Child Sexual Abuse: Its Scope and Our Failure

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Springer Science & Business Media, Dec 1, 2005 - Psychology - 306 pages
Child sexual abuse has become a prevalent topic of study and discussion in the fields of Child Psychology, Pediatrics, Law Enforcement, and Social Work. But even with the widespread knowledge of identifiable behavior in its victims and abusers, society's response to child sexual abuse is failing profoundly.
Rebecca Bolen's authoritative book, Child Sexual Abuse: Its Scope and Our Failure, clearly defines the scope of child sexual abuse and addresses society's ability to respond to the problem. It is her thesis that society's response to child sexual abuse is failing because the policies, programs, and statutes designed to assess and identify abuse are grounded in historical and myth-bound theoretical child sexual abuse literature rather than in the empirical knowledge base. This comprehensive text on child sexual abuse covers:
  • The historical conceptualization of child sexual abuse, starting with Freud.
  • A review of the empirical literature on the incidence and prevalence of child sexual abuse.
  • The professional response to child sexual abuse.
  • The most sophisticated model of risk of child sexual abuse done to date.
  • Two new models of understanding reactions by nonoffending guardians.
  • The pervasiveness of the threat of extrafamilial abuse. £/LIST£ This text is divided into three main areas of discussion: Sociohistorical Context, Scope of the Problem, and Aftermath.
    This comprehensive review can be used not only as a text, but also as a primary reference for professionals in government, law enforcement, medical, mental health, and any agency that works with child sexual abuse offenders and victims.
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    Contents

    PARTI SOCIOHISTORICAL CONTEXT
    3
    Historical Overview
    11
    An Historical and Sociocultural Perspective
    27
    SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM
    40
    Methodology
    41
    Incidence and Prevalence of Child Sexual Abuse
    65
    Extrafamilial Abuse
    91
    lntrafamilial Abuse
    113
    Offenders
    163
    Nonoffending Guardians
    187
    AFTERMATH
    199
    Professional Response to Child Sexual Abuse
    219
    Conclusions
    245
    It Takes a Village
    273
    References
    279
    303
    280

    Risk Factors for Child Sexual Abuse Victimization
    135

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