1997:
Searching for Correlates
1)
Psychological Correlates of Male Child and Adolescent Sexual Experiences with
Adults: A Review of the Nonclinical Literature;
Robert Bauserman, Ph.D. & Bruce Rind, Ph.D., Archives of Sexual Behavior,
26-2, 1997. G. G., Bauserman & Rind, Boys' Sexual
Experiences, KOINOS 17, 1998. “Researchers
have generally neglected sexual experiences of boys with adults, assumed them to
be the same as those of girls, or tried to understand them by referring to
clinical research while ignoring nonclinical research. A review
of nonclinical research allows a more complete understanding of boys' sexual
experiences with adults and the outcomes and correlates of those experiences.
Research with nonclinical samples reveals a broad range of reactions, with most
reactions being either neutral or positive. Clinical samples reveal a narrower,
primarily negative, set of reactions. Comparison of the reactions of boys and
girls shows that reactions and outcomes for boys are more likely to be neutral
or positive. Moderator variables, including presence of force, perceptions of
consent, and relationship to the adult, also relate to outcomes. Incestuous
contacts and those involving force or threats are most likely to be negative. Problems
in this field of research include broad and vague definitions of "abuse
" and conflation of value judgments with harm. Effects of boys' early
sexual experiences with older persons in general cannot be accurately inferred
from clinical research alone or from girls' experiences.” 2)
A Meta-Analytic Review of Findings from National Samples on Psychological
Correlates of Child Sexual Abuse, by Bruce Rind & Philip
Tromovitch, in: The Journal of Sex Research Vol. 34, No. 3, 1997 pages 237-255. G. G., Radical Reconsideration of the Concept of
Child Sexual Abuse. New Findings by Bauserman, Rind and Tromovitch. Koinos
#20 (1998). < http://www.ipce.org/Library/00-013a_gos_koi_20_e.htm
> “Our
goal in the current study was to examine whether, in the population of persons
with a history of CSA, this experience causes pervasive, intense psychological
harm for both genders. Most previous literature reviews have favored this
viewpoint. However, their conclusions have generally been based on clinical and
legal samples, which are not representative of the general population. To
address this viewpoint, we examined studies that used national probability
samples, because these samples provide the best available estimate of population
characteristics. Our review does not support the prevailing viewpoint. The
self-reported effects data imply that only a small proportion of persons with
CSA experiences is permanently harmed and that a substantially greater
proportion of females than males perceives harm from these experiences. Results
from the psychological adjustment measures imply that although CSA is related to
poorer adjustment in the general population, the magnitude of this relation is
small. Further, data on confounding variables imply that this small relation
cannot safely be assumed to reflect causal effects of CSA. Browne
and Finkelhor (1986, page 178) cautioned "advocates not [to] exaggerate or
overstate the intensity or inevitability of [CSA] consequences," because
such exaggeration has iatrogenic potential. Despite this caution, child abuse
researchers have tended to depict CSA as a "special destroyer of adult
mental health" (Seligman, 1994, p. 232). McMillen, Zuravin, and Rideout
(1995, p. 1037) recently commented that the "experience of child sexual
abuse is a traumatic event for which there may be few peers." Results of
analyses of the national samples show that such characterizations are
exaggerated at the population level. This exaggeration may stem from our
culture's tendency to equate wrongfulness with harmfulness in sexual matters
(Money, 1979). CSA is violative of norms and laws in our culture; these facts,
however, do not imply its harmfulness in a scientific or psychological sense
(Kilpatrick, 1987). It is important to add to this discussion of exaggeration
that understatement is also problematic. CSA is potentially harmful for young
persons because of their vulnerability to being misused. The current findings
should not be interpreted by lay persons as condoning abusive behavior. Finally,
analysis at the population level may obscure characteristics of particular
segments of the population. In the current review, the effect size estimate of
the relation between CSA and adjustment, which was of low magnitude, cannot be
interpreted as applicable to every case. When CSA is accompanied by particular
dispositional and situational factors, including variables such as temperamental
vulnerability, the use of force, or the presence of close familial ties between
participants, then CSA might produce intense harm; on the other hand, if
temperamental factors are favorable, if the child or adolescent perceives his or
her participation to have been willing, or if the sexual experience is
essentially trivial or transient, then harm may be absent (Constantine, 1981).
Combining the former and later types of experiences into one category labeled
CSA is problematic, because both negative and neutral effects can become
obscured. By moving beyond sociolegal definitions of CSA and employing strictly
scientific definitions (cf. Ames & Houston, 1990, Rind & Bauserman,
1993), researchers can better describe psychological correlates of the
heterogeneous collection of experiences currently labeled as CSA.” 3)
Adult Correlates of Child Sexual Abuse, A meta-analytic review of college
student and national probability samples; Philip Tromovitch, Bruce Rind
& Robert Bauserman; Eastern Regional Conference of Society for Scientific
Study of Sex (ER-SSSS), April 18, 1997. < http://www.ipce.info/library_3/files/adcorr_txt.htm
> “Child
sexual abuse (CSA) is viewed by the lay public, and by many professionals, as
one of the most psychologically damaging events that a child or adolescent can
experience. Opinions expressed by many professionals imply that CSA possesses at
least four fundamental qualities or properties:
The
current paper examines these implied properties by reviewing the results of 54
college samples and 10 national probability samples (5 male and 5 female) which
provide data relevant to psychological correlates of CSA. In order to minimize
confirmation and sampling biases, 100% sampling of studies was attempted and
quantitative analyses (i.e., meta-analyses) were conducted. Meta-analyses
of 18 symptom domains revealed that students with experiences classifiable as
CSA are, on average, slightly less well adjusted than control subjects across
all 18 symptom domains. Meta-analyses of a composite effect based on national
probability samples showed an identical effect size to that found in the college
data. Further
analyses, however, indicate that this poorer adjustment cannot be causatively
attributed to the CSA experiences because of the reliable presence of
confounding variables (in the general domain of family environment), which, when
controlled for, rendered the majority of CSA-symptom relations nonsignificant in
studies where statistical control could be applied. Examination
of the reported reactions to the CSA experiences also revealed significant
gender differences, with males reporting significantly more positive experiences
than females; it is further noted that the socio-legal definitions of CSA that
are currently used in CSA research are so broad as to be capturing very
different experiences under the same rubric. It is
concluded that:
The
findings from this report contradict prevalently held assumptions about CSA —
assumptions that may bias not only the lay public, but researchers studying and
reporting on activities classifiable as CSA.” Note, thatthe
authors did not start their own new research project. They have not interviewed
anybody, but have only analysed research reports made by others. All topics
discussed above will be criticized later, some of these critics will attempt to
blame the authors. But one cannot blame the authors of the meta-analysis for
what other authors have written. Remarkably, these three articles hardly caused any
reaction, and many professionals had not even discovered them. This changed
after the next article was published in 1998; a storm flood of reactions
followed.
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