NCJ Number
141028
Date Published
1991
Length
19 pages
Annotation
Due to the wide variety of attendant circumstances and individual characteristics, the psychological victimization effects of sex offenses are diverse and complex, making any broad generalization impossible.
Abstract
Most sex offenses are not crimes of physical violence; many do not involve assault in any ordinary sense of the word. However, sex offenses may do great psychological harm. Even fully consensual participation in sexual misbehavior can lead to great anxiety and guilt. Moreover, the important minority of cases that do involve violence can have serious consequences. Victimization is a combination of the offender's behavior and the victim's reaction. In addition, disorders in child or adult victims of sex offenses are not necessarily caused by those experiences. It is generally believed that offenses against adults must be assaultive to cause serious trauma, while even mild child sexual abuse may have harmful and lasting effects. However, it appears that in most cases child abuse interacts with other personality and situational factors rather than itself being the main cause of later social or sexual pathology. Although the recognition of the importance of previously concealed and neglected social problems is beneficial, undue emphasis on the worst possible prognoses can lead to excessive intervention that may satisfy feelings of outrage at the cost of further harm to the victims. 99 references