Abuse Images Research Articles

`High crimes and misdemeanors': George W. Bush and the sins of Abu Ghraib

This article examines the Abu Ghraib prison scandal from the perspective of cultural criminology. Several points are made about the iconic images of abuse. First, it is argued that these images, along with supporting documents, constitute the photographic record of a crime committed by the capitalist state. This was the high crime of torture. Next the images are used to examine the efficacy of various explanations for the Abu Ghraib scandal. These include the US Government's theory that the abuse was perpetrated by a small group of `bad apples' within its military police units; Zimbardo's `automatic brutality' theory of prisoner abuse which suggests that we are all latent torturers; and McCoy's theory that the most sophisticated interrogation practices at Abu Ghraib were designed and executed by the US Central Intelligence Agency, with military police in a supporting role. The weight of evidence supports McCoy's theory, thereby lending credibility to the argument that the torturing of detainees at Abu Ghraib followed directly from decisions made by top government officials, from President George W. Bush on down, to `take off the gloves' in prisoner interrogations.

Stephen King's Dolores Claiborne and Rose Madder: A Literary Backlash against Domestic Violence

The creak of the stairs. The quickening of a heartbeat. The taste of fear in the back of your throat. Horror novels capture America's fascination because so many of us, on some level, like to be frightened. We anticipate the rush of fear as we turn the pages, reassured that the terror we experience is firmly confined to the book. We can read about monsters, ghosts, vampires, and ghouls because, as we shiver excitedly, the comforts and safety of our own homes surround us.1 True horror, though, occurs when the terror we read is mimicked in real life in ways that make novels seem tame. In real life, some chapters never end and for many people, especially women, there is nothing more terrifying than domestic abuse. While awareness of wife-battering grew during the feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970s, the subsequent backlash during the conservative 1980s minimized societal responses. Images from popular culture reflected this, but often there were competing images. In many venues, such as popular films, feminism was blamed for larger societal problems; however, in some works, notably two novels by the phenomenally popular Stephen King, violence against women is portrayed as the result of a patriarchal and apathetic society. Domestic abuse is a chilling reminder that violence is a persistent theme of American life for many people. Images throughout popular culture echo this reality, where violence is portrayed in film, popular songs, and literature. However, many images of domestic abuse are watereddown for America. It is often vehicles outside of this mainstream-the circus sideshows as compared with the tent, as historian LeRoy Ashby terms it-that present all the nuances and complexities of domestic abuse. Within the sideshow, authors and artists can question larger assumptions within society, holding up a mirror through which we can view ourselves, our behaviors, and our preconceived notions. Horror novels in many ways represent this sideshow aspect, and Stephen King ably uses this genre to expose the terror of domestic abuse. Drawing upon analogies that James B. Twitchell and other scholars have used, Ashby argues that mainstream culture can be viewed as the big of a circus, and the oddities of popular culture are contained in the sideshow (Ashby With Amusement for All viii). However, often these sideshows find their way into the big as more people venture to see the curiosities, marking a transition into the mainstream. In many ways, Stephen King fits this pattern as the horror genre's popularity increased in the 1980s and 1990s, moving him from the sideshow to the big tent. With two of his novels, Dolores Claiborne (1992) and Rose Madder (1995), King was able to bring his tent credibility to the issue of domestic abuse, reaching a large audience. Both of these works made the bestseller lists, as Dolores Claiborne reached the number one position in 1992 with over 1.3 million sales and Rose Madder reaching number seven in 1995 with over 1 million copies sold (Bowker). While these books today are not as well-known as other King works, such as The Stand (1978) or Carrie (1974), their bestseller position indicate that at the time of their publications, they resounded with a great number of readers. King is well-known for frightening America, for pulling back the curtains and revealing the more base qualities of our civilized lives. Finding horror in a King novel is no harder than opening its pages. While his villains often take gruesome faces-the vampire Barlow in Salem's Lot (1975), the terrifying Pennywise the clown in It (1986), and the rabid Saint Bernard dog in Cujo (1981)King is at his best when his villains are outwardly normal: the husband from across the street, the investment banker in the deli, the lawyer returning home to his family. The facade often cloaks a terrifying home life, and King's depictions of this display the complexities of domestic abuse and society's responses. …

The Construction and Preliminary Validation of the Internet Behaviours and Attitudes Questionnaire (IBAQ)

This study describes the construction and preliminary validation of a measure of the attitudes and behaviours of convicted men whose offences are related to Internet child 'pornography' (abusive images). An initial measure was constructed through the generation of items with reference to the emerging literature on these offenders. Phase 1 involved piloting this first version of the measure with 40 Internet sexual offenders incarcerated in Her Majesty's Prison Service. Phase 2 involved the validation of an improved version of the IBAQ with 123 Internet sexual offenders both incarcerated in Her Majesty's Prison Service and subject to community dispositions. The measure had excellent internal consistency. Following factor analysis a two factor solution, 'distorted thinking', and 'self-management' emerged from the attitudinal items. The attitude measure was not influenced by social desirability, and was able to discriminate participants who disclosed the greater number of 'offending behaviours'. These results are discussed in terms of their clinical implications.

The Construction and Preliminary Validation of the Internet Behaviours and Attitudes Questionnaire (IBAQ)

This study describes the construction and preliminary validation of a measure of the attitudes and behaviours of convicted men whose offences are related to Internet child 'pornography' (abusive images). An initial measure was constructed through the generation of items with reference to the emerging literature on these offenders. Phase 1 involved piloting this first version of the measure with 40 Internet sexual offenders incarcerated in Her Majesty's Prison Service. Phase 2 involved the validation of an improved version of the IBAQ with 123 Internet sexual offenders both incarcerated in Her Majesty's Prison Service and subject to community dispositions. The measure had excellent internal consistency. Following factor analysis a two factor solution, 'distorted thinking', and 'self-management' emerged from the attitudinal items. The attitude measure was not influenced by social desirability, and was able to discriminate participants who disclosed the greater number of 'offending behaviours'. These results are discussed in terms of their clinical implications.

From child porn to China, in one Cleanfeed

Few people seem to have noticed an apparently routine parliamentary question reported in May, about controlling access to child porn on the Internet. By the end of 2007, said the Home Office, all ISPs offering broadband are to block access to all websites containing illegal images of child abuse, identified by the Internet Watch Foundation. If this target is not met voluntarily - then, it is heavily hinted, mandatory laws will be put in place.

Adolescents convicted of possession of abuse images of children: A new type of adolescent sex offender?

Seven young people have been referred to the Taith Service for downloading offences over a 3-year period. The extent to which young “downloaders” may be similar or different to adults convicted of similar offences is considered. The sample group is also compared to a larger group of young people who have engaged in contact sexual offences across static and dynamic factors. The differences between these two sample groups and the potential implications thereof are discussed.

When images matter: Internet child pornography, forms of observation and an ethics of the virtual

The arrest of Pete Townshend, lead guitarist for The Who, for downloading and possessing Internet child pornography and the publicity surrounding the case provides an initial point of discussion concerning the emergence of an ethics of the image that is not predicated on the actual evidential status of that image but on more virtual forms of observation. The discussion in this article focuses on three substantive aspects of this event – legislation in the UK and the US, expert psychological discourse, and public discussion in the UK press – in order to present a particular and situated rendering of forms of virtual observation. The context to this discussion concerns the notion that digital imaging technology presages a need for new legislation, law enforcement and social analytical frameworks for understanding and tackling the production, distribution and consumption of images of child sexual abuse.

The Trauma of the Image: Prisoner ‘Abuse’ in Abu Ghraib Prison

The scandal surrounding the images of abuse and torture at Abu Ghraib prison is explored by examining the conditions as to their possibility. A Freudian-Lacanian psychoanalytic approach is utilized to explore the psyche of such inhumanity. The essay ends on a sobering note as to the future of the Iraqi conflict.

Policing the filth: The problems of investigating online child pornography in England and Wales

This article explores the difficulties facing the police in England and Wales in their attempts to combat the trade in abusive images of children on the Internet. It discusses the problems that hamper investigations into computer-mediated child pornography in the context of the history and composition of the police service, its decentralised and ‘local’ character, its lack of adequate government funding, its internal culture which many regard as resistant to technological innovation, and the consequent problems associated with officer training and expertise. The article will argue that the police's deficiencies in these areas are further frustrated by their difficulty in securing convictions when the few offenders who are prosecuted face trial.

Child Pornography: Balancing Substantive and Evidential Law to Safeguard Children Effectively from Abuse

The law relating to child pornography in the United Kingdom has, over recent years, changed dramatically. These changes have been brought about by both legislation and case law. This article critically analyses the consequences of these changes and, in particular, considers the probity of apparent reverse burdens of proof created by the legislation. When the right to a fair trial is being examined, it is usual to balance the rights of the individual defendant and the rights of society to expect a smooth-running criminal justice system. The balancing act in this field is more complicated because those who are the subject of abusive images are the most vulnerable members of society, and thus the balance struck must not unduly constrain law enforcement agencies, preventing them from tackling the exploitation and abuse of children.

Images of Abuse: A Review of the Evidence on Child Pornography, Emma Renold and Susan J. Creighton with Chris Atkinson and John Carr, London, NSPCC, 2003, pp. 77, ISBN 1 84228 030 9, 7.50

Journal Article Images of Abuse: A Review of the Evidence on Child Pornography, Emma Renold and Susan J. Creighton with Chris Atkinson and John Carr, London, NSPCC, 2003, pp. 77, ISBN 1 84228 030 9, £7.50 Get access Elisabeth Major Elisabeth Major CAFCASS Legal Services and Special Casework, London Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The British Journal of Social Work, Volume 34, Issue 8, December 2004, Pages 1211–1213, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bch156 Published: 01 December 2004

Gender, Race, Childhood Abuse, and Body Image among Adolescents

The research presented in this article examines the influences of race, gender, and sexual or physical abuse on unhealthy eating and dieting practices among Black and White adolescents. Specifically, the project considers the intersection of race and gender on actual and perceived body size. The impact of past sexual or physical abuse emerges as a significant predictor of unhealthy dieting and eating behaviors for Whites but not for Blacks. Although girls are more likely to have distorted body images and to engage in disordered eating and dieting, these differences are further explained with race and past sexual or physical abuse.

Gender Role Socialization and Male-on-Male vs. Female-on-Male Child Sexual Abuse

Most images of sexual abuse in contemporarysociety involve adult male perpetrators and femalevictims. In this paper, we consider the effects of childsexual abuse on the adult male gender roles of boyhood survivors of abuse. Specifically, we examinethe effects of coerced male-on-male (CM), coercedfemale-on-male (CF), and non-coerced female-on-male (NF)sexual contact on attitudes toward and behavior in adult heterosexual relationships. Usinglongitudinal data from 105 predominantly AfricanAmerican, working class men, we first document theprevalence of all 3 types of abuse within our sample.Consistent with gender socialization hypotheses, we foundthat relative to non-abused men, CM and CF survivorswere more likely to report violence toward intimatepartners. Compared to CF and NF survivors, CM survivors reported being kinder to women. CF survivorswere more likely to have committed sex offenses relativeto CM and NF survivors.

Disordered eating, sexual abuse and body image concerns among Mexican-American females

Disordered eating, sexual abuse and body image concerns among Mexican-American females

Rebuilding nests of survival: a comparative analysis of the needs of at-risk adolescent women and adolescent mothers in the US, Latin America, Asia and Africa

Numerous programs in Latin America, Asia, Africa and the US have begun assisting girls in at-risk situations, including street girls, girls exploited through prostitution, and sexually abused young women. The striking similarities in the needs of these young women indicate the possibility of sharing program experiences. To better understand these needs, the authors develop an analytical framework using infor mation from site visits, direct interaction and secondary sources. The problems fa cing at-risk young women can be divided between: 1) "causal factors", including low educational attainment, lack of employment possibilities, sexual abuse, lack of bar gaining power in sexual relations, and unfulfilled affiliative needs; and 2) "learned psychological strategies to harmful situations" including interpersonal violence and competition, early childbearing, drug abuse, self-abusive behaviour and poor body image. These learned psychological responses become "survival nests": psychological and physical coping strategies which mitigate the damage of developmentally toxic environments. The concept of the "survival nest" also implies and helps explain the resistance to change that at-risk young women exhibit when programs offer them positive alternatives.

A Garland from the Golden Age: An Anthology of Children's literature from 1850-1900 (review)

Reviewed by: A Garland from the Golden Age: An Anthology of Children's literature from 1850-1900 Lynne M. Rosenthal (bio) Demers, Patricia , ed. A Garland from the Golden Age: An Anthology of Children's literature from 1850-1900Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1983 In the preface to Garland From the Golden Age; An Anthology of Children's Literature From 1850-1900, Patricia Demers suggests that children are the true democrats among readers, asking only "that their books make claims on the imagination strong enough to transport them to another world." During the second half of the nineteenth century, the "golden age" of children's literature, the horizons of the worlds to which the imaginative child could be transported were enlarged to include, as Demers' section headings suggest, the fairy tale, the allegory, evangelical writing, the children's novel, nursery fiction, school stories, adventure stories and shockers, animal tales, periodicals and poetry. While some of the currents underlying these new genres (such as the impulse to moralize and socialize the young) gathered strength in the earlier part of the century, new forces began to drive these currents: a wish to entertain as well as to instruct, an openness to fantasy as well as to utilitarianism, a desire to create credible characters as well as the familiar positive and negative models prevalent in children's literature earlier in the century. Demers has included excerpts from well-known works like John Ruskin's The King of the Golden River, Charles Dickens' The magic Fishbone, Lewis Carroll's Alice and Looking Glass, Oscar Wilde's fairy tales, Dinah Maria Craik's The Little Lame Prince, George MacDonald's At the Back of the North Wind, Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses, and Thomas Hughes' Tom Brown's Schooldays, along with selections from authors like Edward Knatchbull-Hugessen, Lucy Clifford, Annie Keary, Angela Brazil, and Hesba Stretton, whose works, Demers says, have been unjustly neglected by contemporary scholars and readers. Although focusing on British texts, this collection does include selections from American writers like Horatio Alger, Jr., Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Helen Hunt Jackson, and Howard Pyle, and Canadian authors like James De Mille, and W. A. Fraser, and Norman Duncan. Demers also provides short essays before each section and text, which concisely provide valuable historical and biographical information and highlight significant themes and issues in each genre. With the help of these signposts, the reader is encouraged to infer a great deal more about the literary and social conventions from which these texts emerge. Thus, the general description of the fairy-tale as encompassing "many common elements: magic objects and social conventions from which these texts emerge. Thus, the general description of the fairy-tale as encompassing "many common elements: magic objects and agents, a journey to another world either dreamed or realized, and frequent transformations," along with the rubric "Beauty, Humor and Terror" which introduces the section, helps the reader not only to recognize motifs, but also to think about how terrifying sadomasochistic images of physical and emotional abuse in invented fairy tales like Clifferd's The New Mother and Christina Rossetti's "The Land of Nowhere" may reflect both the conventions of the fairytale and the psychological realities of middle-class family and social life. But while subtle, deeply-rooted adult doubts about the satisfactions of social life may be implicit in a number of children's stories included in the anthology (consider Frederic Farrar's school novel, Eric; or Little by Little, in which the young anti-hero falls more and more deeply into sin, despite every effort to be good), the majority of the texts Demers include includes continues to transmit traditional values of piety, hard work and conformity to social and familial norms. While even fairy tales could be invented to inculcate moral values (Charles Kingsley's The Water Babies, for example), important new vehicles for socializing the young during the second half of the nineteenth century in England and the United States were the domestic and school novels. Writers like Charlotte Yonge (The Daisy Chain), Juliana Ewing (Six to Sixteen), the American Helen Jackson (Nelly's Silver Mine), and, of course, Louisa May Alcott...