#perpetrators – Research into Recovering from Childhood Sexual Abuse

Evil

It’s been a while since I blogged. I’ve been typing up interview transcripts – a long and complex job and investigating future possibilities – more of those in later blogs. Now the University teaching year has started I’ve been teaching seminars and covering my supervisor’s lectures about the sociology of evil. It’s really interesting stuffContinue reading “Evil”

Do the Abused become Abusers?

Short answer: Not in general, no. Long answer follows below. Most studies into offending get their data by asking child abuse offenders if they experienced sexual abuse as children (CSA), with many reporting that they did. It has been pointed out that their word is not necessarily reliable and they may have other reasons forContinue reading “Do the Abused become Abusers?”

Peer Abuse

Peer abuse has been in the news lately, that is abuse of children by children. The assumption is that abuse by children has risen. I don’t know if we can conclude that or not. It may be true but it may also be that we haven’t been asking the right questions before. What is orContinue reading “Peer Abuse”

Abusers in Positions of Power

How do abusers get access to children? Researchers have asked people who have experienced abuse and, over the years, a pretty consistent picture has emerged. On average the majority of abusers are people known to the family; neighbours, acquaintances and people in authority. The next largest group is family members, including step-family, followed by aContinue reading “Abusers in Positions of Power”