Citation

Ondersma SJ, Chaffin M, Berliner L, Cordon IM, Goodman GS, Barnett D. Psychol. Bull. 2001; 127(6): 707-714.

Affiliation

Merrill-Palmer Institute, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan 48202, USA. s.ondersma@wayne.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2001, American Psychological Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

11726067

Abstract

B. Rind, P. Tromovitch, and R. Bauserman (1998) reported a meta-analysis of the relation between sexual abuse in childhood and adolescence and psychological functioning among college students. Several aspects of their work have proven to be highly controversial, including their assertion that the relation between child sexual abuse and adjustment is quite small and their questioning of whether child sexual abuse should be labeled abuse in scientific inquiry. In this commentary, the authors summarize the controversy that has ensued, place it in a historical context, discuss the limitations of B. Rind et al.'s findings, and critique the manner in which those findings are presented. The authors also argue for the appropriateness of the term abuse and for scientific terminology that reflects rather than contradicts consensual public morality.

Language: en