Childhood sibling and peer relationships of perpetrators of child sexual abuse.
Maltreatment by parents inhibits a child's ability to form relationships with other children. Given that many sex offenders experienced parental abuse, investigation of their relationships with siblings and peers could provide new directions for early childhood interventions. Interview transcripts of 23 community-dwelling perpetrators of sexual abuse against children were examined in this secondary data analysis. Ages of participants ranged from 20s to 70s, and education ranged from GED to PhD. Phenomenological analysis revealed that neither sibling nor peer relationships adequately promoted participants' capacity for developing and maintaining healthy relationships in adulthood. Until societal preventive actions and early clinical interventions are more successful, the crime of child sexual abuse will continue to be far too common.
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN. Electronic address: sthomas@utk.edu.
Sandra P
SP
Thomas
Kenneth
K
Phillips
Mary
M
Gunther
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000523:psychology*; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009769:Object Attachment; D010379:Peer Group; D010553:Personality Development; D011582:Psychological Theory; D012801:Sibling Relations; D066107:Social Skills; D055815:Young Adult