NCJ Number
159147
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 10 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1995) Pages: 525-532
Date Published
1995
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This study examined the prevalence of child sexual abuse among a sample of clinicians who work with sex offenders in Ontario, Canada; the nature of the abuse; and any relation the clinicians perceive to be between their experiences of child sexual abuse and their work with sex offenders.
Abstract
The sample included 84 females and 66 males, with a mean age of 38.1 years. All respondents worked with child molesters; 68.2 percent worked with rapists also. They had been in this work for a mean of 6.3 years. Half the respondents spent no more than 25 percent of their working time either in direct contact with sex offenders or on related administrative duties. Forty-nine respondents (32.7 percent) reported having been sexually abused as children, including 31 women and 18 men. Relatively minor acts and passive participation by the respondent were most common. The most common perpetrators reported were friends/acquaintances (33.3 percent), strangers (29.6 percent), and immediate family (14.8 percent). Most acts involved some force or coercion and were frightening. Clinicians who reported being sexually abused as children perceived its effects on their work with sex offenders to be positive or nonexistent. Possible reasons for the high prevalence of child sexual abuse reports are considered. The authors encourage awareness of apparently high rates of subjectively mild child sexual abuse among clinicians working with sex offenders. 1 table and 12 references