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Acts of Childhood Sexual Abuse: An Empirically Derived Typology

NCJ Number
175130
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 13 Issue: 3 Dated: September 1998 Pages: 233-242
Author(s)
S N Gold; J M Swingle; E L Hill; A S Elfant
Date Published
1998
Length
10 pages
Annotation
A clinical sample of 165 women survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) was surveyed about whether their CSA included each of 17 sexual acts.
Abstract
Data were collected with a reliable structured interview (Gold et al., 1996) designed specifically for the sexual abuse survivors treatment program. The interview was constructed to address areas identified as relevant in previous literature on childhood sexual abuse. Participants were asked to respond with a "yes" or "no" to indicate whether each of the 17 abusive acts constituted their abuse. Correlations among the 17 abusive acts were subjected to an exploratory principal components analysis. The analysis yielded three meaningful factors that accounted for 42 percent of the total variance. The typology derived from the analysis is a considerable departure from classification systems of CSA acts in the existing literature. Most previous categorizations have grouped sexual acts on the basis of the sexual nature of the activity involved, such as the presence or absence of physical contact, genital contact, or penetration. It is noteworthy in this regard that in the current study the act of sexual intercourse did not load on any of the three factors. The power and domination inherent in the act, rather than its sexual aspect, was found to be the critical element in grouping sexually abusive acts. Study limitations are discussed. 3 tables and 21 references

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