Abused Boys: The Neglected Victims of Sexual Abuse [Paperback]

Mic Hunter (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 25, 1991

A long overdue book by a psychologist who has extensive clinical experience treating male victims of child sexual abuse, it explodes the myth that sexual abuse of male children is rare, or that the consequences are less serious than for girls. Hunter examines the physical and emotional impact of abuse on its victims and the factors affecting revovery. With personal case histories of victims and their families, this is a powerfully written and meticulously researched book that is a landmark in the field of child sexual abuse literature.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

A long overdue book by a psychologist who has extensive clinical experience treating male victims of child sexual abuse, it explodes the myth that sexual abuse of male children is rare, or that the consequences are less serious than for girls. Hunter examines the physical and emotional impact of abuse on its victims and the factors affecting revovery. With personal case histories of victims and their families, this is a powerfully written and meticulously researched book that is a landmark in the field of child sexual abuse literature.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; Reprint edition (June 25, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449906299
• ISBN-13: 978-0449906293
• Product Dimensions: 0.8 x 5.3 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #125,837 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #60 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Psychology & Counseling > Adolescent Psychology

More About the Author

Over his long career Dr. Mic Hunter has held licenses as an Alcohol and Drug Counselor, a Psychologist, and a Marriage and Family Therapist. He has been sought out by the print and broadcast media for interviews over 150 times including Oprah, CNN, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. He has spoken throughout North America to professional audiences and the general public over 300 times. He has presented at the meetings of the American Association Of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists, the Society for the Scientific Study of Sex, the American Psychological Association, and Male Survivor. He has been invited to give eight keynote addresses. He has served as a reviewer for The Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, The Journal of Men's Studies, The Journal of Interpersonal Violence, and Violence Against Women. He is a recipient of the Fay Honey Knopp Memorial Award, given by the National Organization on Male Sexual Victimization, "For recognition of his contributions to the field of male sexual victimization treatment and knowledge." In 2007 the Board of Directors of Male Survivor announced the creation of The Mic Hunter Award For Research Advances. Dr. Hunter, for whom the award was named, became the first recipient. It was given to him for his "ceaseless pursuit of knowledge about male sexual abuse in all its occurrences, of the eloquent dissemination of new knowledge in this area, and of the stimulation for further study and concern about revealing, treating and preventing male sexual abuse." In addition to articles, Mic is the author, co-author, or editor of numerous books including Abused Boys: The Neglected Victims of Sexual Abuse, Back To The Source: The Spiritual Principles Of Jesus, Conscious Contact: The 12 Steps As Prayer, Honor Betrayed: Sexual Abuse In America's Military, The Ethical Use of Touch in Psychotherapy,Child Victims & Perpetrators Of Sexual Abuse, Adult Survivors Of Sexual Abuse: Treatment Innovations.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

110 of 111 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most emotionally draining books I've ever read October 22, 2000

By Dan Lobnitz

Format:Paperback

I worked for the Denver District Attorney's Office as part of the Intake Unit. In the five years I was there, Denver filed an average of roughly 5,500 felony cases per year; I reviewed the vast majority of those cases - everything from murder to sexual assault.

After I had been with the office for several years, I read a case involving a young boy who had been sexually assaulted by his twenty year-old uncle. As I reviewed the file, it dawned on me that I had seen very few male-on-male sexual assaults. And of that very small amount, most of the cases were prison rape. During my five year tenure, I remember seeing less than five cases of sexual assaults on boys (either by males or females).

That struck me as odd. Denver saw its share of sexual assaults on children, to the tune of several per week during the summer months [parents: do yourselves and your kids a favor - stay away from water parks; they're hunting grounds], yet 99.9% of the victims were girls. Granted the number of assaults I saw only represented REPORTED assaults, I knew, logically, that the number of male victims had to be significantly higher than what I was seeing. I made a mental note to look into this topic.

That's how I came across this book. I was never a victim of sexual assault, so I thought this book might be a good, academic, supplemental read. I could not have been more wrong. To read this book is to go through a gut wrenching experience - even for somebody who has been privy to the unedited ugly side of human nature as I have. I honestly believe most men, straight or gay, have no concept of what it would be like to be repeatedly forced to have sex with another man.... This book explains why male sexual victims rarely come forward: the sense of shame, humiliation, and fear combine with the societal taboos of incest, child molestation and homosexuality.

It is a powerful book.

Dan Lobnitz - University of Denver College of Law (2L) Read more ›

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars This is a tough book to go through January 17, 2000

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

This book is a welcome addition to a population that has been ignored; Sexual abused males. About 1 in 7 men were sexual abused.

Mic Hunters book helps by first letting you know you are not alone. Then he dissects Sexual Abuse in categories

1. What is sexual abuse (You will be surprised because sometimes it is subtle and misinterpreted.) How it affects your everyday life (Oh and it does.) What are the recovery issues and how to start healing the affected areas of your life. (Like if you don't know where to go, this has information on groups and organizations who can help.)

2.) Survival Stories of other Survivors (because that is what you want to be a Survivor not a Victim) This is the most powerful part of the book. There are many different stories so any person suffering from the abuse is bound to find a similar story.

Because of the sensitive subjectthe book may be difficult to read . I read some parts and had to stop because it was getting too intense.

I would strongly advise this book in your collection. hope this has been helpful.

55 of 58 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This book covers all the bases November 23, 2000

By A Customer

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I am a sex offender, a convicted felon for sexually assaulting my son, who purchased this book as part of my painful, earnest search for a full understanding of what I did to this little boy. I've purchased and read a slew of other books, many of which were helpful in giving one grief-filling insight of harm or another, but - hands down - this book by Hunter wraps it all up better than any I've seen. Not only does he cover a wide range of ways men and women abusers set up, groom and intimidate their child victims, but he chronicles all the ways the child victim is psychologically damaged for life, and gives you the clinical terms for the various types of disorders; he makes it clear how counseling/therapy CAN help, but also that there will still be scars for life. He has written this book not only for the since-grown-up victims to read and understand objectively what they have suffered and are still suffering, but also for the spouses/partners/lovers of those grown-up boy victims; he "speaks" directly to both those victims and their partners with end-of-chapter questions as well as mid-chapter scenarios that is sure to be very, very helpful. For me, as an anguished, grief stricken father-offender, this book really brought it all "home" to me as what .... I had wrought, and upon finishing reading, makes all my previous empathizing - which I thought was "100%" - look more like minimizing my crime. Although I was not sexually abused in any of the classic ways as a child, the extensive discussion of the ways parents can sexually abuse without touching (consciously or sub-consciously) made me realize for the first time in my quest and treatment process that why, yes, I HAD been abused and crippled in ways that I had not understood before reading Hunter' book.... I would highly recommend this to any adult who cares deeply about any specific person who has been - or may have been - sexually abused. This is a book which will be heavily loaned among needy friends, I am certain! Read more ›

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Abused Boys : The Neglected Victims of Sexual Abuse January 13, 2004

By A Customer

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is a welcome addition to our sparse literature about the sexual abuse of boys. It is well organized, easy to read, and the author is both knowledgeable and sympathetic. He emphasizes that there is no such thing as a "willing" victim and refuses to indulge in victim-blaming, as so often happens to male survivors

However, I strongly discourage survivors from using this book, at least early in their recovery process. The author acknowledges the need for recovery groups to be screened to avoid the inclusion of inappropriate persons in a group, yet failed to do so for his readers and included a story by a survivor/perpetrator. This story is told in the typical detached way of a survivor, and although a young perpetrator, the crimes he commits are among the most heinous in the book. As a female survivor myself, the story resulted in a period of dissociation - something that has not happened to me in 10 years.

Although many perpetrators were themselves victims at one time, these are two very different patient populations and for the sake of fragile survivors the two should not be mixed. I am surprised at the author's lapse in judgment.

TV