Somebody Somewhere: While the book focusses on pedophile priests, it will be highly relevant to anyone struggling to understand this issue in general. I found it to be well written, objective, and balanced.
Cite: It has been proved that in pedophiliac crimes the victim and the offender have in the majority of cases been acquainted with each other even before the crime.
One controversy regarding childhood sexual abuse is whether the increased rate of reported cases reflects a true increase in prevalence. In this report, data obtained in the 1970s and 1980s were compared with those of the 1940s. Using predetermined criteria for quality of information, commonality of definitions of childhood sexual abuse, and research design, the authors reviewed the Kinsey report published in 1953 and 19 prevalence studies reported in the last 10 years. Interrater reliability was .97 for each paper. In spite of differences in study designs and populations surveyed, where definitions of childhood sexual abuse were similar, the more recent studies with the strongest methodology reported prevalence figures similar to those of Kinsey in the 1940s, ie, 10% to 12% of girls younger than 14 years of age. Thus it would appear that increased reporting is due to changes in legislation and social climate rather than a true increase in prevalence. The absence of an increase in prevalence of childhood sexual abuse should not deter those interested in pursuing solid research in prevention and treatment because any childhood sexual abuse is too much.
Cite (Brongersma): Veel misdadigers, vooral zedenmisdadigers, zijn opvallend kuis. De meesten begonnen later met zelfbevrediging dan gemiddeld het geval is of wisten die geheel te onderdrukken. Ze deden minder dan anderen aan seksuele spelletjes met kameraden, en maakten later dan anderen kennis met pornografisch materiaal. Ze begonnen later met geslachtsverkeer en deden het ook minder vaak.
Lists of behavioral indicators for suspected sexual abuse have been widely publicized in the media and in the professional literature. The difficulty is that the problem behaviors claimed to be signs of sexual abuse are general signs of stress in children. To spread these lists without appropriate cautions and information about their limitations can generate confusion and mistakes. The same behavioral signs were used almost a century ago as behavioral signs for detecting masturbation in children.