NCJ Number
163216
Journal
Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment Volume: 8 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1996) Pages: 7-15
Date Published
1996
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This study compared the sexual abuse histories of sexual- offender and nonsexual-offender inmates.
Abstract
Forty-five sexual offenders (29 rapists, 9 nonfamilial child molesters, and 7 father-daughter incest offenders) volunteered to participate in the study. All were involved in an institutional sexual offender treatment program at a medium-security Federal penitentiary. A comparison group of nonsexual offenders from a medium-security Federal penitentiary also volunteered to participate in the study. A detailed multiple-screen sexual abuse questionnaire was administered to the subjects. In addition to the questions about specific acts of sexual abuse that they had suffered, the questionnaire included items that examined the amount of force used and how upsetting it was for the victim. To assess the reliability of the self-reports, the questionnaire was accompanied by a semistructured interview with all of the subjects about their childhood and family life. Eighteen of 29 rapists (62 percent), 8 of 16 child molesters (50 percent), and 4 of 20 nonsexual-offender inmates (20 percent) were classified as having been sexually abused, with sexual offenders being more likely to report having been abused. Thus, a history of sexual abuse is apparently an important factor in the backgrounds of sexual offenders, and it was found to be associated with other aspects of a disturbed family background. 15 references