NCJ Number
128866
Date Published
1990
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This study examines factors that affect differences in outcome behaviors for males who were physically and sexually abused as children.
Abstract
Study data were drawn from intensive, life-history interviews conducted for an average of 12 hours per subject over 6 or more interview sessions. Thirty-four men, 23 of whom were victims of child sexual abuse, constituted the sample. All experienced one or more forms of childhood maltreatment. Of the sexually abused men, nine had no criminal history, seven were child molesters, five were rapists, and one was an armed robber. The 11 nonsexually abused men included 7 child molesters, 2 rapists, and 2 murderers and attempted murderers. Tape transcriptions of the interviews were content analyzed using Ethnograph, a computer program. The effects of sexual abuse are apparently mediated by the environment. In an environment where the person receives positive support, the outcomes are relatively benign. When the person can find no one in whom to confide and who accepts him, he may be at high risk for violent sexual behavior. All of the behaviors found in men who were sexually abused as children were also found in men who were not sexually abused as children. This leads to speculation that sexual abuse effects psychological injury that may be similar to that caused by other forms of childhood maltreatment. 3 figures and 47 references