Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T22:55:01.744Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Sexually Abused Child: Female and Male Victims Compared

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 February 2016

P.C. Hiller  and
C.R. Goddard
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

In the last fifteen years a great deal of material has been published on child sexual abuse. All violence within the home retains a significant element of secrecy, but child sexual abuse has remained a shadowy secret longer than other forms of intra-familial assault. The battle to draw attention to physical abuse of children within the family was hard fought but controversy over child sexual abuse retains its intensity.

There are disagreements over the scale of the problem (Glaser and Frosh, 1988; Search. 1988) and the research findings concerning the effects of child sexual abuse vary ‘wildly’ (O'Hagan, 1989:53). Some myths about the problem however, have been successfully challenged. The stranger is no longer seen as the main danger and it is recognised that most perpetrators are members of the victim's immediate or extended family or known to the victim (Goddard, 1988).

Type
Research Article
Information
Children Australia , Volume 15 , Issue 3 , 1990 , pp. 20 - 22
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Burgess, A.W. and Holmstrom, L.L. (1978) ‘Accessory to Sex: Pressure, Sex, and Secrecy” in Burgess, A.W., Groth, A.N., Holmstrom, L.L. and Sgroi, S.M. (Eds) Sexual Assault of Children and Adolescents Lexington, Massachusetts: Lexington Books, D.C. Heath and Company, pp85–98.Google Scholar
Conerly, S. (1986) “Assessment of Suspected Child Abuse” in MacFarlane, K., Waterman, J., Conerly, S., Damon, L., Durfee, M., and Long, S. (Eds) Sexual Abuse of Young Children: Evaluation and Treatment London: Cassell, pp 30–51.Google Scholar
Dolan, K.J. (1984) “Evaluation of Outcomes for Reported Cases of Child Sexual Abuse in Texas” Victimology 9 (3-4):383–397.Google Scholar
Dube, R. and Hebert, M. (1988) “Sexual Abuse of Children under 12 Years of Age: A Review of 511 Cases” Child Abuse and Neglect 12 (3):321–330.Google Scholar
Faller, K.C. (1989) “Why Sexual Abuse? An Exploration of the Intergenerational Hypothesis” Child Abuse and Neglect 13 (4):543–548.Google Scholar
Finkelhor, D. (1984) Child Sexual Abuse: New Theory and Research New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Glaser, D. and Frosh, S. (1988) Child Sexual Abuse Houndmills, Basingstoke: Macmillan Education Ltd.Google Scholar
Goddard, C.R. (1988) “A Child Sexual Abuse Tracking Project: A Hospital based Study for the Law Reform Commission of Victoria” in Law Reform Commission of Victoria Sexual Offences Against Children: Research Reports Melbourne: Government Printer, pp 61–185 Google Scholar
Goddard, C.R. and Hiller, P.C. (1989) “Tracking Child Sexual Abuse” Legal Service Bulletin 14 (1):25–28.Google Scholar
Herman, J.L. and Hirschman, L. (1981) Father - Daughter Incest Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Kempe, R.S. and Kempe, C.H. (1978) Child Abuse London: Fontana/Open Books.Google Scholar
Kercher, G. and McShane, M. (1984) “Characterizing Child Sexual Abuse on the Basis of a Multi-Agency Sample” Victimology 9 (3-4):362–382.Google Scholar
Leventhal, J.M. (1982) “Research Strategies and Methodologic Standards in Studies of Risk Factors for Child Abuse” Child Abuse and Neglect 6 (2):113–123.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lusk, R. and Waterman, J. (1986) “Effects of Sexual Abuse on Children” in MacFarlane, K., Waterman, J., Conerly, S., Damon, L., Durfee, M. and Long, S. (Eds.) Sexual Abuse of Young Children: Evaluation and Treatment London: Cassell, pp 101–118.Google Scholar
Lyon, E. and Kouloumpos-Lenares, K. (1987) “Clinician and State Children's Services Worker Collaboration in Treating Child Sexual Abuse” Child Welfare 66 (6):517–527, November-December.Google Scholar
Macleod, M. and Saraga, E. (1988) “Challenging the Orthodoxy. Towards a Feminist Theory and Practice” Feminist Review 28:16–55, Spring.Google Scholar
Mian, W., Wehrspann, W., Klasner-Diamond, M., Labaron, D. and Winder, C. (1986) “Review of 125 Children Six Years of Age and Under Who Were Sexually Abused” Child Abuse and Neglect 10 (2):223–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, J., Moeller, D., Kaufman, A., Divasto, P., Pathak, D., and Christy, J. (1978) “Recidivism Among Sex Assault Victims” American Journal of Psychiatry 135:1103–1104.Google ScholarPubMed
Mohr, J.W. (1981) “Age Structures in Paedophilia” in Cook, M. and Howells, K. (Eds) Adult Sexual Interest in Children London: Academic Press, pp 42–54.Google Scholar
Nelson, S. (1987) Incest: Fact and Myth Edinborough: Stramullian Co-operative Limited.Google Scholar
O'Hagan, K. (1987) Working with Child Sexual Abuse: A Post-Cleveland Guide to Effective Principles and Practice Milton Keynes and Philadelphia: Open University Press.Google Scholar
Petrovich, M. and Templer, D.I. (1984) “Heterosexual Molestation of Children Who Later Became Rapists” Psychological Reports 54 (3):810, June.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pierce, R. and Pierce, L.M. (1985) “The Sexually Abused Child: A Comparison of Male and Female Victims” Child Abuse and Neglect 9 (2): 191–199.Google Scholar
Porter, R. (Ed) (1984) Child Sexual Abuse Within the Family London: Tavistock Publications.Google Scholar
Russell, D.E.H. (1984) Sexual Exploitation: Rape, Child Sexual Abuse, and Workplace Harassement Beverly Hills: Sage.Google Scholar
Russell, D.E.H. (1986) The Secret Trauma: Incest in the Lives of Girls and Women New York: Bane Books.Google Scholar
Schechter, M.D. and Roberge, L. (1976) “Sexual exploitation” in Heifer, R.E. and Kempe, C.H. (Eds) Child Abuse and Neglect: The Family and the Community Cambridge, Massachusetts: Ballinger Publishing Co pp 127–142.Google Scholar
Seagull, E.A.W. (1987) “Social Support and Child Maltreatment; A Review of the Evidence” Child Abuse and Neglect 11:41–52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Search, G. (1988) The Last Taboo: Sexual Abuse of Children London: Penguin Books.Google Scholar