Mental health articles

child sexual abuse from acquaintances Sexual abuse by acquaintances is the single largest category of child sexual abuse, accounting for 16% to 50% of all abuse, depending on how this category is defined. Although acquaintance rape is now the subject of intensive investigation, the same cannot be said of acquaintance child sexual abuse. Indeed, although […]

Child sexual abuse from strangers One of the most frightening of all types of abuse is that by strangers. The fear, of course, is that children will be accosted by strangers in the children’s neighborhoods and will be abused, raped, and sometimes even murdered. The public seems to be most concerned about this type of […]

Underemphasis of extrafamilial child sexual abuse These analyses indicate that extrafamilial abuse is easily the most prevalent type of abuse, even though intrafamilial abuse is the abuse most often identified. Yet, while only approximately 5% of all committed child sexual abuse is by a biological father or stepfather and approximately 30% of committed abuse is […]

PREVALENCE OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE Several studies have attempted to determine the prevalence of child sexual abuse within specific populations. These studies are far different from incidence studies as they represent not only victims of child sexual abuse coming to the attention of authorities, but also those whose abuse was never reported and substantiated. As […]

INCIDENCE OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE Incidence studies vary in their ability to capture the number of abuse cases that come to the attention of professionals. There are three primary, ongoing attempts to determine the incidence rate of child sexual abuse. The most comprehensive is the National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect, done every […]