Prevalence Rates of Child Sexual Abuse Within Populations Requiring Health System Intervention (From Child Sexual Abuse: Critical Perspectives on Prevention, Intervention, and Treatment, P 135-156, 1991, Christopher R Bagley and Ray J Thomlison, eds. -- See NCJ-132818)

• NCJ Number: 132825
• Author(s): B M S McGregor; D G Dutton
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 22 pages
• Sale Source: Wall and Emerson, Inc
• Publication Type: Literature Review
• Language: English
• Country: Canada

Annotation

This paper critically reviews the literature on the prevalence of child sexual abuse in populations that require health system intervention: persons with psychological dysfunction or psychiatric illness, sex offenders, sexually and/or physically abusive families, revictimized individuals, runaways, prostitutes, and substance abusers.

Abstract

The review shows the difficulty of making accurate assessments of the incidence of sexual abuse in these populations. Consequently, the conclusions about prevalence rates must be speculative. Although the prevalence of child sexual abuse is apparently higher among sex offenders, runaways, prostitutes, and some psychiatric patients than in the general population, when incestuous activity alone is considered, a higher than average prevalence of child sexual abuse is manifested by all the populations (with the exception of somatic disturbances, which cannot be effectively portrayed). This finding indicates that child sexual abuse is a risk factor for these problem populations; however, currently the proportion of the variance of membership in any problem population accounted for by childhood sexual victimization is unknown. Future research can address this issue by improving its definitions of child sexual abuse and its mode of administration. 1 table and 60 references