NCJ Number
216312
Journal
Victims & Offenders Volume: 1 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2006 Pages: 159-174
Date Published
April 2006
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This analysis of the findings from an evaluation of a treatment program for child sexual abusers assessed the extent to which denial was evident in offender accounts of offense circumstances and identified any differences between offenders' accounts of offense circumstances and victim statements.
Abstract
Although respondents had all pleaded guilty and admitted guilt when questioned directly by the court, in the treatment context they denied responsibility for their offending behavior. They tended to blame the victim, the circumstances in which the offense occurred, and mitigating factors such as the influence of alcohol. Offenders either did not perceive any harm to the victim or minimized it. Child and adult (abused as children) victims of sexual abuse, on the other hand, placed blame on the offender and consistently reported having feelings of fear, disgust, and wrongdoing from an early age. Victims contradicted offender accounts regarding abuse severity, the degree of force used, the duration of the abuse, and the impact on them as victims. At the end of the 3-year treatment program, however, differences in offender and victim accounts of the offense and the harms done tended to coincide, confirming the validity of child victims' accounts. Over a 4-year period, 91 in-depth interviews were conducted with a nonrandom sample of 21 men convicted of sexual offenses against children. Four interviews were conducted with each offender: the first prior to treatment, the second 6 months into treatment, the third following 1 year of treatment, and the fourth at the end of treatment. Statements to police by 31 victims of child sexual abuse were analyzed for content, and comparisons were made with offender accounts. 40 references