;
The Vilification of Sex Offenders: Do Laws Targeting Sex Offenders Increase Recidivism and Sexual Violence?;
Journal of Sexual Offender Civil Commitment: Science and the Law;
1, 141-149
Sex offenders are universally hated and despised and seen as dangerous sexual predators unless locked up and kept under surveillance. Following a number of highly publicized violent crimes, all states passed registration and notification laws and many passed civil commitment laws. Although these laws were passed as a means to decrease recidivism and promote public safety, the resulting stigmatization of sex offenders is likely to result in disruption of their relationships, loss of or difficulties finding jobs, difficulties finding housing, and decreased psychological well-being, all factors that could increase their risk of recidivism.
The civil commitment programs amount to expensive preventive detention and incapacitation rather than treatment; very few have been released. The high costs of the civil commitment programs divert resources from other programs with a better chance of being effective in reducing sexual violence.
Sex offenders are universally hated and despised and seen as dangerous sexual predators unless locked up and kept under surveillance. Following a number of highly publicized violent crimes, all states passed registration and notification laws and many passed civil commitment laws. Although these laws were passed as a means to decrease recidivism and promote public safety, the resulting stigmatization of sex offenders is likely to result in disruption of their relationships, loss of or difficulties finding jobs, difficulties finding housing, and decreased psychological well-being, all factors that could increase their risk of recidivism.
The civil commitment programs amount to expensive preventive detention and incapacitation rather than treatment; very few have been released. The high costs of the civil commitment programs divert resources from other programs with a better chance of being effective in reducing sexual violence.
;
Virginia high court rules against device gauging sexual arousal;
The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk
The Virginia Supreme Court ruled Friday that courts cannot rely on a machine that measures sexual arousal of accused sex offenders without evidence to back up the machine's accuracy.
Scientists are divided on the reliability of the plethysmograph. Some have found it accurate in determining recidivism among sex offenders. Others have found it unreliable, and some states prohibit its use entirely.
The Virginia Supreme Court ruled Friday that courts cannot rely on a machine that measures sexual arousal of accused sex offenders without evidence to back up the machine's accuracy.
Scientists are divided on the reliability of the plethysmograph. Some have found it accurate in determining recidivism among sex offenders. Others have found it unreliable, and some states prohibit its use entirely.
;
'We can't prove sex with children does them harm' says Labour-linked NCCL;
Daily Expess News UK
Evidence has emerged that the views of the Paedophile Information Exchange influenced policy-making at the National Council for Civil Liberties when it was run by former Labour Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt. Hewitt described the NCCL as 'naive and wrong'.
PIE members were lobbying NCCL officials for the age of consent to be reduced and campaigning for “paedophile love”.
Their view that children were not harmed by having sex with adults appears to have been adopted by those at the top of the civil liberties group. ...
“Childhood sexual experiences, willingly engaged in, with an adult result in no identifiable damage. ...
“The real need is a change in the attitude which assumes that all cases of paedophilia result in lasting damage. ...
As the NCCL archives demonstrate, I consistently distinguished between consenting relationships between homosexual men, on the one hand, and the abuse of children on the other."
Evidence has emerged that the views of the Paedophile Information Exchange influenced policy-making at the National Council for Civil Liberties when it was run by former Labour Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt. Hewitt described the NCCL as 'naive and wrong'.
PIE members were lobbying NCCL officials for the age of consent to be reduced and campaigning for “paedophile love”.
Their view that children were not harmed by having sex with adults appears to have been adopted by those at the top of the civil liberties group. ...
“Childhood sexual experiences, willingly engaged in, with an adult result in no identifiable damage. ...
“The real need is a change in the attitude which assumes that all cases of paedophilia result in lasting damage. ...
As the NCCL archives demonstrate, I consistently distinguished between consenting relationships between homosexual men, on the one hand, and the abuse of children on the other."
;
We're here. We're sexual. GET USED TO IT;
Color Lines,;
My-June,
Beginning under former-president Bill Clinton and escalating under President George W. Bush, more than $1.5 billion in federal and state money has been poured into abstinence-only education. [...]
Numerous studies have proven it to be ineffective, even harmful.
Beginning under former-president Bill Clinton and escalating under President George W. Bush, more than $1.5 billion in federal and state money has been poured into abstinence-only education. [...]
Numerous studies have proven it to be ineffective, even harmful.
;
Who was abused?;
The New York Times
There are several ways to view the small white house on Center Street in Bakersfield, Calif. [...] According to investigators, in the living room with brown carpeting and a TV, boys between the ages of 6 and 8 were made to pose for pornographic photos. [...]
Last January, Sampley and three other former accusers returned to the courthouse where they had testified against Stoll. This time they came to say Stoll never molested them. [...]
Last January, Sampley and three other former accusers returned to the courthouse where they had testified against Stoll. This time they came to say Stoll never molested them. [... ... ...]
Meanwhile, Stoll had spent 15 years in prison. [...]
There are several ways to view the small white house on Center Street in Bakersfield, Calif. [...] According to investigators, in the living room with brown carpeting and a TV, boys between the ages of 6 and 8 were made to pose for pornographic photos. [...]
Last January, Sampley and three other former accusers returned to the courthouse where they had testified against Stoll. This time they came to say Stoll never molested them. [...]
Last January, Sampley and three other former accusers returned to the courthouse where they had testified against Stoll. This time they came to say Stoll never molested them. [... ... ...]
Meanwhile, Stoll had spent 15 years in prison. [...]
;
Why the Rush to Create Dubious New Sexual Disorders?;
Archives of Sexual Behavior;
(online),
;
Youths not always victims in man-boy sex, survey reveals;
The International Journal of Human Relations. Volume 14 (1) pp. 8-9 October, 1984 ;
14 (1, October 1984), 8 & 9
Part of a report of a forum in which Sandfort and Finkelhor discuss the former's research and its conclusions and views: Are children always traumatized by pedophiles? Sandfort takes a researcher's stand ('no'), Finkelhor a moral stand ('yes').
Part of a report of a forum in which Sandfort and Finkelhor discuss the former's research and its conclusions and views: Are children always traumatized by pedophiles? Sandfort takes a researcher's stand ('no'), Finkelhor a moral stand ('yes').
;
‘Querying’ the Limits of Queering Boys Through the Contested Discourses on Sexuality;
Sexuality & Culture;
12(4), 257-274
Presentations of boy’s sexuality within man–boy sexual relationships have shifted considerably over the past three decades. We document this through analyzing three very different constituencies:
- ‘boylover’ (adult men sexually attracted to boys) activist movements,
- three research case studies, and
- male survivors of abuse.
We examine
- the specific ways boy’s sexuality has been constructed within each of these positions,
- how these have changed over this period, and
- what insights all this can shed on wider social and cultural (re)conceptions on age, gender, and sexuality.
Studying these diverse perspectives provides a series of contrasting assumptions and frameworks which will yield invaluable insights on wider transformations in the production of narratives on child and intergenerational sexualities.
We hope to illuminate this through drawing out the complex interplays involving power dynamics and fluctuations in the epistemological hierarchy delineating boy’s sexuality (in terms of more normative and transgressive forms this may take).
We conclude this critical engagement with a discussion of the likely impact any ‘queering’ of, or fractures in, age/generational boundaries might have for the future narrating of boy’s sexual stories within man–boy sexual relationships.
Presentations of boy’s sexuality within man–boy sexual relationships have shifted considerably over the past three decades. We document this through analyzing three very different constituencies:
- ‘boylover’ (adult men sexually attracted to boys) activist movements,
- three research case studies, and
- male survivors of abuse.
We examine
- the specific ways boy’s sexuality has been constructed within each of these positions,
- how these have changed over this period, and
- what insights all this can shed on wider social and cultural (re)conceptions on age, gender, and sexuality.
Studying these diverse perspectives provides a series of contrasting assumptions and frameworks which will yield invaluable insights on wider transformations in the production of narratives on child and intergenerational sexualities.
We hope to illuminate this through drawing out the complex interplays involving power dynamics and fluctuations in the epistemological hierarchy delineating boy’s sexuality (in terms of more normative and transgressive forms this may take).
We conclude this critical engagement with a discussion of the likely impact any ‘queering’ of, or fractures in, age/generational boundaries might have for the future narrating of boy’s sexual stories within man–boy sexual relationships.
;
The ‘‘Participating Victim’’ in the Study of Erotic Experiences Between Children and Adults: An Historical Analysis;
Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2009
During the 20th century, erotic experiences between minors and adults occupied a position of increasing interest, both public as well as scientific. In this area of research, one of the most notable evolutions in how these experiences are treated has been the progressive disappearance and/or the intense redefinition of what earlier researchers called ‘‘participating victims,’’ i.e.,minors apparently interested in accepting and/or sustaining these relationships.
The present work, through a comparative analysis of the literature, seeks to substantiate this transformation during the second third of the 20th century. It will also argue that this evolution can be fundamentally explained in terms of the intense emotional, moral, and ideological importance that is ascribed to these experiences in the rise of the current victimological paradigm.
Finally, this study endeavors to contribute to the understanding of childhood and the scientific study of child sexuality as well as of these experiences
with adults.
During the 20th century, erotic experiences between minors and adults occupied a position of increasing interest, both public as well as scientific. In this area of research, one of the most notable evolutions in how these experiences are treated has been the progressive disappearance and/or the intense redefinition of what earlier researchers called ‘‘participating victims,’’ i.e.,minors apparently interested in accepting and/or sustaining these relationships.
The present work, through a comparative analysis of the literature, seeks to substantiate this transformation during the second third of the 20th century. It will also argue that this evolution can be fundamentally explained in terms of the intense emotional, moral, and ideological importance that is ascribed to these experiences in the rise of the current victimological paradigm.
Finally, this study endeavors to contribute to the understanding of childhood and the scientific study of child sexuality as well as of these experiences
with adults.
;
A History of the Paedophile Activism,
Oct 13 2013
I am a [Belgian] historian, working on a PhD project on the scientific history of today’s ultimate sexual other: the paedophile. Today I would like to talk to you about a particularly interesting aspect of paedophile history, namely the chapter on paedophile activism [in Belgium and The Netherlands] on which I will present a brief overview and discourse analysis.
[... ... ... ...]
By the mid 1990s most paedophile movements had gone underground or on the Internet.
The fight for paedophile rights are a page in the history of sexual minorities that most people and especially LGBT movements have been eager to forget. Today the paedophile debate belongs to the past, the arguments of the movements are dismissed for being excruciatingly naive at best, monstrous at worst. [...]
I am a [Belgian] historian, working on a PhD project on the scientific history of today’s ultimate sexual other: the paedophile. Today I would like to talk to you about a particularly interesting aspect of paedophile history, namely the chapter on paedophile activism [in Belgium and The Netherlands] on which I will present a brief overview and discourse analysis.
[... ... ... ...]
By the mid 1990s most paedophile movements had gone underground or on the Internet.
The fight for paedophile rights are a page in the history of sexual minorities that most people and especially LGBT movements have been eager to forget. Today the paedophile debate belongs to the past, the arguments of the movements are dismissed for being excruciatingly naive at best, monstrous at worst. [...]
;
Brongersma Translated into German - Uebersetzt auf Deutsch
Brongersma, Edward; Loving Boys - Volume 1 - Das Pädosexuelle Abenteur - Herausgegeben von Angelo Leopardi - Deutsche Ausgabe des Niederländische und Englische Bestsellers [PDF]
Brongersma, Edward; Loving Boys - Volume 1 - Das Pädosexuelle Abenteur - Herausgegeben von Angelo Leopardi - Deutsche Ausgabe des Niederländische und Englische Bestsellers [PDF]
;
Declaration of the Rights of the Child
The Declaration of the Rights of the Child is the name given to a series of related children's rights proclamations drafted by Save the Children founder Eglantyne Jebb in 1923.
Jebb believed that the rights of a child should be especially protected and enforced, thus drafting the first stipulations for child's rights.
Jebb's initial 1923 document consisted of the following criteria: [... ... ...].
The Declaration of the Rights of the Child is the name given to a series of related children's rights proclamations drafted by Save the Children founder Eglantyne Jebb in 1923.
Jebb believed that the rights of a child should be especially protected and enforced, thus drafting the first stipulations for child's rights.
Jebb's initial 1923 document consisted of the following criteria: [... ... ...].
;
El erotismo de los demás
Durante el debate que han provocado las producciones pornográficas, alguien citó esta frase, cuyo autor desconozco: «La pornografía es el erotismo de los demás». ...
El erotismo mayoritario, al tener como rasgo principal su belleza, todo fealdad, vulgaridad, necedad, obscenidad sin fundamento, en la representación de la sexualidad, nos advierte de que no se trata de la nuestra, sino de la de los X. ...
Nos toca a nosotros emanciparnos de los clichés y de las ilusiones que nuestro adiestramiento sexual y nuestras frustraciones han producido. La expresión de la sexualidad no tiene por qué ser bonita o fea, elaborada o inculta, genial o idiota, sino que ha de convertirse en el libre discurso del deseo auténticamente experimentado, y no ya la escenificación del erotismo con el que soñamos cuando nos privan del derecho a experimentar ninguno.
Durante el debate que han provocado las producciones pornográficas, alguien citó esta frase, cuyo autor desconozco: «La pornografía es el erotismo de los demás». ...
El erotismo mayoritario, al tener como rasgo principal su belleza, todo fealdad, vulgaridad, necedad, obscenidad sin fundamento, en la representación de la sexualidad, nos advierte de que no se trata de la nuestra, sino de la de los X. ...
Nos toca a nosotros emanciparnos de los clichés y de las ilusiones que nuestro adiestramiento sexual y nuestras frustraciones han producido. La expresión de la sexualidad no tiene por qué ser bonita o fea, elaborada o inculta, genial o idiota, sino que ha de convertirse en el libre discurso del deseo auténticamente experimentado, y no ya la escenificación del erotismo con el que soñamos cuando nos privan del derecho a experimentar ninguno.
;
Other People's Eroticism, an essay;
From the Semiotexte website & http://denniscooper-theweaklings.blogspot.com.es
During the controversy provoked by pornographic productions, someone quoted this sentence:
"Pornography is other people's eroticism." ...
Since majority eroticism has beauty for its principal trait, any ugliness, vulgarity, stupidity, gratuitous obscenity, in the representation of sexuality, is our signal that it is not ours, but that of the X's. ...
I have said how the two genres were distinguished: since majority eroticism has beauty for its principal trait, any ugliness, vulgarity, stupidity, gratuitous obscenity, in the representation of sexuality, is our signal that it is not ours, but that of the X's. ...
It is up to us to emancipate ourselves from the clichés, the illusions that our sexual conditioning and our frustrations have produced. The expression of sexuality need not be either beautiful or ugly, cultivated or crude, brilliant or idiotic: but it must become the free discourse of desire authentically expressed and no longer the staging of an eroticism we dream up for ourselves when we are deprived of the right to experience any at all.
During the controversy provoked by pornographic productions, someone quoted this sentence:
"Pornography is other people's eroticism." ...
Since majority eroticism has beauty for its principal trait, any ugliness, vulgarity, stupidity, gratuitous obscenity, in the representation of sexuality, is our signal that it is not ours, but that of the X's. ...
I have said how the two genres were distinguished: since majority eroticism has beauty for its principal trait, any ugliness, vulgarity, stupidity, gratuitous obscenity, in the representation of sexuality, is our signal that it is not ours, but that of the X's. ...
It is up to us to emancipate ourselves from the clichés, the illusions that our sexual conditioning and our frustrations have produced. The expression of sexuality need not be either beautiful or ugly, cultivated or crude, brilliant or idiotic: but it must become the free discourse of desire authentically expressed and no longer the staging of an eroticism we dream up for ourselves when we are deprived of the right to experience any at all.
;
Quotes from: A Long Dark Shadow;
221 p.
My research participants were all minor-attracted people who refrained from any sexual contact with minors, all of whom were dedicated to living lives free of offending. This book is about them: how they form identities as minor-attracted idividuals, how they cope with the stigma they face from society. and how they strategize not to commit offenses.
I use the terms "minor attracted person" and "MAP" throughout the majority of this book ... as an established umbrella term ... with a less stigmatizing nature.
I am writing this book with two main foci - the prevention of child abuse and the promotion of wellbeing among MAPs - because protecting children is important, because MAPs are people who deserve compassion (bold is chosen by Ipce), and because these foci are not contradictairy.
It is possible that treating MAPs with empathy is the key (Bold is chosen by Ipce).
Chapter 1 is titled as "Am I a Monster?" The start of the closing word of the book reads: In each interview I asked participants what they would say to a MAP who was just beginning to realize they were attracted to minors. Far and away, the most common response was "You are not a monster."
It has been my goal with this book to make clear the distinction between MAPs and sexual offenders, and to reaffirm that attractions are not equivalent to action.
While the MAPs I spoke to in the course of my research often had experienced many struggles, many were able to find happiness, understanding, and the dignity they had been searching for. They found this dignity through the ability to be seen by others and to have their wellbeing recognized as important, through the knowledge that there were other people out there like them, and through validation that they were not destined to become monsters just because of their attractions.
My research participants were all minor-attracted people who refrained from any sexual contact with minors, all of whom were dedicated to living lives free of offending. This book is about them: how they form identities as minor-attracted idividuals, how they cope with the stigma they face from society. and how they strategize not to commit offenses.
I use the terms "minor attracted person" and "MAP" throughout the majority of this book ... as an established umbrella term ... with a less stigmatizing nature.
I am writing this book with two main foci - the prevention of child abuse and the promotion of wellbeing among MAPs - because protecting children is important, because MAPs are people who deserve compassion (bold is chosen by Ipce), and because these foci are not contradictairy.
It is possible that treating MAPs with empathy is the key (Bold is chosen by Ipce).
Chapter 1 is titled as "Am I a Monster?" The start of the closing word of the book reads: In each interview I asked participants what they would say to a MAP who was just beginning to realize they were attracted to minors. Far and away, the most common response was "You are not a monster."
It has been my goal with this book to make clear the distinction between MAPs and sexual offenders, and to reaffirm that attractions are not equivalent to action.
While the MAPs I spoke to in the course of my research often had experienced many struggles, many were able to find happiness, understanding, and the dignity they had been searching for. They found this dignity through the ability to be seen by others and to have their wellbeing recognized as important, through the knowledge that there were other people out there like them, and through validation that they were not destined to become monsters just because of their attractions.
;
Thinking Sex
Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality; 1984
In this essay, ?rst published in 1984, Rubin argues that in the West, the 1880s, the 1950s, and the contemporary era have been periods of sex panic, periods in which the state, the institutions medicine, and the popular media have mobilized to attach and oppress all whose sexual tastes differ from those allowed by the currently dominative model of sexual correctness.
She also suggests that during the contemporary era the worst brand of the oppression has been borne by those who practice s/m or cross-generational sex.
Rubin maintains that we are to devise a theory to account for the outbreak and direction of sexual panics, we shall need to base the theory on more than just feminist thinking. Although feminist thinking explains gender injustices, it does not and cannot provide by itself a full explanation for the oppression of sexual minorities.
Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality; 1984
In this essay, ?rst published in 1984, Rubin argues that in the West, the 1880s, the 1950s, and the contemporary era have been periods of sex panic, periods in which the state, the institutions medicine, and the popular media have mobilized to attach and oppress all whose sexual tastes differ from those allowed by the currently dominative model of sexual correctness.
She also suggests that during the contemporary era the worst brand of the oppression has been borne by those who practice s/m or cross-generational sex.
Rubin maintains that we are to devise a theory to account for the outbreak and direction of sexual panics, we shall need to base the theory on more than just feminist thinking. Although feminist thinking explains gender injustices, it does not and cannot provide by itself a full explanation for the oppression of sexual minorities.
;
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (20 November 1989),
Nov 20 1989
Text of the Declaration of Children's Rights by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1989
Text of the Declaration of Children's Rights by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1989
;
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child - History
Information about the way the Declaration of Children's rights was developed and accepted by the UN.
Information about the way the Declaration of Children's rights was developed and accepted by the UN.
;
Next parts of Vogt's book ;
146 pp
In this study, pedophilia is regarded not as a sexual preference disorder, but rather an a priori sexual orientation [...].
The underlying psychological and sexual-science perspective on the concept of pedophilia follows the property paradigm. [...]
It is virtually incompatible with the criminological viewpoint and sexual abuse paradigm, and therefore needs to be distinguished from them. [...]
The fundamental problem with these paradigms lies in the fact that the pedophilia concept becomes understood, almost exclusively, as a behavioral category. [...]
The essential components of human sexuality are not merely observable sexual activities, but also erotic-sexual fantasies, feelings, and emotional connections. [...]
These are not criminally prosecutable, and are correspondingly not a primary focus. [...]
Pedosexual relationships, however, usually cannot be reduced to sexual practices, but instead are quite often far more complex phenomena.
[... T]he sexual aspect of these normally friendship-based relationships is, from a scientific and non-scientific perspective, usually very strongly over-emphasized, at the expense of their socio-emotional features. A portion of pedophilic relationships end up being asexual. [...]
The abuse paradigm is the source of many difficulties in the scientific as well in non-scientific spheres.
[...]
In the future, Griesemer's integrative causal theory could represent a potential alternative/complement to the widely-diffused simplistic analytical and feminist models, in which a solid empirical basis for the pedophile population is totally absent.
In this study, pedophilia is regarded not as a sexual preference disorder, but rather an a priori sexual orientation [...].
The underlying psychological and sexual-science perspective on the concept of pedophilia follows the property paradigm. [...]
It is virtually incompatible with the criminological viewpoint and sexual abuse paradigm, and therefore needs to be distinguished from them. [...]
The fundamental problem with these paradigms lies in the fact that the pedophilia concept becomes understood, almost exclusively, as a behavioral category. [...]
The essential components of human sexuality are not merely observable sexual activities, but also erotic-sexual fantasies, feelings, and emotional connections. [...]
These are not criminally prosecutable, and are correspondingly not a primary focus. [...]
Pedosexual relationships, however, usually cannot be reduced to sexual practices, but instead are quite often far more complex phenomena.
[... T]he sexual aspect of these normally friendship-based relationships is, from a scientific and non-scientific perspective, usually very strongly over-emphasized, at the expense of their socio-emotional features. A portion of pedophilic relationships end up being asexual. [...]
The abuse paradigm is the source of many difficulties in the scientific as well in non-scientific spheres.
[...]
In the future, Griesemer's integrative causal theory could represent a potential alternative/complement to the widely-diffused simplistic analytical and feminist models, in which a solid empirical basis for the pedophile population is totally absent.
;
The Abused/Abuser Hypothesis of Child Sexual Abuse: A Critical Review of Theory and Research;
488-509
A widespread belief among the general public and professionals alike is that “sexual abuse causes sexual abuse”. That is, sexually abused children and adolescents who have engaged in sexual behavior with an adult (or a significantly older adolescent) are commonly thought to be at risk in later years of themselves becoming sexually involved with children and adolescents. This belief is referred to here as the “abused/abuser hypothesis of child and adolescent sexual abuse.”
Given the popularity of the abused/abuser hypothesis, it is perhaps surprising to find that there is a dearth of evidence supporting it. This is not to say that there is a substantial body of contradictory evidence. Rather, only a handful of studies have actually investigated the presumed association, and the designs and methods of these studies have been less than ideal. Most of the relevant data come from retrospective studies of adults that do not allow for direct causal analysis.
"The conclusion that seems warranted from the review is that childhood and adolescent sexual contact with adults is neither a necessary nor a sufficient cause for becoming an adjudicated sex offender of children or adolescents."
"Thus, sexual contact with an adult during childhood or adolescence is not a necessary cause for becoming an adjudicated adult sex offender of children and adolescents. Sexual contact with an adult during childhood or adolescence also does not appear to be a sufficient cause for becoming an adjudicated sex offender of children and adolescents."
"In summary, the abused/abuser hypothesis — the belief that sexual behavior between adults and children or adolescents causes those children and adolescents, as adults, to become sexually involved with other children and adolescents — is inadequate and incorrect."
"The belief that sexual abuse causes sexual abuse, the so-called “abused/abuser hypothesis,” is simplistic and misleading."
"The conclusion reached is that sexual contact with an adult during childhood or adolescence is neither a necessary nor a sufficient cause of adult sexual interest in children or adolescents."
A widespread belief among the general public and professionals alike is that “sexual abuse causes sexual abuse”. That is, sexually abused children and adolescents who have engaged in sexual behavior with an adult (or a significantly older adolescent) are commonly thought to be at risk in later years of themselves becoming sexually involved with children and adolescents. This belief is referred to here as the “abused/abuser hypothesis of child and adolescent sexual abuse.”
Given the popularity of the abused/abuser hypothesis, it is perhaps surprising to find that there is a dearth of evidence supporting it. This is not to say that there is a substantial body of contradictory evidence. Rather, only a handful of studies have actually investigated the presumed association, and the designs and methods of these studies have been less than ideal. Most of the relevant data come from retrospective studies of adults that do not allow for direct causal analysis.
"The conclusion that seems warranted from the review is that childhood and adolescent sexual contact with adults is neither a necessary nor a sufficient cause for becoming an adjudicated sex offender of children or adolescents."
"Thus, sexual contact with an adult during childhood or adolescence is not a necessary cause for becoming an adjudicated adult sex offender of children and adolescents. Sexual contact with an adult during childhood or adolescence also does not appear to be a sufficient cause for becoming an adjudicated sex offender of children and adolescents."
"In summary, the abused/abuser hypothesis — the belief that sexual behavior between adults and children or adolescents causes those children and adolescents, as adults, to become sexually involved with other children and adolescents — is inadequate and incorrect."
"The belief that sexual abuse causes sexual abuse, the so-called “abused/abuser hypothesis,” is simplistic and misleading."
"The conclusion reached is that sexual contact with an adult during childhood or adolescence is neither a necessary nor a sufficient cause of adult sexual interest in children or adolescents."
;
Alice in Wonderland: Sexual Upbringing in America;
287 pp
We can't stop our children from finding out about types of sexuality that we don't like. But if we openly and honestly discuss sex with our children, we can help make them responsible and caring in their own sexual choices regardless of what today's world exposes them to.
As I will shortly discuss, we know that infants masturbate and children of all ages explore each other's genitalia. So sex in children is far from dormant.
Let's be honest about preadolescent sexuality.
If we want to reduce exploitation of children, we have to empower children. Young people need to know that they have real choices to make in the area of sexuality. To do that we must develop a pluralistic rather than a dogmatic approach to sex.
Forbidding or ignoring all child sexuality does not give a child control over his or her sexuality. Only when children are given the right to say yes to some forms of sexual exploration will children feel that they have the responsibility to say no to other sexual practices.
We can't stop our children from finding out about types of sexuality that we don't like. But if we openly and honestly discuss sex with our children, we can help make them responsible and caring in their own sexual choices regardless of what today's world exposes them to.
As I will shortly discuss, we know that infants masturbate and children of all ages explore each other's genitalia. So sex in children is far from dormant.
Let's be honest about preadolescent sexuality.
If we want to reduce exploitation of children, we have to empower children. Young people need to know that they have real choices to make in the area of sexuality. To do that we must develop a pluralistic rather than a dogmatic approach to sex.
Forbidding or ignoring all child sexuality does not give a child control over his or her sexuality. Only when children are given the right to say yes to some forms of sexual exploration will children feel that they have the responsibility to say no to other sexual practices.
;
American Sexual Behavior and The Kinsey Report (excerpts);
Several excerpts
Excerpts from: American Sexual Behavior and The Kinsey Report; New York: Greystone Press, 1948.
The same factors which governed the development of our actual sexual behavior seem to have set up the psychological blocks which have been the obstacles to our knowledge.
Observation and a reading of history show that not all people at all times and in all lands have the same attitudes toward sex. Yet the pattern of Western civilization has been established - and Westerners have sought to impose it upon the rest of the world - as if only one set of sexual customs was either desirable or natural.
The sexual behavior of people is based on a great many different traditions, superstitions, impulses and individual experiences. But our attitudes toward sex are not even as reasonable as our behavior.
Homosexual experience before adolescence was more frequent [than heterosexual] among the subjects studied for the Kinsey Report ...
These statistical data may shock many parents.
The Report has set forth the facts.
Only after the fear of parental displeasure has been removed can we find out what that taboo can do to the child's mind. Perhaps the silliest attitude parents can take is the peremptory order "Stop!" ....
Excerpts from: American Sexual Behavior and The Kinsey Report; New York: Greystone Press, 1948.
The same factors which governed the development of our actual sexual behavior seem to have set up the psychological blocks which have been the obstacles to our knowledge.
Observation and a reading of history show that not all people at all times and in all lands have the same attitudes toward sex. Yet the pattern of Western civilization has been established - and Westerners have sought to impose it upon the rest of the world - as if only one set of sexual customs was either desirable or natural.
The sexual behavior of people is based on a great many different traditions, superstitions, impulses and individual experiences. But our attitudes toward sex are not even as reasonable as our behavior.
Homosexual experience before adolescence was more frequent [than heterosexual] among the subjects studied for the Kinsey Report ...
These statistical data may shock many parents.
The Report has set forth the facts.
Only after the fear of parental displeasure has been removed can we find out what that taboo can do to the child's mind. Perhaps the silliest attitude parents can take is the peremptory order "Stop!" ....
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Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations;
368 pp
This volume sheds light on one of the most explosive episodes of censure of academic scholarship in recent decades. Bruce Rind, a former psychology professor at Temple University, investigated sexual relations between male adults and adolescents through history and across cultures, from highly institutionalized relationships in Ancient Greece and Rome, to 33 contemporary cultures including the USA, and among various species. His conclusions that these relations, when consensual, are not always negative was radical, but based in his research findings. Even before publication of an invited article on the topic, he was subjected to intensive attacks, censured, and censored. This book presents a substantially extended version of Rind’s original, unpublished article, plus 12 scholarly responses to his work that argue for or against Rind’s conclusions or offer useful context on his work. For anyone interested in sex research and the academic freedom issues surrounding it, whether supportive of or vehemently opposed to Rind’s ideas, this book is a must-read.
This volume sheds light on one of the most explosive episodes of censure of academic scholarship in recent decades. Bruce Rind, a former psychology professor at Temple University, investigated sexual relations between male adults and adolescents through history and across cultures, from highly institutionalized relationships in Ancient Greece and Rome, to 33 contemporary cultures including the USA, and among various species. His conclusions that these relations, when consensual, are not always negative was radical, but based in his research findings. Even before publication of an invited article on the topic, he was subjected to intensive attacks, censured, and censored. This book presents a substantially extended version of Rind’s original, unpublished article, plus 12 scholarly responses to his work that argue for or against Rind’s conclusions or offer useful context on his work. For anyone interested in sex research and the academic freedom issues surrounding it, whether supportive of or vehemently opposed to Rind’s ideas, this book is a must-read.
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Child Pornography : Crime, Computers and Society;
xii, 259 pp.
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The Consequences of Sexual Abuse of Minors;
Chapter, summarized
The Consequences of Sexual Abuse of Minors - On behalf of the Commission for Examination of Sexual Abuse of Minors in the Roman-Catholic Church [* in the Netherlands]; In: Rapport Commissie Deetman, Balans, 2011, Part 2. Summary and conclusions in English by Frans E J Gieles, PhD.
In this essay, sexual abuse is, conform the scientific and juridical mores, defined as "... sexual-genital manipulation of a child below the age of sixteen, by an adult of whom the child is dependent or with whom he or she has a relationship of confidence, with the aim of satisfaction of the sexual need of the first. [...] There is an age difference, and/or a difference in power, by which the child is not able to refuse the sexual contact, which is not consensual."
Research of the later consequences of sexual abuse is done in three phases or generations of research.
The most recent research explores what has appeared to be the most central factor: disturbance of the stress regulation.
There is consensus about harm for the physical and emotional health, especially the attachment and sexuality, even if the consequences are invisible at first sight. They are just like a time bomb, that explodes as soon as, in adulthood, the impact of the events becomes significant.
The Consequences of Sexual Abuse of Minors - On behalf of the Commission for Examination of Sexual Abuse of Minors in the Roman-Catholic Church [* in the Netherlands]; In: Rapport Commissie Deetman, Balans, 2011, Part 2. Summary and conclusions in English by Frans E J Gieles, PhD.
In this essay, sexual abuse is, conform the scientific and juridical mores, defined as "... sexual-genital manipulation of a child below the age of sixteen, by an adult of whom the child is dependent or with whom he or she has a relationship of confidence, with the aim of satisfaction of the sexual need of the first. [...] There is an age difference, and/or a difference in power, by which the child is not able to refuse the sexual contact, which is not consensual."
Research of the later consequences of sexual abuse is done in three phases or generations of research.
The most recent research explores what has appeared to be the most central factor: disturbance of the stress regulation.
There is consensus about harm for the physical and emotional health, especially the attachment and sexuality, even if the consequences are invisible at first sight. They are just like a time bomb, that explodes as soon as, in adulthood, the impact of the events becomes significant.