This booklet seeks to clarify teenagers' rights under New York State and federal law to make their own medical decisions. It is designed as an aid to teenagers and the professionals -- social workers, counselors, teachers, and medical providers -- who work with young people. Frequently, professionals can encourage communication between young…

There is a dearth of knowledge about those who sexually abuse children while working in organizations. Here, we adopt a case study approach to examine this problem. We focus on eight adult males who had been imprisoned for abusing a total of 35 children while working in educational and voluntary settings. We provide a detailed account of abusers'…

Methods of coping with childhood sexual abuse were retrospectively studied with 54 adult women who had been sexually abused in childhood. "Denial" and "emotional repression" were the coping methods most commonly employed. Analysis suggested that avoidant/emotion suppressing strategies were associated with poorer adult psychological adjustment.…

A relatively nonintrusive, group-based therapy system, involving coordination of multiple service agencies, was developed for sex offenders with intelligence quotients from 55 to 85. Fifteen adult males who underwent this treatment barely attained objectives on Goal Attainment Scaling, 6 recidified, and 2 were rearrested. (JDD)

This report is the result of an investigation by the New York State Commission on Quality of Care for the Mentally Disabled of the Bernard Fineson Developmental Center's policies and practices concerning sexual incidents among residents. It also raises broader issues about the meaning of consent when sexual activity involves persons with severe or…