Child Sexual Abuse

University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Faculty Publications, Department of Psychology Psychology, Department of December 2007 Child Sexual Abuse Andrea R. Perry University of Nebraska-Lincoln David K. DiLillo University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/psychfacpub Part of the Psychiatry and Psychology Commons Perry, Andrea R. and DiLillo, David K., "Child Sexual Abuse" (2007). Faculty Publications, Department of Psychology. 301. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/psychfacpub/301 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Psychology, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications, Department of Psychology by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Published in Th e Encyclopedia of Domestic Violence, Nicky Ali Jackson, editor. New York & London: Routledge, 2007. Pages 147–156. Copyright © 2007 Taylor & Francis Group LLC. Used by permission. Child Sexual Abuse Historical Perspective opposite-sex parent (Bolen 2001; Olafson et al. 1993; Th ar- inger 1990). In one explanation of Freud’s “suppression,” Child sexual abuse (CSA), a social problem of endemic Bolen (2001) highlighted the Victorian social and political proportions, has existed in all historical eras and societ- atmosphere which encased Freud and con cluded that he “ef- ies (Conte 1994; Fergusson and Mullen 1999; Wekerle and fectively colluded with a society that wished to deny the ex- Wolfe 1996; Wolfe 1999). Since antiquity, anecdotal records istence of child sexual abuse” (p. 20). (e.g., legal, artistic, philosophical, and literary accounts) have Th is cycle of “recognition and suppression” re garding documented activities that would today be classifi ed as CSA the sexual abuse of children was disrupted in part by two (deMause 1974; Kahr 1991; Olafson, Corwin, and Sum- events more associated with the physical abuse of children. mit 1993). For instance, a sizable portion of adults in an- Th e fi rst of these events was the inception of the child pro- cient Greek and Roman cultures openly engaged in what tection movement in New York State. Imbued within a cul- is now considered pederasty or rape (deMause 1974; Kahr ture where children were viewed as parental property and 1991). Although adult-child sexual encoun ters have oc- where family lives were kept discreetly out of public view, curred throughout history, perceptions of such practices the establishment of formal child protection refl ected the have fl uctuated, ranging from societal acceptance (adult- convergence of several salient factors, particularly related to child sex viewed as healthy or justifi able) to rejection (adult- the 1874 case of Mary Ellen, a girl who experienced physi- child sex believed to be inappropriate or abusive) (Barnett, cal and psychological cruelty by her stepmother (MacMil- Miller-Perrin, and Perrin 1997; Kahr 1991; Olafson et al. lan 2000; Wolfe 1999). In contrast to the majority of cases 1993). With this oscillation of cultural ideol ogies, establish- at that time, which went undetected or were ignored, a cul- ing behaviors as sexually abusive has not been an additive or mination of necessary ingredients—including the persistent linear process. Rather, scholars have called attention to cy- voices of advocates for Mary Ellen, public concern, and a cles of “recog nition (or ‘discovery’) and suppression” that, un- political and social atmo sphere more prepared for reform— til the 1970s, largely obscured public awareness of the mag- enabled Mary Ellen’s story to aff ect legal change. Contrary nitude of the problem (Conte 1994; Olafson et al. 1993). to the “suppression” cycle that typically followed, the trag- In the late nineteenth and early to mid-twentieth centuries, edy of Mary Ellen’s case contributed to the founding of the for example, physicians (e.g., Tardieu), psychoanalysts (e.g., New York Society for the Preven tion of Cruelty to Chil- Freud), and researchers (e.g., Kinsey) had, to some extent, dren (NYSPCC), which par alleled the already fl ourishing dis covered and documented sexual victimization in their Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and was patients. Representative of the general senti ment at the the fi rst child protection organization (Barnett et al. 1997; time, however, these fi ndings were subsequently minimized, NYSPCC 2000; Wolfe 1999). Th is late-nineteenth-cen- discounted, or justifi ed, resulting in victim blame and a cy- tury event signifi ed that the protection of chil dren against cle of “suppres sion” (Bolen 2001; Conte 1994; Olafson et al. physical abuse and neglect was an idea that had begun to 1993). Sigmund Freud’s work perhaps best exem plifi es the take root. “recognition and suppression” cycle (Fergusson and Mul- A second watershed event that ultimately helped to len 1999). Specifi cally, al though Freud initially publicized draw attention to the problem of sexual abuse was the pub- the reality of CSA with his “seduction theory,” he later re- lication of the seminal study by Kempe, Silverman, Steele, scinded this account, indicating that most of the alleged in- Droegemueller, and Silver (1962). Th is study, on the physi- stances were false and that children, via the Oedipal com- cal abuse of children, scientifi cally documented medical in- plex, exhibit a natural and erotic sexual desire toward their juries resulting from child abuse and focused particular at- 147 148 Perry & DiLillo in The Encyclopedia of Domestic Violence (2007) tention on the presumed pathology of maltreating parents. ally explicit conduct or simulation of such conduct for the In the aftermath of Kempe et al.’s (1962) landmark publi- purpose of producing a visual de piction of such conduct; cation, several factors (e.g., enhanced societal awareness of or the rape, and in cases of caretaker or interfamilial rela- child maltreatment, the eff ects of the Vietnam war and the tionships, statutory rape, molestation, prostitution, or other concomitant raising of “social consciousness” of the era, the form of sexual exploitation of children, or incest with chil- growth of the women’s movement) coalesced and again pro- dren” (National Center on Child Abuse and Ne glect [NC- vided impetus for increased recognition of CSA as a perva- CAN], 2005a, p. 1). In addition to this legal conceptualiza- sive problem for children and adult survivors (Bolen 2001. tion, many researchers distinguish sexual off enses involving p. 21; Fergusson and Mullen 1999; Finkelhor 2002. p. xii; contact (e.g., penetration) or noncontact (e.g., child pornog- Olafson et al. 1993). raphy, exhibitionism) (American Psychological Association Even after the problem of CSA became widely recog- 2001; Hansen, Hecht, and Futa 1998). Defi nitions also en- nized and reached the mainstream of public awareness in compass the age diff erential between the perpetra tor and the the 1970s, the topic has remained con troversial. For in- victim, with victims of CSA (in contrast to those of statu- stance, despite increased media and research attention on tory rape or adolescent sexual assault) generally being under CSA throughout the 1980s and 1990s, these two decades sixteen years of age and perpe trators being at least fi ve years (and onward into the twenty-fi rst century) witnessed a older (Hansen et al. 1998). Notably, the age diff erential be- backlash that engendered skepticism about the magnitude comes less important if force is involved in the sexual abuse and long-term sequelae of CSA (Fergusson and Mullen incident (Berliner and Elliott 2002). 1999; see also the meta-analysis of Rind, Tromovitch, and Bauserman 1998), as well as the validity of CSA allegations Prevalence (Bowen 2001; Olafson et al. 1993). Th e impact of this “child Just as establishing an operational defi nition of CSA is dif- abuse backlash,” which is evidenced via increasingly visible fi cult, obtaining accurate incidence and prevalence rates of and organized “opposition” groups (e.g., attorneys, websites, CSA is also challenging. Data collection methods (e.g., self- and layperson or legal groups specifi cally geared to those report versus interview methodology), measurement varia- who believe they have been falsely accused of perpetrat- tions (e.g., single-item versus in-depth measures of CSA), ing CSA), complicates scien tifi c inquiry and professional study design issues (e.g., prospective versus retro spective de- advocacy/practice (Finkelhor 2002, p. xiv). Despite these sign, sampling techniques), and extrane ous factors (e.g., un- controver sies, however, the sexual abuse of children has derreporting, response rates) all obscure estimates (Gold- been referred to as “one of the defi ning cultural themes of man and Padayachi 2000; Putnam 2003). Despite these our age” (Fergusson and Mullen 1999, p. 1), a phe nomenon hurdles, researchers have sought to uncover estimates of that ultimately “emerged from the cloak of social secrecy and CSA in the general population through national incidence [has] become a leading concern of mental health profession- studies and self-report data. als” (Cole and Putnam 1992, p.174). National Incidence Study Defi nition of Child Sexual Abuse Th e government-mandated National Incidence Study Ever since the recognition in the 1970s of the sexual mis- (NIS) represents perhaps the most expansive attempt to treatment of children as a widespread problem, profession- ascertain the incidence of CSA in the United States (Sed- als have wrestled with how to conceptu alize and defi ne lak and Broadhurst 1996). Sedlak (2001) points out that CSA (Haugaard 2000). Although formulating a universally children who come to the attention of the legal system as accepted defi nition is complicated by several theoretical and a result of abuse or neglect exemplify only the “tip of the ideological considerations, some agreement has emerged iceberg” (p. 6). For this reason, the third National Inci- among professionals regarding the defi ning fea tures of sex- dence Study (NIS-3) measures maltreatment according to ual abuse.

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