Child Sexual Abuse and Adult Offenders

Book excerpt: Published in 1999, this book is based on major research projects in Britain, Canada and Australia on the meaning, nature and impact of child sexual abuse. Theoretical perspectives include a consideration of the contextualisation of knowledge about child abuse; how sexual abuse may be embedded within other types of family pathology; and a feminist perspective on patriarchy and adolescent prostitution. The book also contains an important chapter with new data on male sexual offenders, and on men and women who kill children. A chapter on men who kill themselves when faced with accusations of child sexual abuse offers a humanistic perspective on the problem. Further chapters on social work processing of child sexual abuse cases, and of group treatment for victims point to further directions in research, policy and practice.