Mental health articles

Likelihood of sexually abuse How many males are at risk to purposefully sexually abuse a child? It has long been of concern that far more offenders exist in the general population than come to the attention of authorities. That 30% to 40% of girls, and as many as 13% or more of boys, are sexually abused (Bolen & Scannapieco, 1990) suggests as much. Herman (1990) probably stated this rationale best when she said, “When one-third of the female population has been sexually victimized, common sense would suggest that some comparable percentage of the male population has been doing the victimizing” (p. 178). Even though her statement may be somewhat exaggerated, the minimal literature does suggest that a significant minority of all males have the potential to purposefully abuse a child. In the earliest studies of likelihood of abuse, Freund et al. (1972) showed slides of naked children to nondeviant men (mostly psychology students). From this study they concluded that nondeviant males had “clearly sexual reactions to female children” (p. 132) as young as six to eight years of age. Further, when Malamuth asked male college students, “If you could be assured of not being caught or punished, how likely would you be to engage in pedophilia, that is, sexual activity with a child” (as cited in Finkelhor & Lewis, 1988, p. 65), 15% agreed to some likelihood. This finding is all the more remarkable because the activity was defined as pedophilia, an illegal event. In a later random community study using sophisticated techniques to ensure the anonymity of respondents, 4% to 17% of males agreed that they had sexually abused a child at some time in their lives (Finkelhor & Lewis, 1988).2 In a college male population, however, only 1% of males admitted to having had sexual activities with a child under the age of 13 when they were 18 years or older, although the average age of the respondent was only between 22 and 23 (Bagley, Wood, & Young, 1994). Another 5% admitted to some interest in sexual activity with a child under the age of 13. Only slightly more men targeted female than male children. Another 3% indicated that they had experienced sexual activity with an adolescent aged 13 to 15 when they were 18 years or older. Three percent admitted to some interest in sexual activity with a male between 13 and 15 years of age, and 9% admitted to some interest in sexual activity with a female between 13 and 15 years of age. A final study found that 21% of college males reported some sexual attraction to small children, 9% reported fantasies of having sex with a child, 5% reported masturbating to fantasies of sex with a child, and 7% reported some likelihood of having sex with a child (Briere & Runtz, 1989). A limitation of these studies is that they address only abuse by adults who are physically attracted to younger children. Yet, approximately 40% of all child sexual abuse incidents occur with children 14 years of age and older.3 Another reason to believe that these studies may underestimate the prevalence of abusive behavior is that many offenders appear to abuse for reasons other than sexual attraction to children. (This thesis is explored further in the section, “Motivations to Abuse: Unidentified Offenders,”) While it is premature to suggest the percentage of males at risk to abuse a child or adolescent, these arguments suggest that the 4% to 21% of men in these studies professing some likelihood to abuse may be an underestimate. Even that 6% to 21% of males may be at significant risk to abuse a child, however, is an amazing statistic, The risk of males within this society to abuse children surely warrants great concern.

Tags: sexually abuse