NCJ Number
168492
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 21 Issue: 10 Dated: (October 1997) Pages: 953-964
Date Published
1997
Length
12 pages
Annotation
Ninety-seven adolescents who had experienced child sexual abuse by multiple perpetrators were compared with 161 adolescents abused by single perpetrators with respect to their feelings, disclosure characteristics, family dysfunction, and health risk behaviors.
Abstract
The study used a cross-sectional sample taken from 538 adolescents and young adults admitted consecutively to waiting rooms in four clinics. Seventy-six percent of the study population were Hispanic and more than half were poor. Results revealed that victims of multiple perpetrators were more likely than victims of single perpetrators to react with self-blame and to delay their disclosure due to shame. Those with multiple perpetrators were also more likely to disclose the abuse to protect themselves or others or because they became weary or intolerant of the abuse. In addition, domestic assault and drug abuse were common in both groups of victims; these factors appeared to potentiate the likelihood of repeated victimization in childhood. Moreover, the prevalence of health risk behaviors did not differ between the two groups. Findings indicated that sexual revictimization by multiple perpetrators is not uncommon, that abused children should be questioned about this possibility, and that those abused by multiple perpetrators may have more difficulties than others with psychological recovery due their increased shame and self-blame. Tables and 14 references (Author abstract modified)