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Pornography and the Organization of Intrafamilial and Extrafamilial Child Sexual Abuse: Developing a Conceptual Model

NCJ Number
168025
Journal
Child Abuse Review Volume: 6 Issue: 2 Dated: (May 1997) Pages: 94-106
Author(s)
C Itzin
Date Published
1997
Length
13 pages
Annotation
A case study of childhood sexual abuse and a literature review were used to develop a conceptual model of the relationship between child sexual abuse inside and outside the family and the role of adult and child pornography in it and to suggest implications for child protection in the United Kingdom.
Abstract
The woman was one of 132 women who contacted a helpline for people who thought that they had been formed by pornography; the helpline was mentioned on a television program on pornography. The analysis notes some of the characteristics and effects of pornography and child sexual abuse, including gender, intragenerational and intergenerational patterns of victimization, coercion and compliance, the sexualization of the child, pornography and prostitution, and incest as a form of pimping for the perpetrator and as grooming for extrafamilial abuse. It also discusses the way in which pornography is part of all forms of child sexual abuse and is itself a form of organized abuse. The model suggests the need for awareness of widespread availability of pornography and for child protective workers' routine consideration of the possibility of child sexual exploitation. Figures and 41 references (Author abstract modified)