NCJ Number
127207
Journal
New Statesman & Society Dated: (July 1988) Pages: 15,18,19
Date Published
1988
Length
3 pages
Annotation
The authors challenge the orthodox view of child sexual abuse that hides the abusing male behind the family.
Abstract
In the orthodox approach to child sexual abuse, much is made of the notion that each member of a family system influences and is influenced by everyone else. Thus incest is caused by, or is a consequence of, the family's dysfunction, not the abuser's abusive behavior. A further implication of this view, and one of the most damaging in practice, is that mothers are ultimately responsible for what has happened in the family. The assumption that families exist to satisfy men's emotional and sexual needs is never explicitly stated, but is the basis of this theory. The proposed alternative to this theory is to begin with what the child says and feels, move away from the view of a child as a victim to see the child as a brave resister, and look at the situation as one where power has been abused and trust betrayed. Therefore, the protection of children would need to be addressed in a different light. The problem becomes one of empowering women and children and of seeing the law as not establishing the truth but weighing the evidence.