NCJ Number
196484
Journal
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse Volume: 10 Issue: 4 Dated: 2001 Pages: 111-118
Date Published
2001
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This article explores the theory that childhood abuse is connected with becoming a child molester.
Abstract
In this article, the theory that there is a cycle of abuse among child molesters is examined. Following a brief presentation of literature concerning the prevalence of sexual abuse and later adult sexual perpetration, the authors discuss the procedure employed in their study. After selecting a group of 147 sex offenders, on probation, the researchers administered the Raven Progressive Matrices, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-II, the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised, and the Abel Assessment tests to these offenders. Presented in a series of tables, the results of chi-square and univariate ANOVA analyses indicate that 22 percent of sexual offenders who had a personal history of childhood sexual abuse committed an offense against someone less than 10 years old, and none of the individuals who reported childhood sexual abuse had adult victims. Of the 115 offenders who did not report a history of childhood sexual abuse, 30 percent had victims who were under the age of 10. Comparing these percentages resulted in a ratio of two to one, and the authors conclude that being abused as a child is specifically related to being a child molester later in life. Tables, references