Salter, Daniel Charles; (2003) Protective factors against the development of sexually abusive behaviour in sexually victimised male. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

Background: Childhood victims of sexual abuse are thought to be at increased risk of becoming sexual abusers. This risk may further increase when also exposed to other forms of maltreatment. However, many victims of maltreatment do not become sexual perpetrators. Certain factors may play a protective role in averting the development of abusive behaviour when the risk is otherwise high. Though fectors have been identified that protect against some outcomes of maltreatment, none have been found that protect against sexually abusive behaviour. The aim of this thesis was to identify such protective factors in sexually victimised males. Method: A catch-up longitudinal design was employed. The sample consisted of 104 sexually victimised males referred to a major UK hospital between 1980 and 1992. Putative risk and protective experiences identified from the literature, and recorded prior to any acts of perpetration, were coded from contemporaneous social services and clinical documents. The coded values were summed to give ‘risk index’ and ‘protective index’ scores for each subject. Whether a subject subsequently became a sexual perpetrator was established from evidence of sexually abusive acts, recorded in social service and police files. Results: The risk index was found to" discriminate sexually victimised males who became sexual perpetrators (n=21) from those who did not (p<.01). The ability of the putative protective index to reduce the risk of perpetrating was tested using logistic and linear regression techniques. Although this index did not significantly reduce the risk of perpetrating, having a non-abusive female primary carer prior to age six was identified as a protective factor (p=.03). The interactions of risk with other individual factors relating to stable, non-abusive attachments with carers in the early years of life, approached significance (p< .1), and warrant further investigation. Conclusion:. The results that approach or attain significance are consistent with an attachment theory perspective that non-abusive carer relationships in early life are protective against abusive behaviour in adulthood. Some inconsistency in the overall results suggests more investigation is necessary.

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