Mental health articles

child sexual abuse is an abuse of power Experts now agree that child sexual abuse is primarily an abuse of power. The most classic conceptualization of abuse is that of more powerful adults abusing less powerful children. Yet, the issue of power is more complex, for three reasons. First, up to 40% of all offenders are juveniles (Davis & Leitenberg, 1987; Fehrenbach, Smith, Monastersky, & Deisher, 1986) and approximately 70% are under the age of 25 (Wyatt et al., 1999). Second, approximately 95% of offenders are male (Finkelhor et al., 1990; Russell, 1983; Wyatt, 1985; Wyatt et al., 1999). Finally, approximately 70% of victims are female (Finkelhor & Baron, 1986). Therefore, a simple analysis of the power of adults over children is insufficient. Instead, power must be considered in some type of interaction with gender. That 95% of offenders are male suggests that adult males are far more likely than adult females to abuse their power over children. Because the power structure within the United States is, as most would agree, patriarchal, the vast over-representation of male to female offenders is easily explained. This power structure also probably explains why the large majority of victims are female, as females have less power than males. Indeed, the patriarchal power structure also explains the high number of juvenile male offenders, as they are certainly growing into their adulthood. In line to take their place within the hierarchical structure of the United States, they thus have power over female children. As such, a trickle-down theory of power centered on male privilege may explain the important gender and age differences in both offenders and victims, In this system, males are most likely to abuse females; further, older males target younger victims. The one exception is abuse in which juvenile males, because of their greater power and strength, abuse girls close in age. A thorough analysis of power, however, must take not only age and gender into consideration, but also race and ethnicity. Because patterns of power by age and gender reside within each race, it logically follows that within-race abuse will follow the lines of patriarchal power. For example, abuse patterns within each race will be similar to those established for the United States as a whole, with minor variations. Because physical attraction is an important characteristic when offenders target potential victims (Conte, Wolf, & Smith, 1989; Elliott, Browne, & Kolcoyne, 1995) and because of the more segregated nature of communities in the United States, it would appear likely—and empirical research supports (Wyatt, 1985)—that abuse is primarily same-race. Finally, it is suggested that there may be diverse pathways by which power leads to child sexual abuse. First, some males may be so assured of their power that they have an inculcated sense of male privilege, These individuals might have a keen sense of ownership of individuals within their environment, perhaps manifesting in intrafamilial abuse, but also placing them at risk to commit sexual abuse against a nonrelative. Second, abuse may be a reaction to a male’s need to feel more powerful.A review of incest offenders (Williams & Finkelhor, 1990), for example, found that they tended to have inadequate masculine identities rather than hypermasculine characteristics. In other words, men who sense they are not sufficiently masculine may also be at greater risk to commit abuse.

Tags: child, sexual abuse