant's behaviour was, and then made judgements on 7- point rating scales as to the cause of the allegation, their own emotional response and their willingness to offer help. The data was analysed using 4-way ANOVAs and correlational techniques. Important results included: 1) the most common causal explanation given overall was that the claimant had been sexually abused and absolute levels of willingness to provide help for the service user were high across all situations; 2) all independent variables affected at least some part of attributions, emotions or helping behaviour; 3) there was evidence for gender differences in the treatment of sexual abuse allegations, with participant gender becoming a unexpected fourth variable; 4) the analysis indicated support for Weiner's (1985; 1986) model with the effects of willingness to help being mediated by emotions and optimism. Implications for learning disability practice, attribution theory and vignette methodology are discussed.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Contributors:	(Supervisor)
Schools:	Schools > School of Health Sciences
Depositing User:	Institutional Repository
Date Deposited:	03 Oct 2012 13:34
Last Modified:	04 Aug 2022 11:24
URI:	https://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/26947

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