Abused Boys: The Neglected Victims of Sexual Abuse (Paperback)

~ (Author) "When a person uses tricks, power threats, or violence to have sexual contact with another adult, it is called rape or sexual as-sault..." (more)
Key Phrases: offender mentality, many sexual abuse victims, sadness stage, Twelve Steps, Sex Addicts Anonymous, David Finkelhor (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

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.

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 (June 25, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449906299
• ISBN-13: 978-0449906293
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #51,590 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #28 in	Books > Parenting & Families > Family Relationships > Child Abuse
  #40 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Mental Health > Abuse & Self Defense > Sexual Abuse
  #43 in	Books > Parenting & Families > Family Relationships > Dysfunctional Relationships

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

80 of 81 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 (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews

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)

39 of 40 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

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.

45 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

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

By A Customer

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!