U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Adult Males Sexually Abused as Children: Characteristics and Implications for Treatment

NCJ Number
113280
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 3 Issue: 2 Dated: (June 1988) Pages: 203-221
Author(s)
P T Dimock
Date Published
1988
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This article describes a study which examines some common characteristics in a clinical population of 25 white males between 19 and 38 years of age who were sexually abused as children, and proposes an approach to treatment based on the characteristics of this sample.
Abstract
The subjects were asked to complete a questionnaire describing their sexual abuse experience and how they felt they were affected by it. Data gathered over a 5-year period indicate that 19 of the study subjects had received some type of counseling or chemical dependency treatment either as an adult or as a child prior to disclosing the sexual abuse. The clients' responses to a questionnaire, case records, and clinical observations describe three primary characteristics common among subjects: sexual compulsiveness, masculine identity confusion, and relationship dysfunction. Male socialization appears to be a key variable in explaining the difficulty men have in acknowledging the abuse, as was an underlying dynamic that must be considered in the overall treatment approach. (Author abstract modified).