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Rosebush Q-Sort: the use of drawings in the assessment of child abuse

University of British Columbia

The use of the Rosebush Visualization Technique (RVT) (Allan & Crandell, 1986) as a tool in the early detection of child abuse is tested using the Q-Sort Methodology. Twenty children between the ages of 8 and 13 inclusively are selected based on their membership in either an abused group or non-abused group. The mean age of the children in the abused group was 10.1 years and the mean age of the children in the non-abused group was 11.0 years. The abused group included 9 boys and 1 girl all of whom had been assessed by a mental health agency as having confirmed histories of abuse. The non-abused group consisted of 5 boys and 5 girls. Each child was seen individually and instructed to take a minute or so to imagine themselves as a rosebush. Each child was then asked to look at 24 pictures of rosebushes previously drawn by both abused and non-abused children and asked to choose the drawing which most resembled his/her imagined rosebush and the drawing which least resembled his/her imagined rosebush. The selection of the drawings continued until all 24 drawings were ordered into a Q-Sort. The Sort was analyzed using the Q-Sort methodology and Analysis of Variance techniques. The results supported the hypothesis that the children will show no preference for the drawings which represent the group to which they belong and that the drawings will not be differentially selected by both groups of children. The results are discussed followed by implications for clinical practice and recommendations for further research.

Thesis/Dissertation

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2009-02-25

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/5094

Counselling Psychology

University of British Columbia

UBCV

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