Current information on the scope and nature of child sexual abuse.

Current information on the scope and nature of child sexual abuse.
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DOI:
10.2307/1602522
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发表时间:
1994-06-01
期刊:
The Future of children
影响因子:
--
通讯作者:
Finkelhor, D
Finkelhor, D
中科院分区:
其他
文献类型:
--
作者:
Finkelhor, D

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1993年期间,向美国儿童福利当局报告的经证实的儿童性虐待案件约为150 000起。这一数字约占100多万证实的虐待和忽视儿童案件的15%。但是这个问题的真正范围在对成年人的回顾性调查中得到了更好的反映,本文总结了其中19项调查的数据。大量证据表明,至少有20%的美国女性和5%至10%的美国男性在童年时经历过某种形式的性虐待。在第二次世界大战前出生的人中,这一比率略低,但几乎没有证据表明最近几代人的这一比率急剧上升。这些研究几乎没有证据表明种族或社会经济环境是主要的风险因素。他们确实表明,那些经历过父母不称职、不可用、冲突、严厉惩罚和情感剥夺的儿童的风险更高。成人回顾性研究也是关于虐待特征的良好信息来源。大多数性虐待是由男子(90%)和儿童认识的人(70%至90%)实施的,家庭成员占女孩施暴者的三分之一至一半,占男孩施暴者的10%至20%。在儿童保护机构案件中,家庭成员在施暴者中所占比例较高,因为这些机构的任务规定一般不允许他们参与家庭外的虐待。大约20%至25%的儿童性虐待案件涉及插入或口腔生殖器接触。易受伤害的高峰年龄在7至13岁之间。对性虐待者刑事司法处理的研究表明,与其他暴力罪犯相比,被起诉的人略少,但在被起诉的人中,被定罪的人略多。20世纪80年代进行的研究还表明,一旦被定罪,相对较少的性虐待者被判处一年以上的徒刑,而32%至46%的人没有服刑。总的来说,几乎没有证据表明,儿童福利制度或刑事司法制度在面对性虐待时放弃了其通常的运作标准,采取了歇斯底里的行动。
Approximately 150,000 confirmed cases of child sexual abuse were reported to child welfare authorities in the United States during 1993. This number represents about 15% of the more than one million confirmed cases of all child abuse and neglect. But the true scope of this problem is better reflected in retrospective surveys of adults, and this article summarizes data from 19 of these surveys. Considerable evidence exists to show that at least 20% of American women and 5% to 10% of American men experienced some form of sexual abuse as children. The rates are somewhat lower among people born before World War II, but there is little evidence of a dramatic increase for recent generations. The studies provide little evidence that race or socioeconomic circumstances are major risk factors. They do show elevated risk for children who experienced parental inadequacy, unavailability, conflict, harsh punishment, and emotional deprivation. Adult retrospective studies are also good sources of information about the characteristics of abuse. Most sexual abuse is committed by men (90%) and by persons known to the child (70% to 90%), with family members constituting one-third to one-half of the perpetrators against girls and 10% to 20% of the perpetrators against boys. Family members constitute a higher percentage of the perpetrators in child protective agency cases because the mandate of these agencies generally precludes their involvement in extrafamily abuse. Around 20% to 25% of child sexual abuse cases involve penetration or oral-genital contact. The peak age of vulnerability is between 7 and 13. Studies of the criminal justice processing of sexual abusers suggest that, compared with other violent criminals, slightly fewer are prosecuted, but of those prosecuted, slightly more are convicted. Studies conducted in the 1980s also showed that, once convicted, relatively few sexual abusers receive sentences longer than one year, while 32% to 46% serve no jail time. Overall, there is little evidence to suggest that either the child welfare system or the criminal justice system abandons its usual standards of operation and acts hysterically when confronted with sexual abuse.