Customer Reviews

Misinformation Concerning Child Sexual Abuse and Adult Survivors

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Oftentimes, lay people as well as professionals respond to perceptions of child sexual abuse that have no basis in fact. The impact of sexual abuse does not always follow a straight and logical path. However, research in the field of child sexual abuse clearly indicates that it has long-term negative consequences for which its victims and their families are not prepared. Narrowly focused studies such as Rind, Tromovitch, and Bauserman only serve to misinform society and perpetuate the notion that sex with children is equivalent to sex with adults, further exacerbating the problem. This book presents evidence based on a broad review of the research literature that indicates sex with children is harmful to the victims and society.

This is a good analysis of the movement to silence survivors of sexual abuse. The essays debunk the junk science of "false memory syndrome" which has been used to discredit survivors. Several take apart the Rind study cited by another reviewer (which has the dubious honor of having been "the first scientific study to be formally denounced by the US House of Representatives" p. 109)). This book was originally published as a double issue of the Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, which uses a double-blind peer-review process: this means their scientific credibility meets a high standard. Don't let that scare you off: the essays are also readable. Useful when read alongside the work of Bessel van der Kolk, Jennifer Freyd, Alice Miller, and Babette Rothschild. --Janine Goodwin

The author makes an important case for taking sexual abuse seriously. However, defending a particular person against false claims of abuse is not the same as denying the reality of sexual abuse in general. Also, not all erotic relationships commonly seen as 'sexual' abuse are involuntary or harmful to the minor, as has been rediscovered through the work of Rind, Tromovitch and Bauserman, and others.
Realism is a matter of taking all sides, facets and dimensions seriously. In present-day society there is a general tendency to over-simplify by ignoring data rather than integrating them in our world-view or theory. Misinformation is allways wrong.

Titus Rivas