Child sexual abuse
From RationalWiki
the ways in which the fears surrounding abuse have been
harnessed by a number of groups, often for political reasons.
RationalWiki does not in any way want to lessen the moral
stigma that is rightfully attached to the sexual abuse of minors.
Sexual activity with minors poses extreme and
irreversible developmental risks to them.
That said ...
Contents |
[edit] Overview
Child sexual abuse is basically any sexual activity performed by an adult (someone over the "age of consent") on a minor (someone below the "age of consent"). It is considered to be morally reprehensible in pretty much all circumstances, although the degree of actual harm, temporary or lasting, it causes may differ. The primary reason for it being considered wrong is that a child cannot give full informed consent to sexual activity; being at an age where they are likely to believe and submit to any adult they meet, they are not in a position to fully understand their actions in the context that the adult does.
[edit] Rind et al.
Research on child sexual abuse, defined as sexual contact between an adult and minor, has been the target of numerous sciphobic lunatics. Bent on conserving their unscientific assumption that adult-minor sex inevitably leads to profound and irreparable harm, organizations like the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) have attacked legitimate science for not supporting this preconception. "A meta-analytic examination of assumed properties of child sexual abuse," published by three psychologists in Psychological Bulletin, is perhaps the most notable example: after being lambasted by various conservative critics for "praising pedophilia," including Laura Schlessinger, a Catholic newspaper, and the Family Research Council, the U.S. Senate voted unanimously to condemn the team's paper for its conclusion that "Child sexual abuse does not cause intense harm on a pervasive basis."[1] The paper was criticised by Stephanie Dallam in 2001 as it had sampled only college students to produce its results, ignoring the possibility that victims of abuse would be unable to get as far as college, or would drop out early.[2] (Later, a psychologist and member of congress who abstained from the vote published a letter in support of the Rind study.[citation needed]) The Family Research Council, a conservative organization supportive of repressed memory therapy, summed up their ludicrous position as such: "if psychology finds no harm in something considered morally wrong, we believe they are not looking carefully enough."
Beginning with Kinsey, many other child sexual abuse researchers have become the victims of "concerned citizens" outraged by the suggestion that the results of child sexual abuse might not be "as pervasive, severe, and long-lasting as generally assumed." [3]
[edit] Reasons for concern
Whether or not the damage to abused children is as bad as is generally assumed, the existence of any damage to vulnerable groups in society is obvious grounds for concern.
The second reason for concern is that child sexual abuse usually involves some form of violation of trust on the part of somebody who, in theory, should be protecting the child such as a family member or other such guardian.
Thirdly, a power imbalance seems inherent in any interaction between an adult and a child. Often child sexual abuse involves the naivety of a child being taken advantage of by an adult, who may not have the child's well-being in mind.
Finally there is the question of consent. While the point may be argued, it seems clear that many abused children are either unwilling, or unable, to really give informed consent.
[edit] Therapy as abuse
Some "therapists" developed specialized practices and techniques for determining if children have been "bothered" by adults. Some of these techniques may themselves be inappropriate, being sexually suggestive themselves, and also claims are made that the memories or evidence that are "uncovered" are actually taught to the children.
Additionally, therapists have been accused of treating even asymptomatic abused children for their own profit, despite the questionable efficacy of psychotherapy for sexually abused children.[4]
[edit] The day care panic
In the mid 1980s a number of people involved in the day care industry (caring for other people's children while they were at work) in the U.S. were accused of various levels and amounts of sexual abuse of children in their care, often in connection with Satanic ritual abuse.
Of prime note is the Fernald Day Care scandal, which put several adults in jail. Even though the case has been debunked -- at a legal level -- some of these adults still molder, incarcerated.[citation needed] [5]
[edit] The priest molestation scandal
In the early 2000's a scandal broke that has rippled worldwide, involving Roman Catholic priests engaging in inappropriate activities with children who they had access to. Many cases were not prosecutable, as the evidence uncovered was from so long ago that the Statute of Limitations had expired. As a result of some of the cases, there was a push to alter these statutes so that molested children would have a chance, as adults, to testify and seek justice.
[edit] Psychological effects
Associations between sexual abuse in childhood and psychological problems in adulthood have been found by most papers investigating the effect of child sexual abuse. Although child sexual abuse has no characteristic pattern of outcome,[6] some abused children later suffer from depression, PTSD, drug abuse disorders, and a wide range of other problems. At the very least, half of abused children appear to experience negative sequelae.[7]
The issue has, however, been clouded by improper methodologies used by most researchers. Pope & Hudson, 1995, argued that many studies "are so severely vulnerable to selection bias, information bias, and lack of consideration of confounding variables that they are rendered almost valueless."[8] Although early studies[9][10][11] that corrected for these problems found that no significant problems could be attributed to child sexual abuse, recent studies have found negative outcomes for some types of CSA.[12][13]
[edit] Hypocrisy over pedophilia
Look at the image below:
While the Daily Star lambastes Chris Morris over a Brass Eye episode that was "a comedy about pedophiles", they print, right next to it, an article lecherously commenting on the 15-year-old[14] Charlotte Church's breasts.
[edit] See also
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ Note, however: "In a sobering postscript to this story, a psychologist of my acquaintance in New York City informed me that he had run into his congressional representative at a local establishment a few weeks after the vote. The congressman informed him that he and a number of other representatives were aware of how silly the resolution was and had considered voting against it. Nevertheless, because the resolution was piggybacked onto important legislation and because it was worded in such a way that voting against it was politically dangerous, he and his colleagues ultimately opted to vote for it. When my psychologist colleague pointed out to his representative that this vote could ultimately exert a chilling effect on research concerning controversial scientific topics, the congressman responded that he was unaware of these negative consequences but would be certain to keep them in mind in the future."
- ↑ Science or Propaganda? An examination of Rind, Tromovitch & Bauserman (1998)
- ↑ The Effects of Child Sexual Abuse: Truth Versus Political Correctness
- ↑ Child Sexual Abuse: Is the Routine Provision of Psychotherapy Warranted?
- ↑ I know it's in the Boston Globe, somewhere (boston.com), and I will try to dig out all the details soon - ~~~
- ↑ K.A. Kendall-Tackett, L.M. Williams and D. Finkelhor. (1993). "Impact of sexual abuse on children: A review and synthesis of recent empirical studies," Psychological Bulletin 113 (1993), pp. 164–180
- ↑ Fergusson, D.M. & Mullen, P.E. (1999). "Childhood sexual abuse: An evidence based perspective," Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.
- ↑ http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1026&context=psychfacpub
- ↑ B. Rind, P. Tromovitch and R. Bauserman (1998). A meta-analytic examination of assumed properties of child sexual abuse using college samples. Psychological Bulletin 124, pp. 22–53.
- ↑ M.E. Fromuth (1986). The relationship of childhood sexual abuse with later psychological and sexual adjustment in a sample of college women. Child Abuse and Neglect 10, pp. 5–15.
- ↑ Nash et al., 1993. M.R. Nash, T.L. Hulsey, M.C. Sexton, T.L. Harralson and W. Lambert (1993). Long-term sequelae of childhood sexual abuse: Perceived family environment, psychopathology, and dissociation. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 61 , pp. 276–283.
- ↑ http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/59/2/139
- ↑ Kendler, K. S., Bulik, C. M., Silberg, J., Hettema, J. M., Myers, J., & Prescott, C. A. (2000). "Childhood sexual abuse and adult psychiatric and substance use disorders in women: An epidemiological and cotwin control analysis," Archives of General Psychiatry, 57 , 953-959.
- ↑ The age of consent in the UK is 16, in case this didn't bother or strike you too much. The minimum age for turning a girl into a sex object in a magazine or newspaper is generally accepted to be 18.
