From Victim to Offender: How Child Sexual Abuse Victims Become Offenders [Paperback]

Freda Briggs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1995

Autobiographical stories, written by people who were child victims and became offenders, provide unique insights into the problem of child sexual abuse.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Allen & Unwin (1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1863737596
• ISBN-13: 978-1863737593
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,031,184 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Many questions are left unanswered!, October 14, 2000

By 

Gavin S. Pope (Cedar Creek, Michigan (the GREAT State of)) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: From Victim to Offender: How Child Sexual Abuse Victims Become Offenders (Paperback)

This book offers a series of very graphic and painfully depressing
recollections of child abuse by victims (mostly boys) that eventually
became offenders. The graphic nature of these revelations may be too
much for more sensitive readers. The most shocking revelations do not
include the means of sexual, physical and emotional abuse that these
children suffered through, but the individuals that perpetrated this
abuse and the total lack of any moral or religious impediments to
their behavior.

In the case of one of these children, the abusers
were part of the foster care system of Australia (Department of
Community Development), i.e., a religious organization that was
licensed by the State to care for children in the foster care system. ...
In the case of another boy sent to a boys home, also licensed by the
State, this child was subjected to sexual torture that defies the most
depraved imagination.

What this book lacks is answers to some of the
most basic questions surrounding child abuse...Why some children who
are severely abused do not themselves become abusers while others do
abuse children as adults? Why do some individuals become child
abusers who have not been subjected to abuse as children? Are there
treatment regimens for adult child abusers that are indeed successful
or do we need to lock up the abusers for the rest of their lives to
protect our children?

In the final analysis this book is basically
just a depressing series of recollections by adults severely abused as
children. ...

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars It won't teach you how to stop it or understand it., January 27, 2003

By 

"tigerlilyth" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: From Victim to Offender: How Child Sexual Abuse Victims Become Offenders (Paperback)

Graphicly detailing the abuse suffered and administered by these victims turned offenders, this book is definitely not for everyone. This is raw, this is gritty, and WILL NOT do anything to aid in the recovery of a victim, an offender, or their spouses. If anything, such graphic retellings can cause flashbacks and regression... definitely do not read if you are currently in treatment!

I envision that the people that most often pick this book up are offenders who were victims, victims that fear becoming offenders, and their parents and spouses... and they are looking in the wrong place. If your intent is to understand offenders, or heal an offender, look at books on sexual addiction-- Patrick J. Carnes is the best in that field. If you are looking to understand a victim or stop the cycle from victim to offender, there are MANY wonderful books out there on victims recovery... and the best way for a victim not to become an offender themselves is to put their heart into their therapy, and also release their anger. The anger and confusion left behind by abuse are the seeds that eventually grow into becoming a sexually abusive individual yourself.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just the facts..., June 7, 2002

By 

Clara M. Fuller (Florence, SC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: From Victim to Offender: How Child Sexual Abuse Victims Become Offenders (Paperback)

If you are looking for TRUE insight into the minds of sexual offenders, then this is the book for you. The book is a collection of stories from actual offenders in Australia. It is not for those with weak stomachs or hearts. It is for those who truly want to understand how the mind of an offender works. These guys were all in jail where they underwent a specialized treatment program...after the other inmates and staff were educated so the sex offenders could be housed with regular criminals. They are not novelists and nothing is sugar-coated. Some stories are apologies to victims, while others continue to minimize their offenses. Either way, the reader gets an unabridged version of the thoughts of sex offenders, without a lot of psychological, investigative, analytical commentary...just the dark truth.