What Sexual Offenders Tell Us About Prevention Strategies

• NCJ Number: 118823
• Journal: Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 13 Issue: 2 Dated: (1989) Pages: 293-301
• Author(s): J R Conte; S Wolf; T Smith
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 9 pages
• Grant Number(s): MH 40022
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Mental Health
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Third National Family Violence Conference, Durham, July 1987

Annotation

A sample of 20 adult sexual offenders were interviewed about the process whereby they selected, recruited, and maintained a sexual abuse situation.

Abstract

Offenders were selected only if they were making "successful" progress in treatment in order that they might be less likely to distort the descriptions. Offenders were interviewed by their therapist in a community treatment program using a semistructured interview guide. Results suggest that offenders had a special ability to identify vulnerable children, used that vulnerability to sexually use a child, and that sexual abuse was inherently coercive. Many offenders minimized the level of coercion and violence in their statements and systematically desensitized children to touch. The study highlights the implications for prevention of sexual abuse. Tables and 10 references. (Author abstract modified)