Issues in father-daughter incest intervention in Taiwan

Liu, Miriam Mei Lin

Abstract

This thesis centres on the perceptions of social work professionals involved in incest intervention in Taiwan. It is based on 39 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with respondents from three categories: social workers, social work supervisors and counsellors/therapists, from different regions of Taiwan, working in Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Prevention Centres. The gender distribution of the interviewees, 35 women and 4 men, reflects the numerical dominance of women in social work.

This study shows that the majority of the respondents were assigned child protection work without consultation, reflecting the hierarchical decision-making process in Taiwanese social work, overriding staff autonomy, personal preferences and training background. Child protection work creates high pressure and necessitates joint decision making involving all related disciplines. Almost every worker interviewed felt a high level of stress and a need for support in dealing with incest/child sexual cases, perhaps due to insufficient knowledge and inadequate training. The shorter the time frame they face, the more mistakes they may make. I utilized two theoretical viewpoints, including family systems theory associated with pathological behaviours and feminist theory, to elucidate how interactions between gender and power contribute to gender inequality in intervention outcomes.

My findings suggest that the current child protection procedure in Taiwan raises significant concerns. These include time-constraints in intervention and psychotherapy, the sequencing of the procedure, and lack of gender-awareness. It seems the hierarchical organisational structure directly and indirectly encourages social workers to be overreliant on their supervisors in decision-making. The relationship between the supervisor and supervisee is often inadequate, leading to many supervisees feeling undermined and discouraged from growing personally in confidence. My study found that no one particular intervention fits all cases and the therapeutic approach chosen will depend on the circumstances of the case, based on the therapist's training background, individual personality variations and experience. However, practitioners identified 'sensitivity: 'accompaniment' and 'empowerment' as effective and important. Radical changes in attitude, an incorporation of a feminist approach, a gender understanding work culture and a clear resolve to make positive changes in the fields of education, practice and reforms in legal and hierarchical structures may resolve some of the
difficulties the present system of social work practice in incest faces.

Citation

Liu, M. M. L. (2006). Issues in father-daughter incest intervention in Taiwan. (Thesis). University of Hull. Retrieved from https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4214440

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Aug 22, 2013
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 23, 2023
• Keywords: Gender studies
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4214440
• Additional Information: Department of Gender Studies, The University of Hull
• Award Date: Aug 1, 2006