Child Sexual Abuse

1
Child Sexual Abuse

• Dr. Michelle Meloy

2
Child Sexual Victimization The Numbers

• 1/3 of all sex offense victims are minors
• 1 out of 7 sex crime victims are below the age of
  6 (14 of the total)
• About 20 of women and 5-10 of men report being
  sexually abused as children
• The older the victim the more likely it is to be
  female
• Bottom-line Children are often the victims of
  sex crimes (rate of .7 to 5 in 1,000 children)

3
Child Abuse Reports

• Should we believe children when they report being
  sexually abused?
• Do children lie about this?
• Are children manipulated into making claims?
• Can children accurately recall events?

4
Signs of Child Sexual Abuse

• Consistent sexual interest early sexual
  activity
• Knowledge of sex exceeds biological age
• Physical irritations or injuries in mouth,
  genital or rectal areas
• STDs, bedwetting, eating disorders, sleep
  disturbances, academic problems
• Chronic running away or other behavioral problems

5
Sexual Abuse Victims Gender Characteristics

• Nearly 9 out of 10 victims are female
• Nearly all forcible rapes are committed against
  females (99)
• Nearly all victims of sexual assault w/ object
  are female (87)
• Forced sodomy The only category where males
  victims are more prevalent (54)

6
Male Victims of Sexual Abuse

• Male sexual victimization has been understudied
• Male victimization is believed to be even more
  underreported than female victimization
• Estimates range from 2.5 of the male population
  being victimized as children to upwards of 16
• Mendels (1995) review of self-report data among
  college males indicated that 4.8 to 33 of male
  undergraduates report child sexual victimization

7
Underreporting of male sexual victimization?

• Challenges notion that males can take care of
  themselves
• Stigma of homosexuality since most offenders are
  believed to be men
• Young men victimized by female offenders do not
  consider the sex act as abuse or criminal
• Societys reluctance to identify these males as
  victims of sexual abuse
• Societys resistance to accept that women can be
  sexual offenders

8
Victim-Offender Relationship

• The younger the victim the more likely it is that
  the offender is a direct family member (up to
  50)
• Only 12 of adult sex crime victims are directly
  related to their offender
• Bottom-line Very few sex offenders are
  strangers, regardless of age. Acquaintances,
  friends, neighbors, etc. are the most likely
  perpetrators

9
Quick Facts on Sex Offenders

• Most sex offenders are not mentally sick
• Offenders who violate children often have
  immature personalities
• Stranger attacks are rare, especially against
  young children

• Pedophiles are mentally sick and will often
  work in jobs to get near kids
• Most sex offenders were NOT molested as children
• Sex offender treatment can be effective for some
  types of offenders

10
Pedophiles?

• Child molesters (legal classification) and
  pedophiles (clinical condition) are not the same
  thing
• Child molestation describes a situation or
  criminal act often are opportunistic crimes
• Pedophilia describes psychological diagnosis (DSM
  IV-R)
• Intense/recurrent sexual urges re child under 14
• Urges/behaviors cause significant distress or
  impairment
• Offender is at least 16 and at least 5 years
  older than the child
• Most convicted sex offenders against children do
  not meet the clinical criteria for pedophilia
• No current treatment protocols are known to be
  effective

11
Sex Offender Treatment Efficacy?

• Sex offenders are not all the same and their
  likelihood of recovery or recidivism varies by
  typology
• Specialized sex offender treatment seems
  effective at controlling sexual deviance for most
  types of sex offenders, but research designs are
  non-experimental
• Most conventional criminal justice policies for
  dealing with sex offenders are not consistent
  with empirical findings for best-practices
• Examples of sex offender policies? How do they
  fit with the empirical facts?

12
Special Interest Topic Female Sexual Offenders
of Children

• Limited empirical information
• Female offenders may account for 5 or more of
  all child sexual abuse
• Finkelhors (1984) review of existing literature
  found women were the sexual abusers in 5 of all
  cases involving girls and 20 of the cases
  against boys
• Female sex offenders seem to have a higher
  prevalence of childhood victimization than male
  sexual offenders

13
Typologies of Female Sex Offenders

• Teacher/lover Views her victim as a romantic
  partner and the relationship as mutually
  beneficial psychologically immature responds
  well to therapy
• Predisposed offender Severe childhood trauma
  acts alone in their victimizations usually
  selects family members - severe psychological
  problems successful treatment outcome is
  unlikely
• Male/coerced offender Involved in violent
  relationships with abusive and domineering
  partners, initially engage in victimization with
  children to save their partnership but offenders
  can also commit crimes independently