NCJ Number
205505
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect: The International Journal Volume: 25 Issue: 7 Dated: July 2001 Pages: 989-995
Date Published
July 2001
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This study compared childhood patterns of physical and sexual abuse among sexual offenders and nonsexual offenders with intellectual disabilities.
Abstract
Previous research has established a clear link between childhood physical and sexual abuse and subsequent psychological and emotional functioning. Some evidence even links different types of abuse to different types of deleterious outcomes in adulthood. The current study investigated the deleterious outcomes of childhood physical and sexual abuse in offenders with intellectual disabilities. The authors hypothesized that sexual offenders, when compared with nonsexual offenders, would have a higher incidence of sexual abuse histories but a lower incidence of physical abuse histories. Participants were referred to the authors for assessment and treatment from 1990 through 1996. The study groups included a group of 47 sexual offenders and a group of 48 nonsexual offenders who all completed comprehensive assessments and treatment for at least 1 year. Results indicated that 38 percent of sexual offenders and 12.7 percent of nonsexual offenders had suffered a history of childhood sexual abuse. Additionally, 13 percent of sexual offenders and 33 percent of nonsexual offenders had experienced childhood physical abuse. The findings lend support to the hypothesis; sexual offenders had a higher incidence of childhood sexual abuse, while nonsexual offenders had a higher incidence of childhood physical abuse. The current data also support the argument that the “cycle of abuse” perspective may be overly simplistic. Future studies may focus on comparing offenders according to the type of sexual offense. References