NCJ Number
140046
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 16 Issue: 5 Dated: (September-October 1992) Pages: 735-741
Date Published
1992
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This study used a sample of 85 cases to examine the characteristics of grandparent sexual abuse in terms of victim and perpetrator profiles, the level of violence in this form of incest, the proportion of stepgrandparents in the sample, and the frequency of trigenerational sexual abuse.
Abstract
The findings confirmed several earlier studies. They showed that virtually all perpetrators in grandparent sexual abuse incidents were male and 84 of the 95 victims were female. A large proportion of the abusing grandfathers had been abusive fathers; 26 grandfathers who had abused 34 grandchildren had also sexually abused their own daughters. The data suggested that children experience greater risk with stepgrandparents and the type of sexual abuse committed by stepgrandparents appeared to be more severe and violent. While some earlier studies had described grandparent sexual abuse as "gentle," this study showed that explicit threats and overt physical assault occurred in 14 cases. Other tactics used to gain children's compliance in the incest, including attacks while the children were sleeping and sudden grabbing of their genitals, seriously compromised the victims' autonomy and personal integrity. The study showed that only a small portion of this abuse occurred with grandparents who have custody; most abuse occurred during periods of temporary child care, especially when children spent the night at their grandparents' house. 18 references