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Nonoffending Mothers of Sexually Abused Children: A Case of Institutionalized Sexism?

NCJ Number
202667
Journal
Violence Against Women Volume: 9 Issue: 11 Dated: November 2003 Pages: 1336-1366
Author(s)
Rebecca M. Bolen
Date Published
November 2003
Length
31 pages
Annotation
This article outlines the historical conceptualization of nonoffending mothers of sexually abused children in order to explore the over-identification of mothers in cases of identified sexual abuse.
Abstract
Data from two waves of a national survey on child abuse reveal that mothers are implicated in 44 percent of all cases of child sexual abuse reported to child protective services and for 53 percent of parental incest cases. These data stand in stark contrast to data generated from other studies, which contend that the percentage of offending mothers in child sexual abuse cases is much lower. The article probes the question of why the data are so divergent. In so doing, it examines the practice of child protective services to categorize female caretakers of sexually abused children as offenders even when they did not actively participate in the abuse. The critical issues of how language regarding offending behavior has shaped who will become an offender and who will become a nonoffender. Further, the historical professional literature on child sexual abuse is analyzed in order to illustrate how the concept of the nonoffending mother was shaped. The article considers how child protective policies and national and State statutes have influenced the assessment and handling of nonoffending mothers. The article argues that it has become an institutionalized practice to criminalize mothers of sexually abused children. Several recommendations are offered to remedy the current conceptualization of all mothers as offenders, including the recommendation to provide treatment and resources to the nonoffending guardians of abused children. Notes, references