Childhood Sexual Abuse Among Black Women and White Women From Two-Parent Families

• NCJ Number: 216111
• Journal: Child Maltreatment Volume: 11 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2006 Pages: 237-246
• Author(s): Maryann Amodeo; Margaret L. Griffin; Irene R. Fassler; Cassandra M. Clay; Michael A. Ellis
• Date Published: August 2006
• Length: 10 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined racial differences in child sexual abuse (CSA) among African-American women and White women who had lived in two-parent families.

Abstract

The child sexual abuse (CSA) prevalence rate in this study was 27.9 percent. Initial analysis showed that African-American women were 1.75 times more likely than White women to have experienced CSA. Having a stepfather or a working mother did not increase the prevalence of CSA. There were no significant racial differences found in the nature, severity, or aftermath of CSA. Some differences of potential importance included: (1) White women were 2.5 times more likely than African-American women to experience CSA before age 7; (2) African-American women were more likely to report the occurrence of CSA during adolescence; (3) no race differences were found in the rate of incest, but African-American women were more likely to report increased incidence of perpetrators living in the same household; (4) African-American women were more likely to report more than one perpetrator; and (5) White women rated the effect of CSA similarly to African-American women at the time it occurred but as having a worse impact on their lives overall. Differences in family structure remained important even among the two-parent families. Researchers have long been interested in racial differences in the characteristics and prevalence of CSA. Even though African-American and White women have been compared, many questions remain. This study addressed one of these questions. It was interested in racial differences in CSA among African-American women and White women who had lived in two-parent families, with either biological or stepparents, for most of their childhood. It examined characteristics of the CSA experience and its immediate aftermath, and it compared the prevalence of CSA by race. The study sample consisted of 290 women raised in 2-parent families. Tables, references