Childhood Sexual Abuse in the Lives of Sexually Aggressive Offenders

Abstract

This study examined the incidence of childhood physical and sexual abuse in a sample of incarcerated rapists ( N=97) and child molesters ( N=54). The four major findings were: (a) the incidence of sexual assault in childhood among child molesters was higher than the incidence of such abuse reported in the literature; (b) the incidence of sexual assault in childhood among child molesters was more than twice as high as the incidence among rapists; (c) rapists were three times more likely to be victimized by a family member than were child molesters; and (d) when a sexual assault did occur, it was associated with many other indices of familial turmoil and instability.