United States General Accounting Office

GAO Report to the Chairman, Subcommittee

on Crime, Committee on the Judiciary,

House of Representatives

September 1996 CYCLE OF SEXUAL

ABUSE

Research Inconclusive

About Whether Child

Victims Become Adult

Abusers

G O A

years

1921 - 1996

GAO/GGD-96-178

GAO United States

General Accounting Office

Washington, D.C. 20548

General Government Division

B-272972 

September 13, 1996

The Honorable Bill McCollum

Chairman, Subcommittee on Crime

Committee on the Judiciary

House of Representatives

Dear Mr. Chairman:

This is our third and final report responding to your request that we review

and synthesize the current state of research knowledge on ways to prevent

sex crimes against children. Our first report, issued on June 21, 1996,

summarized reviews of the research literature on the effectiveness of

treatment programs in reducing the recidivism of sex offenders.1

 Our

second report, issued on July 26, 1996, summarized reviews of the

research literature on the effectiveness of education programs designed to

help children avoid becoming victims of sexual abuse.2

 This report

summarizes the results of, and discusses the methodologies used in, the

studies that have been done on the cycle of sexual abuse—that is, on the

likelihood that individuals who were victims of sexual abuse as children

will become sexual abusers of children in adulthood.

This report does not address a follow-on question that you raised

concerning ways to prevent sexually abused children from becoming adult

sexual offenders against children, because the existence of a cycle of

sexual abuse was not established by the research studies we reviewed.

Background Sexual abuse can have negative consequences for children during the time

of abuse as well as later in life, according to several recent research

reviews.3

 Initial effects reportedly have included fear, anxiety, depression,

anger, aggression, and sexually inappropriate behavior in at least some

portion of the victim population. Long-lasting consequences reportedly

have included depression, self-destructive behavior, anxiety, feelings of

isolation and stigma, poor self-esteem, difficulty in trusting others, a

1

Sex Offender Treatment: Research Results Inconclusive About What Works to Reduce Recidivism

(GAO/GGD-96-137, June 21, 1996).

2

Preventing Child Sexual Abuse: Research Inconclusive About Effectiveness of Child Education

Programs (GAO/GGD-96-156, July 26, 1996).

3

See J. H. Beitchman et al., “A Review of the Long-Term Effects of Child Sexual Abuse,” Child Abuse

and Neglect, Vol. XVI (1992), pp. 101-118; A. Browne and D. Finkelhor, “Impact of Child Sexual Abuse:

A Review of the Research,” Psychological Bulletin, Vol. XCIX, No. 1 (1986), pp. 66-77; and D. Finkelhor,

“Early and Long-Term Effects of Child Sexual Abuse: An Update,” Professional Psychology: Research

and Practice, Vol XXI, No. 5 (1990), pp. 325-330.

Page 1 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
B-272972 

tendency toward revictimization, substance abuse, and sexual

maladjustment.

In addition, researchers have noted that there is widespread belief that

there is a “cycle of sexual abuse,” such that sexual victimization as a child

may contribute to perpetration of sexual abuse as an adult. Such a pattern

is consistent with social learning theories—which posit that children learn

those behaviors that are modeled for them—and also with psychodynamic

theories—which suggest that abusing others may help victimized

individuals to overcome childhood trauma. Critics have argued that

empirical support for the cycle of sexual abuse is weak, and that parents

are unduly frightened into thinking that little can be done to mitigate the

long-term effects of sexual abuse. There remain many unanswered

questions about the risk posed by early sexual victimization, as well as

about the conditions and experiences that might increase this risk (such as

number of victimization experiences, age of the victim at the time of the

abuse, and whether the abuse was perpetrated by a family member). There

are also questions about factors that may prevent victimized children from

becoming adult perpetrators (such as support from siblings and parents or

positive relationships with other authority figures). Answers to such

questions would be useful in developing both prevention strategies and

therapeutic interventions.

Studying the relationship between early sexual victimization and later

perpetration of sexual abuse is methodologically difficult. If researchers

take a retrospective approach, and ask adult sex offenders whether they

experienced childhood sexual abuse, there are problems of selecting a

representative sample of offenders, finding an appropriate comparison

group of adults who have not committed sex offenses but are similar to

the study group in other respects, minimizing errors that arise when

recalling traumatic events from the distant past, and dealing with the

possibility that offenders will purposely overreport childhood abuse to

gain sympathy or underreport abuse to avoid imputations of guilt. A

prospective approach—selecting a sample of children who have been

sexually abused and following them into adulthood to see whether they

become sexual abusers—overcomes some of the problems of the

retrospective approach, but it is a costly and time-consuming solution. In

addition, researchers choosing the prospective approach still face the

challenge of disentangling the effects of sexual abuse from the effects of

other possible problems and stress-related factors in the backgrounds of

these children (e.g., poverty, unemployment, parental alcohol abuse, or

other inadequate social and family functioning). This requires the selection

Page 2 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
B-272972 

of appropriate comparison groups of children who have not been sexually

abused and children who have faced other forms of maltreatment, as well

as the careful measurement of a variety of other explanatory factors.

Results in Brief We identified 25 studies that provided quantitative information relevant to

the question of whether persons who were sexually abused as children

were at heightened risk of becoming sexual abusers of children in

adulthood. Of these studies, 23 were retrospective—that is, they began

with a sample of known adult sex offenders of children and sought to

determine whether they were sexually abused themselves during

childhood. Only two studies were prospective. These began with samples

of sexually victimized children and tracked them into adulthood to

determine how many became sex offenders.

A number of the retrospective studies found that a substantial percentage

of adult sex offenders of children said they had been sexually abused as

children. However, a majority of the studies found that most offenders

said they had not been sexually abused during childhood. These studies

varied in terms of their estimates of the percentages of such offenders who

had been abused, from zero to 79 percent, partly because of differences in

the types of offenders studied and in how childhood sexual abuse was

defined and measured. In general, because they had several

methodological shortcomings, these studies offered insufficient evidence

that being sexually abused as a child led directly to the victim’s becoming

an adult sex offender. The two prospective studies employed analytic

methods that were better suited to establishing such a link than were the

retrospective studies. Respectively, about 7 percent and 26 percent of

sexually abused children in these studies were found to be sex offenders

as adults. However, the various design and measurement problems of the

prospective studies precluded the drawing of definitive conclusions from

them as well.

Nevertheless, overall, the retrospective studies, prospective studies, and

research reviews indicated that the experience of childhood sexual

victimization is quite likely neither a necessary nor a sufficient cause of

adult sexual offending. The two prospective studies concluded that the

majority of victims of sexual abuse during childhood did not become sex

offenders as adults. Therefore, childhood sexual victimization would not

necessarily lead to adult sexual offending. In addition, the majority of

retrospective studies concluded that most adult sex offenders against

children did not report that they were sexually victimized as children.

Page 3 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
B-272972 

Therefore, childhood sexual victimization would probably not be sufficient

to explain adult sexual offending. While some studies indicated that sexual

victimization in childhood may increase the risk that victims will become

sexual offenders as adults, other studies found that many other conditions

and experiences might also be associated with an increased risk. For

example, one prospective study we reviewed found that children who

were neglected were even more likely than children who were sexually

abused to commit sex offenses as adults.

Scope and

Methodology

We collected, reviewed, and analyzed information from available

published and unpublished research on the cycle of sexual abuse.

Identifying the relevant literature involved a multistep process. Initially,

we identified experts in the sex offense research field by contacting the

Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency

Prevention and Office of Victim Assistance, the National Institute of

Mental Health’s Violence and Traumatic Stress Branch, the American

Psychological Association, and academicians selected because of their

expertise in the area. These contacts helped identify experts in the field,

who in turn helped identify other experts. We also conducted

computerized searches of several on-line databases, including ERIC (the

Education Resources Information Center), NCJRS (the National Criminal

Justice Reference Service), PsycINFO,4

 Dissertation Abstracts, and the

National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse.

We identified 40 articles on the cycle of sexual abuse issued between 1965

and 1996. Four of these reviewed the literature in the area; of these, two

were published in 1988, one was published in 1990, and one was published

in 1991. Of the remaining articles, 23 presented findings from retrospective

research studies, which began with a sample of known adult sex offenders

of children and sought to determine (by asking the offenders) whether

they were sexually abused during childhood. Another four presented

findings from two prospective research studies, which began with samples

of sexually victimized children and tracked them into adulthood to

determine how many became sex offenders. Of the original 40 articles, we

excluded 5 because they presented findings only, or primarily, on

adolescent sex offenders against children, and an additional 4 because we

were unable to obtain them.

4

A database of the American Psychological Association covering the literature in psychology and the

behavioral sciences.

Page 4 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
B-272972 

For the studies in our review, we recorded the quantitative results,

summarized the methodologies used, and summarized the authors’

conclusions about the cycle of sexual abuse. Each study was reviewed by

two social scientists with specialized doctoral training in evaluation

research methodology. Conclusions in this report are based on our

assessment of the evidence presented in these studies.

We sent the list of research articles to two experts, both of whom have

done extensive research in the field, to confirm the comprehensiveness of

our list of articles. In addition, as a final check, we conducted a second

search of computerized on-line databases in March 1996 to ensure that no

new research articles or reviews had been published since our original

search in October 1995.

We sent a draft copy of our report for comment to the two experts

previously consulted, as well as to one additional expert, to ensure that we

had presented the information about the research studies accurately.5

Their technical comments were incorporated where appropriate. We did

not send a draft to any agency or organization because we did not obtain

information from such organizations for use in this study. We did our work

between October 1995 and August 1996 in accordance with generally

accepted government auditing standards.

Results Inconclusive

About the

Relationship Between

Childhood Sexual

Victimization and

Adult Sexual

Offending Against

Children

There was no consensus among the studies we reviewed that being

sexually abused as a child led directly to the victim’s becoming an adult

sexual abuser of children. However, some studies did conclude that it

might increase the risk that victims would commit sexual abuse later. A

majority of the retrospective studies noted that most sex offenders had not

been sexually abused as children, and the two prospective studies showed

that the majority of victims of sexual abuse during childhood did not

become sex offenders as adults. The 4 review articles we obtained, which

collectively covered roughly two-thirds of the 25 studies we reviewed,

concluded that the evidence from these studies was insufficient to

establish that being sexually abused as a child is either a necessary or a

sufficient condition for the victim’s becoming a sexual abuser as an adult.

5

The two experts who reviewed the comprehensiveness of our list of articles were Dr. R. Karl Hanson,

Senior Research Officer in Corrections Research at the Department of the Solicitor General of Canada,

and Dr. Cathy Spatz Widom, Professor of Criminal Justice and Psychology at the State University of

New York at Albany. The third expert consulted was Dr. Robert A. Prentky, Director of Clinical and

Forensic Services at the Joseph J. Peters Institute in Philadelphia.

Page 5 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
B-272972 

Retrospective Studies

Varied in Groups Studied,

Definitions of Sexual

Abuse Used, and Results

Obtained

We reviewed 23 retrospective studies. Appendix I provides additional

information on these studies.6

 All but one of the retrospective studies

focused on adult male sex offenders, and in most studies the offenders

sampled were imprisoned or in some type of treatment program. However,

these studies varied considerably in the types of child sexual abusers

studied, whether control or comparison groups were used, and if so, the

types of individuals in these groups.7

The retrospective studies also varied considerably in their findings and

conclusions. The percent of adult sex offenders against children identified

as being sexually abused as children themselves ranged from zero to

79 percent. This variation partially reflects differences across studies in

how childhood sexual abuse was defined, as well as other differences in

study methodology.8

 This variation may also reflect the differences in the

types of child sex offenders studied. For example, both Hanson and Slater

(1988) and Garland and Dougher (1988) concluded from their reviews of

retrospective studies that offenders who selected male children as victims

were more likely to have been sexually abused themselves than were

offenders against female children.

A few of the studies found that sex offenders of children were more likely

to have been sexually abused as children than were members of control

groups composed of noninstitutionalized nonoffenders. However, many

studies found that, when compared with other types of sex offenders (e.g.,

rapists or exhibitionists) and other types of nonsexual offenders (i.e., men

incarcerated for nonsexual crimes), adult sex offenders of children were

not necessarily more likely to have been sexually abused as children.

6

R. K. Hanson and S. Slater (1988) and R. K. Hanson (1991) reviewed 14 of the 23 retrospective studies

covered in this report, and 5 others. R. J. Garland and M. J. Dougher (1988) reviewed 7 of these 23

studies, and 2 others. L. M. Williams and D. Finkelhor (1990) reviewed 3 of these 23 studies, and 3

others. (See bibliography for full citations.)

7

Some studies looked at child sex offenders defined quite broadly, while others looked at specific

types of offenders (e.g., incestuous fathers, homosexual pedophiles, or heterosexual pedophiles).

Some studies did not use control or comparison groups. Others compared sex offenders to men

incarcerated or in treatment for nonsexual offenses, to men clinically depressed, to college students

who dated minimally, or to law enforcement officers, among others. Seven of the 23 studies compared

sex offenders to a control group of noninstitutionalized men drawn from the general population.

8

Some studies simply asked study group members whether they had been sexually abused as children,

and left it to the individuals themselves to determine what constituted sexual abuse. Other studies

asked study group members whether they had been involved sexually as children, or before age 13 or

age 16, with a person 5 or more years older than themselves. Studies involving incest offenders

sometimes asked offenders whether they had been involved in incestuous relationships as children.

However, these relationships may not have involved older adults or may not have been coercive in

nature. Further, sexual abuse victimization experiences were not always limited to acts involving

physical contact. For example, in one study, childhood sexual victimization included being solicited by

adult males or females through words, gestures, or some other sexual approach.

Page 6 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
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According to several researchers, the relationship between childhood

sexual victimization and adult perpetration of sexual offenses against

children is complex and requires measurement and analysis of a host of

factors. For example, it has been postulated that adult sexual offending is

not simply a result of the experience of childhood sexual victimization, but

also of other factors such as age at onset of the abuse, nature of the abuse,

stability of the caregiver, and/or physical abuse.9

 Studies that collect data

on such additional factors may add to our understanding of what types of

sexual abuse, perpetrated under what conditions against what types of

child victims, are associated with what types of adult sexual offending

against what types of victims under what types of conditions. However,

while such retrospective studies can help explore factors possibly related

to adult sexual offending, they cannot establish the importance of these

factors in predicting adult sexual offending. The reason for this is

discussed in the following section.

Retrospective Studies Had

Several Shortcomings

The retrospective studies we reviewed had several shortcomings that

precluded our drawing any firm conclusions about whether there is a cycle

of sexual abuse. First, the studies focused on known sex offenders of

children (i.e., offenders who have been detected, arrested, or convicted, or

who had been referred or had presented themselves for treatment), and

these offenders may not be typical or representative of all sex offenders

against children. Second, self-reports of childhood sexual abuse obtained

from known sex offenders are of questionable validity. Known offenders

may be motivated to overreport histories of abuse to gain sympathy or to

excuse their own offenses.10 Third, where comparison or control groups

were used, attempts to match group members to sex offenders of children

on factors possibly related to being sexually abused or abusive were

9

See, for example, R. A. Prentky and R. A. Knight, “Age of Onset of Sexual Assault: Criminal and Life

History Correlates,” in Sexual Aggression: Issues in Etiology, Assessment, and Treatment, eds. G. C. N.

Hall, R. Hirschman, J. R. Graham, and M. S. Zaragoza (Washington, D.C.: Taylor and Francis, 1993), pp.

43-62; and R. A. Prentky et al., “Developmental Antecedents of Sexual Aggression,” Development and

Psychopathology, Vol. I (1989), pp. 153-169.

10One research study suggested that some sex offenders may claim to have been victims of child sexual

abuse when they were not. See: Jan Hindman, “Research Disputes and Assumptions about Child

Molesters,” National District Attorney Association Bulletin, Vol. VII, No. 4 (1988), pp. 1-3. Hindman

studied convicted adult child molesters treated at an Oregon clinic between 1980 and 1988. Offenders

were required to write a detailed sexual history, including information on whether they were abused as

children. Since 1982, offenders have also been told that they will be subject to polygraph testing, that

their written autobiography must conform with the polygraph test, and that they will be sent back to

jail if they do not pass the test. A higher percentage of offenders who wrote their sexual histories

before the polygraph requirement was instituted in 1982 claimed that they had been sexually

victimized as children (67 percent) than of those who were told that their sexual histories would have

to conform with the polygraph test (29 percent).

Page 7 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
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typically limited; few of the studies attempted to control for such factors

statistically.

Finally, one of the major shortcomings of these retrospective studies is

that they cannot reveal how likely it is that a person who has been

sexually abused as a child will become a sexual abuser in adulthood. For

example, even if 100 percent of sexual abusers of children were sexually

abused as children, this would not necessarily mean that sexual abuse

causes abused children to become abusers themselves. It may be that only

a small percentage of sexually abused children become sex offenders

against children. Determining how likely victims of childhood sexual

abuse are to become adult sex offenders requires that a sample of sexually

abused children be followed forward in time, rather than the histories of

sex offenders be traced backward.

Prospective Studies Used

Better Methodologies, but

Results Were Inconclusive

Our review of the literature identified two research studies (described in

four articles) that have used a prospective approach in examining the

cycle of sexual abuse. One of these studies is part of a larger study of the

cycle of violence.11

Widom is the primary researcher in the larger study, which is still ongoing.

It involves a cohort of 908 substantiated cases of child abuse (physical

and/or sexual) or neglect processed through the courts between 1967 and

1971.12 These abuse/neglect cases were restricted to children who were 11

years of age or younger at the time of the abuse or neglect incident. They

included 153 sexually abused children, 160 physically abused children, and

11On the cycle of sexual abuse, see C. S. Widom and M. A. Ames, 1994; C. S. Widom, 1995; and C. S.

Widom, 1996. On the cycle of violence generally, see M. G. Maxfield and Cathy Spatz Widom, “The

Cycle of Violence: Revisited Six Years Later,” Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine (April,

1996); Cathy Spatz Widom, The Cycle of Violence: Research in Brief (Washington, D.C.: U.S.

Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, October 1992); Cathy Spatz Widom, “Child Abuse,

Neglect, and Adult Behavior: Research Design and Findings on Criminality, Violence, and Child

Abuse,” American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, Vol. LIX (1989), pp. 355-367; Cathy Spatz Widom, “The

Cycle of Violence,” Science, Vol. CCXLIV (1989), pp. 160-166; and Cathy Spatz Widom, “Does Violence

Beget Violence?: A Critical Examination of the Literature,” Psychological Bulletin, Vol. CVI (1989), pp.

3-28.

12The study has relied on the official records of agencies that handled these cases. Detailed

information about the abuse and/or neglect incident and family composition and characteristics was

obtained from the files of the juvenile court and probation department, the authority responsible for

cases of abused, neglected, or dependent and delinquent children. The records of the sexual abuse

cases were obtained from the juvenile court and from the adult criminal court of a metropolitan area in

the Midwest. If there was evidence in the records that the charges of sexual abuse had been

investigated and found to be true, the case was coded as involving sexual abuse.

Page 8 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
B-272972 

697 neglected children.13 This prospective study also includes a control

group of 667 individuals who had no record of abuse or neglect and who

were either born in the same hospitals or attended the same elementary

schools as the abused children. The control and study group members

were matched on sex, age, race, and approximate family socioeconomic

status.

Local, state, and federal official arrest records containing information

recorded up to June 1994 were used to determine how many of the study

and control group members were arrested for sex offenses. Table 1 shows

results pertaining to sex offenses from the most recent analyses based on

this larger study.14 The study did not distinguish whether the sex offense

was perpetrated against a child or an adult.15

Table 1: Results From the Research of Widom and Colleagues on the Cycle of Sexual Abuse

Sexually abused

(N = 153)

Physically abused

(N = 160) Neglected (N = 697) Controls (N = 667)

Adult arrests Odds ratioa Percent Odds ratioa Percent Odds ratioa Percent Odds ratioa Percent

Any sex crimeb 1.4 6.5% 1.4 11.0% 2.1 13.1% Not applicable 6.0%

Prostitution 3.7* 3.9% 0.9 1.4% 5.0* 3.6% Not applicable 0.6%

Rape or sodomyc 1.9 4.2% 2.4 4.7% 1.8 3.6% Not applicable 2.1%

Note 1: When criminal history checks were conducted in 1994, fewer than 1 percent of the

individuals in the sample were under 25 years of age.

Note 2: An asterisk (*) denotes statistical significance.

aOdds ratios reflect the differences between groups in the odds or likelihood of becoming a sex

offender. For example, an odds ratio of 1.4 indicates that sexually abused children are nearly

1-1/2 times as likely as children in the control group to become adult sex offenders. Odds ratios

are based on logistic regression analysis, with all three types of abuse in the equation

(comparisons are with controls). These equations also control for age, sex, and race.

bSex crimes include prostitution, incest, child molestation, rape, sodomy, assault and battery with

intent to gratify, peeping, public indecency, criminal deviant conduct, and contributing to the

delinquency of a minor.

cPercentages and odds ratios are for males only.

Source: Data provided by C.S. Widom, 1996.

13Some individuals in each of these groups experienced more than one type of maltreatment. Thus, the

numbers add up to more than 908 individuals.

14C. S. Widom, 1996; C. S. Widom, personal communication.

15To strengthen the study, Widom is extending data collection in a number of ways. Future analyses

will include participant self-report data, which will allow corroboration of the results from official

arrest data and potentially provide more precise information on the nature of the sex offenses

committed (i.e., whether they involve child or minor victims, etc.).

Page 9 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
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Compared to the control group, a higher percentage of those who had

been sexually abused, physically abused, or neglected as children were

arrested as adults for any sex crime, for prostitution, and (among males)

for rape or sodomy. To determine how different the study groups were

from the control group, Widom statistically controlled for such differences

between the groups as age, race, and sex; calculated odds ratios; and

performed statistical tests. The results indicated that the differences

between the sexually abused group and the control group in the odds of

arrest for any sex crime or for rape or sodomy separately were not

statistically significant. Sexually abused children were significantly more

likely to have been arrested for prostitution, however. Twenty-three to 27

years later, sexually abused children were nearly four times more likely to

have been arrested for prostitution. On the other hand, members of the

childhood neglect study group were significantly more likely than

members of the control group to have been arrested for any sex crime or

for prostitution.

Because it could allow researchers to discern the likelihood of victims

becoming abusers, the prospective approach is methodologically superior

to the retrospective approach. Widom’s study, however, has several

limitations. First, published work from the study has so far relied solely on

official arrest data, which may fail to identify some offenders (those who

avoid detection or arrest).16 Second, the study groups of victimized

children were identified by using records of substantiated cases of abuse

or neglect that were processed through the state courts. Such cases may

represent only the most severe instances of abuse and may not be

generalizable to all children who have been abused or neglected.17 Finally,

16We noted in footnote 15 that Widom is undertaking new analyses that will make use of self-report

data on commission of sex offenses to supplement official arrest data.

17Abuse and/or neglect cases that are substantiated at the court level may not be representative of all

cases because over half of child maltreatment reports are not substantiated by social services

investigators, and the vast majority of cases substantiated by local or county departments of social

services never reach the court level. (See J. Leiter, K. A. Myers, and M. Zingraff, “Substantiated and

Unsubstantiated Cases of Child Maltreatment: Do Their Consequences Differ?” Social Work Research,

Vol. XVIII, No. 2 (June 1994), pp. 67-82; and M. T. Zingraff et al., “Child Maltreatment and Youthful

Problem Behavior,” Criminology, Vol. XXXI, No. 2 (May 1993), pp. 173-202.) In addition, Widom states

that the cases included in her study were processed before the child abuse reporting laws were passed,

and many cases of sexual abuse were not reported. Some researchers have suggested using all

substantiated reports of abuse and neglect (not just those that reach the court level), or including

unsubstantiated reports, in research on the consequences of abuse and neglect. However, Widom has

warned that using unsubstantiated reports might introduce bias because these reports leave open the

question of whether abuse or neglect actually occurred and are likely to be biased toward the less

serious end of the continuum. (See C.S. Widom, “Sampling Bias and Implications for Child Abuse

Research,” American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, Vol. LVIII (1988), pp. 260-270.) Furthermore, if

prospective studies find little support for the cycle of sex abuse among the most severe cases—those

that have been substantiated at the court level—it is not likely that strong support for such a

relationship will be found using less severe cases.

Page 10 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
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the number of sexually abused males in the abused/neglected sample was

small (a total of 24). Statistical comparisons based on small numbers of

cases should be interpreted with caution, since small sample sizes may not

yield reliable estimates.

We located one other study that used a prospective design and followed

sexually victimized children into early adulthood. This study sampled 147

boys under the age of 14 who were seen in the emergency room of an

urban hospital because of sexual abuse between 1971 and 1975.18 The

researchers also collected data on a comparison sample of boys of the

same race and roughly the same age who were seen in the same

emergency room at roughly the same time for reasons other than sexual

abuse. In the period 1992 to 1994, official juvenile and adult arrest records

for the entire victim and comparison sample were collected, and the

researchers attempted to locate and interview as many of the men as

possible.19 Fifty of the 147 boys in the victim sample, and 56 of the 147

boys in the comparison sample, were interviewed. They were asked to

self-report instances of sex-offending, and were also asked a number of

other questions about their family of origin, sexual history, history of

sexual victimization, psychological functioning, drug and alcohol use, and

criminal behavior.20

As shown in table 2, the study found little difference between the victim

and comparison samples in the percentages that were arrested for, or that

self-reported, sex offenses. According to the researchers, one explanation

for this finding is that the victim and comparison samples are not as

different as originally intended with respect to their having been victims of

child sexual abuse. For instance, in the comparison group, 40 percent of

the 56 men interviewed reported that they had themselves been sexually

abused. Furthermore, 55 percent of the men in the victim sample did not

recall, or at least did not report to interviewers, that they had been

sexually abused. When the researchers reanalyzed the data and compared

all victims (from both the victim sample and the comparison sample) with

18L. M. Williams et al., 1995.

19The researchers checked official arrest records from the city’s juvenile court, its adult probation

department, and the National Criminal Information Center. Sex offenses included rape, involuntary

deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, indecent assault, indecent exposure, and incest. It appears

that arrest records were examined for all members of the victim and comparison sample. However,

Williams et al. only present arrest information for sample members who were located and interviewed.

20In an effort to protect men who did not remember childhood abuse that had occurred or might not

want others to know about it, the researchers did not reveal the fact of childhood victimization to men

who did not bring it up on their own. Study group members were told that they had been selected for a

follow-up study of men who received emergency room services in the hospital in the early 1970s.

Page 11 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
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the remaining nonvictimized members of the comparison group, they did

not find a significant difference between the two groups in the likelihood

of becoming a sex offender. These findings must also be interpreted with

caution, however, because no-difference findings are sometimes

attributable to comparing small samples rather than to a real absence of

difference between groups.

Table 2: Results From the Research of

Williams and Colleagues on the Cycle

of Sexual Abuse

Outcome

variable

“Official”

victim sample

(N = 50)

“Official”

comparison

sample

(N = 56)

All sexual

abuse victims

(both samples)

(N = 69)

Nonvictims in

comparison

sample

(N = 33)

Arrested for sex

offensea

14% 13% 16% 6%

Self-reported sex

offenseb

14 14 13 15

Any sex offensec 26 20 24 18

aIncludes any arrest for a sex offense as a juvenile or as an adult. Sex offenses included rape,

involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, indecent assault, indecent exposure, and

incest.

bIncludes all individuals who self-reported having committed a sex offense, whether they were

arrested for the offense or not. Study group members were asked to report on any initiation or

occurrence of sexual contact with children under the age of 12 and any sexual contact with

adolescents or adults when physical force, threats of force, or the coercion of adult or supervisory

authority was used to achieve the sexual contact.

cIncludes all individuals who were arrested for a sex offense and those who were not arrested but

who self-reported sex offenses.

Source: L. M. Williams et al., 1995.

The generalizability of these findings may be limited since the sample of

sexually abused boys (and the matched comparison group) is neither a

random sample nor a sample that is representative of the general

population of children at risk of such abuse. Over 80 percent of the boys

sampled were African-American, and a disproportionate number of the

men who were interviewed were from poor families and had criminal

records. About one-third of the interviewed men who were sexually

abused as boys, and about one-fifth of all of the men interviewed, were

incarcerated at the time of interview.

The Williams et al. study is instructive in that it points to a number of

difficulties involved in conducting prospective studies of the relationship

between childhood victimization and adult offending. These difficulties

include (1) the need to determine whether members of comparison groups

Page 12 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
B-272972 

were victims of sexual abuse, and (2) the need to employ more than a

single outcome measure of offending. Of 15 men who self-reported any sex

offense, only 5 had an arrest record for a sex offense; and of 14 men who

had been arrested for a sex offense, only 5 self-reported a sex-offending

behavior.

Conclusions A number of studies have been done on the cycle of sexual abuse, many of

which were reviewed in this report. Most of the studies were retrospective

in design; that is, they began with a sample of known sex offenders of

children and sought to determine whether they were sexually abused

during childhood. The chief limitation of the retrospective studies is that

studying a known group of sexual offenders cannot provide any direct

information about the extent to which children who are sexually abused

become sexual offender as adults. The two studies we reviewed that were

prospective in design attempted to overcome this limitation by identifying

samples of sexually victimized children and tracking them into adulthood

to determine how many became sex offenders. These studies also had

limitations, which made it difficult to reach any definitive conclusions

about the cycle of sexual abuse. However, in spite of their limitations,

overall, the retrospective studies, prospective studies, and research

reviews did indicate that the experience of childhood sexual victimization

is quite likely neither a necessary nor a sufficient cause of adult sexual

offending. Further research would be necessary to determine what kinds

of experiences magnify the likelihood that sexually victimized children

will become adult sexual offenders against children and, alternatively,

what kinds of experiences help prevent victimized children from becoming

adult sexual offenders against children.

We are sending copies of this report to the Ranking Minority Member of

the House Subcommittee on Crime and the Chairman and Ranking

Minority Member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Copies will

also be made available to others upon request.

Page 13 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
B-272972 

The major contributors to this report are listed in appendix II. Please call

me at (202) 512-8777 if you have any questions about this report.

Sincerely yours,

Laurie E. Ekstrand

Associate Director, Administration

 of Justice Issues

Page 14 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
Page 15 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
Contents

Letter 1

Appendix I 

Retrospective Studies

of Adult Sex

Offenders of Children

18

Appendix II 

Major Contributors to

This Report

30

Research Articles

Used in This Review

31

Tables Table 1: Results From the Research of Widom and Colleagues on

the Cycle of Sexual Abuse

9

Table 2: Results From the Research of Williams and Colleagues

on the Cycle of Sexual Abuse

12

Page 16 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
Page 17 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
Appendix I 

Retrospective Studies of Adult Sex

Offenders of Children

Study

Study

group(s)a

Percent

abusedb

C

g

Alford et al., 1988 50 imprisoned child sex offenders 

14 child sex offenders admitted to a

psychiatric hospital

35%

50

N

Baker, 1985 20 incestuous fathers 45 2

Ballard et al., 1990e 383 incest offenders classified into two

institutional (a,b) and two

community-based (c,d) settings:

(a) 63 in prison

(b) 41 in mental health facilities

(c) 240 in Parents Unitedd

(d) 39 in private practice

54

65

61

50

49

N

Bard et al., 1987 68 child molesters 57

Page 18 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
Appendix I 

Retrospective Studies of Adult Sex

Offenders of Children

Comparison

group(s)c

Percent

abusedb Comments

None Not applicable This study reports the percentages of two groups of

child sex offenders who reported, in clinical

interviews, having been involved sexually, as a child,

with a person 5 or more years older than themselves.

The authors offer no definitive conclusions about

whether being abused leads to becoming an abuser,

but do note that the sex offenders commonly were

victims, and that the abuse was commonly done by

women.

20 nonincestuous fathers 5% This study compares incestuous fathers recruited

through Parents United,d and a group of

nonincestuous fathers in therapy for reasons other

than sexual abuse. The primary focus of the study

involves whether incestuous fathers differ from

nonincestuous fathers in terms of parental rejection,

adult nurturance, and the perception of adult females

as sexually threatening. As regards the history of

abuse, incestuous fathers were found to be more

likely than nonincestuous fathers to have been

involved in incestuous relationships in their own

childhoods, although in some cases the father

initiated that relationship. No other information on

history of abuse is offered.

None Not applicable This study looks at differences between incest

offenders in institutional settings and

community-based settings on a number of

characteristics, and is primarily concerned with the

levels of social skills in the different groups. Sizable

percentages of all groups are shown to have been

sexually abused as children, although no comparison

group is employed and no general conclusions about

the cycle of sexual abuse are offered.

107 rapists 23 These results were offered as part of a larger study

that examined differences between rapists and child

molesters on a number of dimensions. Study and

comparison samples were drawn from patients in the

Massachusetts Treatment Center for Sexually

Dangerous Persons. No firm conclusions were drawn

about the cycle of sexual abuse.

(continued)

Page 19 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
Appendix I 

Retrospective Studies of Adult Sex

Offenders of Children

Study

Study

group(s)a

Percent

abusedb

C

g

Bennett, 1985 34 incestuous fathers or father-surrogates 38%

Condy et al., 1987 92 convicted child molesters 37 6

5

3

Dhawan and Marshall, 1996 16 incarcerated child molesters 50 2

2

Dutton and Hart, 1992 Incarcerated men grouped as follows:

(a) 107 sexual violence/strangers

(b) 52 sexual violence/family

22

30

I

(

(

(

Page 20 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
Appendix I 

Retrospective Studies of Adult Sex

Offenders of Children

Comparison

group(s)c

Percent

abusedb Comments

18 nonincestuous fathers 6% This unpublished dissertation compared incestuous

fathers participating in a treatment program with a

“normal” nonincestuous comparison group of fathers

on childhood and adolescent experience of sexual

abuse and on five aspects of cognitive style. Ten of

26 (38 percent) incestuous fathers for whom data

were available reported experiencing sexual abuse

as children or adolescents, compared to one of 18 (6

percent) nonincestuous fathers. The author

concluded that sexual victimization may predispose

men to sexual abuse in adulthood, but that

victimization is neither a necessary nor a sufficient

condition for becoming an offender.

65 convicted rapists

55 inmates convicted of nonsexual crimes

359 college men

57

47

16

This study reports the percentages of male inmates

convicted of different offenses, as well as of the

college men, who reported having been sexually

involved, before the age of 16, with a woman or girl

who was at least 5 years older and at least 16 years

of age. Sexual involvement was higher for all of the

inmate groups than for the group of college men,

although it is noted that only a small minority of cases

involved force, and that in a large proportion of the

cases males initiated the activity.

29 incarcerated rapists

20 incarcerated nonsexual offenders

62

20

This study obtained data from child molesters,

rapists, and nonsexual offenders serving time in two

medium-security penitentiaries. The three groups

self-reported whether they had ever been sexually

abused, whether the abuse involved bodily contact

or not (noncontact abuse included solicitations and

exhibitionism), whether the perpetrator was a family

member or stranger, and how upsetting it was. The

authors found that the two groups of sex offenders

were more likely to have been abused than were the

nonsexual offenders, and concluded that sexual

abuse, coupled with other family background

characteristics (i.e., poorer relations, less support,

more physical abuse) may be importantly related to

becoming a sex offender.

Incarcerated men, grouped as follows:

(c) 239 physical violence/strangers

(d) 123 physical violence/family

(e) 77 no violence

4

12

13

As part of a broader study of the impact of various

types of childhood abuse and neglect on violent and

aggressive behavior in adulthood, data were

provided on the history of sexual abuse among

incarcerated males, classified according to whether

they had committed acts of physical or sexual

violence directed towards strangers or family

members. Prisoners who had committed sexual acts

of violence were more likely to have been the victims

of childhood sexual abuse than were other prisoners.

In this study, it is not clear how many of the

perpetrators of sex crimes were child molesters.

(continued)

Page 21 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
Appendix I 

Retrospective Studies of Adult Sex

Offenders of Children

Study

Study

group(s)a

Percent

abusedb

C

g

Faller, 1989 154 sexually abusive fathers, stepfathers,

or live-in boyfriends

27%

Frisbie, 1969 311 child molesters 24 N

Gaffney et al., 1984 33 pedophilesf 27 2

3

Gebhard et al., 1965 Includes 8 nonmutually exclusive groups

of sex offenders:

199 heterosexual offenders vs. children

174 heterosexual offenders vs. minors

25 heterosexual aggressors vs. children

27 heterosexual aggressors vs. minors

56 incest offenders vs. children

66 incest offenders vs. minors

96 homosexual offenders vs. children

136 homosexual offenders vs. minors

10 (F) 24 (M)

16 (F) 14 (M)

11 (F) 16 (M)

4 (F) 30 (M)

8 (F) 19 (M)

6 (F) 13 (M)

8 (F) 32 (M)

6 (F) 35 (M)

I

o

o

w

2

2

5

8

4

Page 22 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
Appendix I 

Retrospective Studies of Adult Sex

Offenders of Children

Comparison

group(s)c

Percent

abusedb Comments

154 mothers of sexual abuse victims 50% This study examined whether offenders in intrafamilial

sexual abuse cases referred to the Michigan

Interdisciplinary Project on Child Abuse and Neglect,

and the mothers of the victims of the offender’s

abuse, had any history of sexual abuse in the families

of origin. Data on sexual abuse history were available

for 116 of the 154 offenders, and for 130 of the 154

mothers. Of the offenders, 53 percent had

experienced sexual abuse in their families of origin,

and 27 percent had been the direct victims of such

abuse. The corresponding percentages for the

mothers were 58 percent and 50 percent,

respectively.

None Not applicable As part of a larger study of sex offenders in the state

of California, interviews were conducted with 311

subjects who had sexually abused minors under age

14. Lacking a comparison group, no firm conclusions

were offered about the cycle of sexual abuse, but the

study reports that predominately heterosexual child

molesters were less likely to have been abused as

children than predominately homosexual ones (15

percent versus 66 percent).

21 nonpedophilic paraphiliacsg

33 depressed nonparaphiliacs

14

Not reported

Subjects of this study were inpatients at Johns

Hopkins Biosexual Psychohormonal Clinic.

Pedophiliacs were found to be more likely than others

to have pedophiliac family members, although they

did not differ significantly from other paraphiliacs in

terms of having been abused as children. No

information on childhood abuse was presented for

those in the comparison group.

Includes 8 nonmutually exclusive groups

of sex offenders, one group of nonsexual

offenders, and one group of men who

were not incarcerated:

217 heterosexual offenders vs. adults

140 heterosexual aggressors vs. adults

25 incest offenders vs. adults

199 homosexual offenders vs. adults

56 peepers

135 exhibitionists

888 incarcerated nonsexual offenders

477 nonincarcerated men

9 (F) 21 (M)

10 (F) 23 (M)

0 (F) 13 (M)

4 (F) 33 (M)

3 (F) 24 (M)

12 (F) 17 (M)

10 (F) 31 (M)

3 (F) 8 (M)

This early and broad study of different types of sex

offenders provides data on prepubertal heterosexual

and homosexual activity on 14 types of sex offenders

(most of whom were incarcerated at the time of the

study), on incarcerated nonsexual offenders, and on

a rather haphazardly drawn comparison group of

nonincarcerated men. Such activity is not strictly

limited to experiences of abuse; it includes not only

physical contact, but also being solicited by adult

males or females by words, gestures, or other sexual

approach. All of the subjects in the study were men,

and the numbers to the left indicate the percentages

whose prepubertal sexual contact involved adult

females (F) and males (M). The study found there

was more contact with adult males than adult females

for all but one of these various groups, and while sex

offenders were not always more likely than

incarcerated nonsexual offenders to have been

involved sexually, as children, with adults, all groups

showed greater homosexual involvement than the

nonincarcerated comparison group.

(continued)

Page 23 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
Appendix I 

Retrospective Studies of Adult Sex

Offenders of Children

Study

Study

group(s)a

Percent

abusedb

C

g

Greenberg et al., 1993 135 pedophilic child molestersf

43 hebephilic child molestersh

42%

44

N

Groff and Hubble, 1984 16 incestuous fathers and 26 incestuous

stepfathers

5 N

Groth, 1979 178 child molesters 31

6

Kirkland and Bauer, 1982 10 incestuous fathers 10

c

Langevin and Lang, 1985. 29 heterosexual pedophilesf

22 homosexual pedophilesf

21-24

14-19 5

c

Page 24 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
Appendix I 

Retrospective Studies of Adult Sex

Offenders of Children

Comparison

group(s)c

Percent

abusedb Comments

None Not applicable This study compared histories of childhood sexual

victimization among pedophilic and hebephilic child

molesters. The former differ from the latter on the

basis of molesting younger children (i.e., 12 or

under). Similar percentages of the two groups, drawn

from patients seen at a sexual behaviors clinic,

reported a history of having sexual contact with an

adult while under the age of 13. Among hebephiles,

homosexuals were more likely than heterosexuals to

report such contact, but no difference by sexual

orientation was found among pedophiles.

None Not applicable The only information provided on the cycle of sexual

abuse in this study, which finds few differences

between fathers and stepfathers convicted of incest,

is that, in the two groups combined, only 2 of the 42

subjects had been abused as children.

170 rapists

62 law enforcement officers

29%

3

This study reports the percentages of subjects in

each group that experienced sexual trauma as

children, which can include witnessing sexual

activity. The percentages of child molesters and

rapists reported to have been the victims of forcible

sexual assault as children were 22 percent and 5

percent, respectively. Sexual assaults of the

comparison group of law enforcement officers were

not reported. While this group is of questionable

comparability to the offenders, and the information on

victimization experiences was collected differently for

them, the authors conclude that there is a link

between being abused and becoming an offender.

12 individuals matched on various

characteristics

Not reported In this study, which focuses primarily on whether

incestuous fathers differ from a matched comparison

group in terms of personality disorders, 1 of the 10

incestuous fathers reported a history of incest in his

own childhood. No comparable information was

given for the comparison group, and no additional

information on victimization was offered for either

group.

160 sexually anomalous meni

54 individuals matched on various

characteristics

21-29

15-19

This study reports the percentages in each group

who, at age 12 or younger, had “sex play” with boys

or girls who were 4 or 5 years older, or with men or

women. The ranges in percents result from possible

overlap; i.e., 21 percent of the heterosexual

pedophiles had sex with older girls or women, and 3

percent had sex with older boys, so between 21 and

24 percent had sex with older boys or girls or with

men or women. While it is not known whether any of

this sex play was coercive, the authors conclude that

sexual abuse, by itself, does not account for why

people later become pedophiles.

(continued)

Page 25 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
Appendix I 

Retrospective Studies of Adult Sex

Offenders of Children

Study

Study

group(s)a

Percent

abusedb

C

g

Lee, 1982 39 sexually abusive fathers, stepfathers, or

surrogate fathers

0% 3

s

McCarty,

1986

26 mothers who were incest offenders 76 N

Overholser and Beck, 1989 12 convicted child molesters 58

3

o

(

o

(

v

(

d

Seghorn et al., 1987 54 child molesters 57 9

Tingle et al., 1986 43 child molesters 56 2

Page 26 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
Appendix I 

Retrospective Studies of Adult Sex

Offenders of Children

Comparison

group(s)c

Percent

abusedb Comments

39 physically abusive fathers,

stepfathers, or surrogate fathers

0% This unpublished dissertation describes differences

between a sample of fathers and stepfathers who

had sexually abused their daughters and

stepdaughters, and fathers, stepfathers, and

surrogate fathers who had physically abused their

sons or daughters. In these small samples, few

differences between groups were found. No subjects

in either group reported having been sexually

abused as children.

None Not applicable This study’s primary focus is on differences between

incestuous mothers who were independent

offenders, co-offenders (with a male accomplice),

and accomplices, in terms of such characteristics as

intelligence, employment, marital history, drug use,

and emotional disturbance. Childhood information

was available for 17 of these mothers, and 13 (76

percent) reported childhood sexual victimization.

12 convicted rapists

36 men who were either nonsexual

offenders or nonoffenders:

(a) 12 inmates convicted of nonsexual

offenses

(b) 12 low socioeconomic status

volunteers

(c) 12 college students with minimal

dating experience

25

6

This study was primarily concerned with how well

behavioral and life history data could be used to

classify (or distinguish) different groups of offenders

and nonoffenders. The authors report, independent

of the classification analyses, that the two groups of

sex offenders were more likely than the three groups

of nonsexual offenders and nonoffenders to have

been sexually abused as children (i.e., forced to

engage in coercive sexual activity before the age of

13). The 6 percent reported for the nonsexual

offenders and nonoffenders is for all three groups

combined; percentages were not reported for each

of these groups separately.

97 rapists 23 This study compared child molesters and rapists

residing in the Massachusetts Treatment Center for

Sexually Dangerous Persons in 1982, and found the

former more likely to have been victims of sexual

assault as children. It concludes that sexual abuse

results from the global pathology of families of the

abused, and that sexual victimization as a child is

more contributory to becoming a child molester than

a rapist.

21 rapists 38 This descriptive study of convicted rapists and child

molesters who were seen at a Florida treatment

center reports characteristics that distinguish the two

groups; i.e., rapists were more aggressive and

violent in their childhoods. The authors did not find,

however, significant differences between the groups

in their histories of sexual abuse.

(continued)

Page 27 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
Appendix I 

Retrospective Studies of Adult Sex

Offenders of Children

Study

Study

group(s)a

Percent

abusedb

C

g

Williams and Finkelhor, 1992 55 incestuous fathers in the Navy

63 civilian incestuous fathers

64%

79

5

6

Page 28 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
Appendix I 

Retrospective Studies of Adult Sex

Offenders of Children

Comparison

group(s)c

Percent

abusedb Comments

53 nonincestuous fathers in the Navy

63 civilian nonincestuous fathers

21%

41

This preliminary, descriptive analysis compared

incestuous and nonincestuous fathers from U.S. Navy

and civilian samples, the fathers having been

matched on age, age of daughter, education, and

occupation. In both samples, incestuous fathers were

more likely than nonincestuous fathers to have

reported being sexually abused as children, although

the report does not make clear what types of

victimization experiences were elicited by interviews

with the subject. The authors conclude that sexual

victimization is related to incestuous abuse of

daughters.

Note: F = female; M = male.

aStudy groups included individuals who had perpetrated sexual abuse against children.

bThe percent abused represents the percentage of the study groups or the comparison groups

who were sexually abused as children. The studies varied in how they defined and measured

sexual abuse. (See report text and comments in the last column of this table.)

cComparison groups included individuals who had perpetrated sexual crimes against adults

(e.g., rapists), individuals who had committed nonsexual crimes, or nonoffenders who might or

might not be matched with the study group.

dParents United is a support group that emphasizes and promotes the reunification of the incest

family.

eStudy included both male and female offenders.

f

Pedophiles (or pedophilic child molesters, or pedophiliacs) are sexual deviants whose preferred

sexual objects are children.

gParaphiliacs (or nonpedophilic paraphiliacs) are sexual deviants whose deviant behavior does

not involve children. In this study, they included primarily exhibitionists and sadists.

hAs defined in this study, hebephiles (or hebephilic child molesters) were child molesters who

admitted to coerced sexual activity with extrafamilial children between the ages of 13 and 16.

i

As defined in this study, sexually anomalous men were sex offenders who were nonpedophilic

and preferred mature partners.

Page 29 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
Appendix II 

Major Contributors to This Report

General Government

Division, Washington,

D.C.

Evi L. Rezmovic, Assistant Director, Administration of Justice Issues

Douglas Sloane, Evaluator-in-Charge

David Alexander, Senior Social Science Analyst

Barry Seltser, Supervisory Social Science Analyst

Los Angeles Field

Office

Tom Jessor, Senior Evaluator

Page 30 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
Research Articles Used in This Review

Research Reviews Garland, Randall J., and Michael J. Dougher. “The Abused/Abuser

Hypothesis of Child Sexual Abuse: A Critical Review of Theory and

Research.” Adult Human Sexual Behavior With Children and Adolescents:

Biosocial Dimensions, ed. J.R. Feierman (New York: Aldine de Gruyter,

1988), pp. 488-509.

Hanson, R. Karl. “Characteristics of Sex Offenders Who Were Sexually

Abused as Children.” Sex Offenders and Their Victims, ed. R. Langevin

(Oakville, Ontario: Juniper Press, 1991), pp. 77-85.

Hanson, R. Karl, and S. Slater. “Sexual Victimization in the History of Child

Sexual Abusers: A Review.” Annals of Sex Research, Vol. I (1988), pp.

485-499.

Williams, Linda Meyer, and David Finkelhor. “The Characteristics of

Incestuous Fathers: A Review of Recent Studies.” In The Handbook of

Sexual Assault: Issues, Theories, and Treatment of the Offender, eds. W. L.

Marshall, D. R. Laws, and H. E. Barbaree (New York: Plenum Press, 1990),

pp. 231-255.

Retrospective

Approach

Alford, Jane, Mary Grey, and C. James Kasper. “Child Molesters: Areas for

Further Research.” Corrective and Social Psychiatry and Journal of

Behavior Technology Methods and Therapy, Vol. XXXIV (1988), pp. 1-5.

Baker, D. Father-Daughter Incest: A Study of the Father. San Diego:

California School of Professional Psychology, 1985. Dissertation Abstracts

International, 46, 951B.

Ballard, D. T., et al. “A Comparative Profile of the Incest Perpetrator:

Background Characteristics, Abuse History, and Use of Social Skills.” In

The Incest Perpetrator: A Family Member No One Wants to Treat, ed. A. L.

Horton et al. (Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1990), pp. 43-64.

Bard, Leonard A., et al. “A Descriptive Study of Rapists and Child

Molesters: Developmental, Clinical, and Criminal Characteristics.”

Behavioral Sciences and the Law, Vol. V, No. 2 (1987), pp. 203-220.

Bennett, S. R. Cognitive Style of Incestuous Fathers. Lubbock, Texas:

Texas Tech University, 1985. Dissertation Abstracts International, 47,

778B.

Page 31 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
Research Articles Used in This Review

Condy, Sylvia. R., et al. “Parameters of Sexual Contact of Boys With

Women.” Archives of Sexual Behavior, Vol. XVI (1987), pp. 379-394.

Dhawan, Sonia, and W. L. Marshall. “Sexual Abuse Histories of Sexual

Offenders.” Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, Vol. VIII,

No. 1 (1996), pp. 7-15.

Dutton, D.G., and S.D. Hart. “Evidence for Long-term, Specific Effects of

Childhood Abuse and Neglect on Criminal Behavior in Men. International

Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, Vol. XVI, No. 2

(1992), pp. 129-137.

Faller, Kathleen Coulborn. “Why Sexual Abuse? An Exploration of the

Intergenerational Hypothesis.” Child Abuse and Neglect, Vol. XIII, No. 4

(1989), pp. 543-548.

Frisbie, Louise V. Another Look at Sex Offenders in California.

Sacramento: California Department of Mental Hygiene, Mental Health

Research Monograph No. 12, 1969.

Gaffney, Gary. R., Shelly F. Lurie, and Fred S. Berlin. “Is There Familial

Transmission of Pedophilia?” Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases,

Vol. CLXXII (1984), pp. 546-548.

Gebhard, P. H., et al. Sex Offenders: An Analysis of Types. New York:

Harper and Row, 1965.

Greenberg, David M., John M. W. Bradford, and Susan Curry. “A

Comparison of Sexual Victimization in the Childhoods of Pedophiles and

Hebephiles.” Journal of Forensic Sciences, Vol. XXXVIII, No. 2

(March 1993), pp. 432-436.

Groff, M. G., and L. M. Hubble. “A Comparison of Father-Daughter and

Stepfather-Stepdaughter Incest.” Criminal Justice and Behavior, Vol. XI

(1984), pp. 461-475.

Groth, A. Nicholas. “Sexual Trauma in the Life Histories of Rapists and

Child Molesters.” Victimology: An International Journal, Vol. IV, No. 1

(1979), pp. 10-16.

Page 32 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
Research Articles Used in This Review

Kirkland, Karen D., and Chris A. Bauer. “MMPI Traits of Incestuous

Fathers.” Journal of Clinical Psychology, Vol. XXXVIII, No. 3 (1982), pp.

645-649.

Langevin, R., and R. A. Lang. “Psychological Treatment of Pedophiles.”

Behavioral Sciences and the Law, Vol. III, No. 4 (1985), pp. 403-419.

Lee, R. N. “Analysis of the Characteristics of Incestuous Fathers.”

Dissertation Abstracts International, Vol. XLIII, No. 2343B (1982).

University Microfilms No. DA8227677.

McCarty, Loretta M. “Mother-Child Incest: Characteristics of the Offender.”

Child Welfare, Vol. LXV, No. 5 (September/October 1986), pp. 447-458.

Overholser, James C., and Steven J. Beck. “The Classification of Rapists

and Child Molesters.” Journal of Offender Counseling, Services and

Rehabilitation, Vol. XIV, No. 2 (1989), pp. 169-179.

Seghorn, Theoharis K., Robert A. Prentky, and Richard Boucher.

“Childhood Sexual Abuse in the Lives of Sexually Aggressive Offenders.”

Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Vol.

XXVI (1987), pp. 262-267.

Tingle, David, et al. “Childhood and Adolescent Characteristics of

Pedophiles and Rapists.” International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, Vol.

IX (1986), pp. 103-116.

Williams, Linda Meyer, and David Finkelhor. The Characteristics of

Incestuous Fathers. Durham, New Hampshire: University of New

Hampshire, 1992.

Prospective Approach Widom, Cathy Spatz. “Childhood Sexual Abuse and Its Criminal

Consequences.” Society, Vol. XXXIII, No. 4 (May/June 1996), pp. 47-53.

Widom, Cathy Spatz. Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse—Later Criminal

Consequences: Research in Brief. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of

Justice, National Institute of Justice, March 1995.

Widom, Cathy Spatz, and M. Ashley Ames. “Criminal Consequences of

Childhood Sexual Victimization.” Child Abuse and Neglect, Vol. XVIII, No.

4 (1994), pp. 303-318.

Page 33 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
Research Articles Used in This Review

Williams, Linda Meyer, et al. Juvenile and Adult Offending Behavior and

Other Outcomes in a Cohort of Sexually Abused Boys: 20 Years Later.

Philadelphia: Joseph J. Peters Institute, 1995.

(183607) Page 34 GAO/GGD-96-178 Cycle of Sexual Abuse Research Results
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