Publication Cover
Journal of Social Work Practice
Psychotherapeutic Approaches in Health, Welfare and the Community
Volume 24, 2010 - Issue 4
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Original Articles

Interviewing victims of sexual abuse with an intellectual disability: a dutch single case study

Pages 391-407 | Published online: 23 Feb 2010
 

Abstract

The approaching to use with people with an intellectual disability who are (suspected) victims of sexual abuse is a challenge for social professionals. Being at the mercy of professional facilities, the victims are in a vulnerable position. They have limited capacities to defend themselves against the intimidations of perpetrators and to deal with the consequences of the terrifying happenings. Finally, sexual abuse is a criminal offence. Much depends on the quality of the interviews. In the Dutch practice of forensic reactions to (suspected) sexual abuse of people with an intellectual disability, experience has been acquired with different types of interviewing.

With the help of a single case study between a health professional and a victim, these forms of interviewing are demonstrated. The professional pursuit is to let the client disclose what has happened in their own words. The study shows that in social health and welfare practices the professional task is to navigate between, on the one hand, the communicative space for the client to provide free recall and, on the other hand, the need to provide help to clients with an intellectual disability to verbalize inner cognitions and emotions.

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Marca Schasfoort and Asa Mäkitalo for helpful comments on previous versions of this paper.

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