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    12 views16 pages

    Finkelhor 1984

    Uploaded by

    Regina De Souza

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 16
    CHAPTER 5 Four Preconditions: A Model HERE 15 A PRESSING need for new theory in the field of sexual abuse What theory we have currently is not sufficient to account for what we know. Nor is it far-reaching enough to guide the development of new empirical research. ‘Two types of theory currently prevail in the field. On the one hand, there are a collection of partially developed ideas, catalogued in the previous chapter, about what creates a child molester. On the other hand, there isa highly specific family systems model of father-daughter incest. Taken as a whole, the current level of theoretical development displays a number of important shortcomings. For one, the theories we have are not very useful for collating what is known about offenders with what is known about victims and their families. Research and theory about offenders have been developed by psychologists working with offenders in prison settings in isola tion from other workers who were protecting and treating children. For another, currently available theories are not comprehensive, The theories about offenders have been developed from work mostly with men who molested multiple children outside their own families. In contrast, the family-systems theories have been developed almost exclusively from work with father-daughter incest families. Unfortunately, there is much sexual abuse, such as that committed by older brothers, uncles, and neighbors, which falls outside either domain. Theory to account for such abuse is missing Finally, currently available theories tend to neglect sociological factors. ‘They have mostly developed from clinical work and arc aimed at helping to 54 (Ct SEXUAL ABUSE direct therapeutic interventions, However, sexual abuse as a widespread social problem has sociological dimensions that need to be included in theory. In this chapter we build on the foundation of the last chapter and propose a model of sexual abuse that tries t0 address these shortcomings. It brings together knowledge about offenders, victims, and families. Ic is at a level of generality capable of accommodating many diferent cypes of sexual abuse from father-daughter incest to compulsive and fixated molesting. Finally, it incor- porates explanations at both the psychological and sociological level. ‘The mode is called the Four-Preconditions Model of Sexual Abuse. “The model was developed by reviewing all the factors that have been pro- posed as contributing t0 sexual abuse (Lukianowicz, 1972; Lystad, 1982; Tierney & Corwin, 1983), including factors related to victims and families as detailed in Chapter 3 and factors related to offenders as detailed in Chapter 4. ‘This review suggested that all factors relating to sexual abuse could be grouped as contributing to one of four preconditions that needed to be met before sexual abuse could occur: 1. A potential offender needed to have some motivation to abuse 2 child sexually. 2. The potential offender had to overcome internal inhibitions against act ing on that motivation. 3. The potential offender had to overcome external impediments to com- mitting sexual abuse. 4, The potential offender or some other factor had to undermine or over- come a child's possible resistance to the sexual abuse. These factors suggested a model of sexual abuse portrayed in Figure 5-1. ‘What follows is a more detailed description of the components of the model and how it operates to account for a wide variety of sexual abuse Preconpmion J; Motivation To SexvatLy Abuse ‘A model of sexual abuse needs to account for how a person (an adult or adoles- cent) becomes motivated for or interested in having sexual contact with a child ‘This question is essentially the one we took up in the previous chapter. Follow- ing along the lines ofthe previous chapter, we suggest that there are three com- \ ponents to the source of his motivation: (I) emotional congruence—relating sexually to the child satisfies some important emotional need; (2) sexual arousal—the child comes to be the potential source of sexual gratification for that person; and (3) blockage—alternative sources of sexual gratification are not available or are less satisfying (The fourth factor ftom the previous chapter—disinhibition—is isolated as a separate precondition for reasons de- tailed below.) Four Preconiitions: A Model 5S 1 MOTIVATION TO 2 INTERNAL «3 EXTERNAL «4 RESISTANCE SEXUALLY ABUSE INHITORS INHIBITORS: By CHILD EMOTIONAL ‘CONGRUENCE # SEXUAL ‘AROUSAL + BLOCKAGE, Figure 5-1 Four Preconditions of Sex Abuse “These three components are not themselves preconditions. That is, some contribution from each is not required in order for the sexual abuse to occur. For example, an offender may sexually abuse a child without necessarily being sexvally aroused by the child; he may do so simply because such abuse satisfies an emotional need to degrade, Or an offender may sexually abuse a child for the sake of variery without necessarily being blocked from alternative sources of gratification, However, in many cases elements are present from each of the three com- ponents in accounting for the motivation. As we illustrated in the previous chapter, the mixture of elements may help explain a variety of aspects of the motivation: whether itis strongand persistent or weak and episodic, whether it focuses primarily on boys or girls or both. “The first section of Table 5~1 lists some factors that may help account for the presence of Precondition I. These are some of the more common theories catalogued here, apportioned according to whether they occur atthe invididual or social-cultural level. Preconpirion II: Overcomune Internat INiprTors: In order for sexual abuse to occur, a potential offender not only needs to be motivated to commit abuse, but the offender must overcome internal inhibi- tions against acting on those motives. We presume that most members of soci- 56 Four Preconditions, A Model TABLE 5-1 Preconditions for Sexual Abuse Level oF EXPLANATION Individual Social/ Cultural Precondition I: Factors Related to Motivation 1 Sexually Abuse Emotional congruence Arrested emotional Masculine requirement development to be dominant and Need to feel powerful powerful in sexual rel and controlling tionships Re-enactment of childhood trauma to undo the hure Narcissistic identifica. tion with self as a young child Sexual arousal Childhood sexual Child pornography experience that was Erotic portrayal of chil- taumatic or strongly dren in advertising conditioning ‘Male tendency to sex- Modeling of sexual ualize all emotional interest in children needs by someone else Misattibution of arousal cues Biologic abnormality Blockage Oedipal conflict Repressive norms about Castration anxiety masturbation and extra- Fear of adult females marital sex ‘Traumatic sexual ex- perience with adult Inadequate social skills Marital problems Precondition Tl: Factors Alcohol Social toleration of sexual Predisposing to Over Paychosis interest in children coming Internal Impulse disorder Weak criminal sanctions Inbibitors Senility against offenders Failure of incest Ideology of patriarchal inhibiion mechan- prerogatives for fathers ism in family Social coleration for dynamics deviance committed while intoxicated Four Preanditions: A, Model TABLE 5-1 Continued 57 Levst OF EXPLANATION Individual Socal/Culbwral Child pornography ‘Male inability to identify with needs of children Precondition IL: Factors Mother who is absent _Lack of social supports Predisposing to Over- orill for mother coming Exernal ‘Mother who is not Barriers to women’s Inbibitors close to or protective equality of child Erosion of social net- Mother who is dom- works inated or abused by Ideology of family father sanctity Social isolation of family Unusual opportunities to be alone with child Lack of supervision of child ‘Unusual sleeping or rooming conditions Precondition IV: Facors Child who is emotion- __Unavailability of sex edus Predisposing to Over- ally insecure or cation for children coming Child's Resis- deprived Social powerlessness of tne Child who lacks children knowledge about sexual abuse Situation of unusual trust between child and offender Coercion ety have such inhibitions. If there are those who do not, then the absence of in- hibitions needs to be explained. This precondition is essentially the same as the disinhibition factor iden- tified in Chapter 4. Ic is established as a precondition separate from the other three factors relating to offenders for two reasons. First, emotional congruence, sexual arousal, and blockage are sources of the motivation to sexually abuse. Disinhibition is notin itself a source of motivation, but the reason the motiva- tion is unleashed. It is not sufficient in itself to create abuse. A person who has 58 Crm Sexuat, suse 1no inhibitions against sexual abuse, but also no inclination to do so, will not abuse Second, unlike the other three, disinhibition itself is a requirement for sex- ual abuse. No matter what the motivation to abuse sexually, if a potential of- fender is inhibited by social taboos from acting, then abuse will not occur Many people probably have a strong sexual interest in children butdo notcom- mit abuse precisely because they are inhibited. To account for the abuse, we need to account for why the inhibitions were overcome. The disinhibition may have been temporary, and the person may ordinarily have very strong controls, but an explanation for the disinhibition is an important element in a full ex- planation of sexual abuse Table 5-1 also lists the major reasons for disinhibition of sexually abusive behavior as found in the literature reviewed in Chapter 4. Preconprrion TH: Overcominc Exrerat. Intterrors ‘The first wo preconditions try to account for the behavior of perpetrators. But it is quite clear that such accounts do not fully explain to whom or why abuse occurs. A man fully motivated to abuse sexually who is also disinhibited may not do so, and he certainly may not do.so with a particular child. There are fac- tors outside himself that control whether he abuses and whom he abuses. Preconditions III and IV are about these. Precondition III concerns external inhibitors in the environment outside the offender and outside the child. The most important of these external forces is the supervision a child receives from other persons. Family members, neighbors, and children’s own peers all exert a restraining influence on the ac- tions of a potential abuser. Tt might appear that, given an offender motivated to commit abuse, the supervision of other persons is a rather fragile form of deterrent. A child cannot always be in the presence of others. Yet, it is interesting how frequently in both the clinical and empirical literature the influence of third parties appears as an important factor in creating a vulnerability to abuse. Some of the most impor- tant external inhibitors of sexual abuse noted in the literature are included in the table of preconditions. Mothers appear to be especially crucial in protecting children from abuse. Of course, there has been criticism that mothers have been blamed too fre- quently for abuse. This criticism has some validity, which was discussed in Chapter 3 and will be discussed further later in context of the full four- preconditions model. But findings related to the importance of mothers in pro- tecting children appear too regularly to be dismissed simply as sexism. There is Foner Preconditions: A Madet 59 growing evidence that when mothers are incapacitated in some way, children are more vulnerable to abuse. “That incapacitation may take various forms. When a mother is absent from a family because of divorce, death, or sickness, as seen in Chapter 3, children appear to suffer more abuse. (See also Kaufman, Peck & Tagiuri, 1954; Machotka, Pittman & Flomenhaft, 1966; Maisch, 1972; Raphling, Carpenter & Davis, 1967). Mothers may also be psychologically absent because they are alienated from children or husband or suffering from other emotional disturb- ances, with similar consequences One form of maternal incapacitation, it is also interesting to note, may come from the relationship between mother and father. Mothers may be tunable to protect children because they themselves are abused and intimidated by tyrannical and domineering men, Even large power imbalances that may stem from differences in education may undercut a woman's ability to be an ally for her children Just what are all the forms of protection that a mother provides is not en- tirely clear. Supervision does not mean simply being present with the child atall times, It also includes knowing what is going on for a child, knowing when a child is troubled, and being someone to whom the child can readily turn for help. It can be seen how a potential offender might well be inhibited from abus- ing a child if he realized that the mother would quickly suspect or know what was going on. Judith Herman (1981) has found that the main difference be- ween families where father and daughter have a “seductive” relationship and families where that relationship becomes actual incest is that in the incestuous families, the mother is incapacitated in some way. In the seductive relationship situation, mothers seem to exert some inhibiting force. Other people besides mothers act as deterrents to sexual abuse, To the degree that ncighbors, siblings, friends, and teachers interact closely with a child and are familiar with his or her activities, they also inhibit abuse. This idea would appear to be supported by findings that children who live in isolated set- tings or who have few friends and few social contacts are at greater risk to abuse (Chapter 3; Henderson, 1972). The absence of general public scrutiny of fam- ily and children may be one of the factors that accounts for the reportedly high evel of abuse in the stereotypical “backwoods” family environments (Summit & Kryso, 1978). One other form that external inhibition may take is simply the absence of, physical opportunity for abuser and child to be alone together. In situations where such opportunities are more available, abuse is more likely to occur. The Jiteracure on sexual abuse has, for example, mentioned household conditions as factors which may facilitate abuse. When family members are required to sleep together in the same bed or in the same room, abuse may be facilitated. Simi- 60 ‘Cit SexuaL ABuse larly, one ofthe reasons why a father's unemployment may precipitate abuse is that, in addition to lowering his internal inhibitions because of emotional stress, itleaves him at home alone with a child for extended periods. When a porential abuser and a child are left alone in the absence of supervising persons, it may help to overcome the external inbibitions that often exist against sexual abuse PRECONDITION TV: OvercomiNe THE REsistaNCE OF THE CHILD Children themselves play an important role in whether or not they are abused, and any full explanation of why abuse occurs needs to take into account factors related to the child, Children have a capacity to avoid or resist abuse. Unfor- tunately, since professionals are mostly in contact with children who were abused, the importance of this capacity is not often realized. If professionals dealt with more children who had had close calls but escaped, this capacity mighe be more apparent. Some of the factors noted in the literature as com promising children's capacity co resist are listed in Table 5-1 “The notion of a capacity (0 resist of avoid must not be seen in a narrow sway. Te means much more than a child who says no to a potential abuser when asked to play asexual game, or who runs away or fights back when accosted, It involves many subde aspects related to children’s behavior and personality. "Much abuse is undoubtedly short-circuited without the child’s knowing anything about it because 2 potential abuser chooses not to approach that par ticular child, but goes on to another. This even occurs within a family, where some children will be molested by a father while others are left alone. Abusers tundoubtedly sense that some children do not make good targets. They sense thata child will not play along, will not keep a secret, will say no, cannot be in- timidated. One might call this a “front of invulnerability." Some molesters who pick viesims out in public situations, such as in school yards, have Been

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