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Affiliation
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Sexual Behavior Clinic at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University, 10032 New York, New York; Clinical Psychology in Psychiatry at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, 10032 New York, New York |
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Abstract
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One hundred and thirty mothers of adolescent sexual perpetrators were interviewed. Mothers of incest perpetrators (n = 48) were compared to mothers of non-incest perpetrators (n = 82). Results indicated that significantly more mothers of incest perpetrators reported having been physically and sexually abused, having a sexual dysfunction, and having been in prior psychotherapy. With regard to their sons, a higher percentage of mothers of incest perpetrators reported that they believed their son had committed the sexual offense, was in need of treatment, and had a history of being physically abused. Additionally, a significantly lower percentage of incest perpetrators had involvement with the juvenile justice system.
VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The goal of this study by Kaplan et al. was to examine and compare the mothers of adolescent perpetrators of incest charged with a sexual offense, with mothers of adolescent non-incest perpetrators charged with a sexual offense.
METHODOLOGY:
The authors conducted a primary analysis of quasi-experimental, cross-sectional data collected from 130 mothers of adolescent incest perpetrators of a sexual crime (n=48) and non-incest perpetrators of a sexual crime (n=82). Participants were obtained from the Sexual Behavior Clinic at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Mothers' mean age was 39.5 (Range 28-58 yrs). Standard Deviation was not provided. The majority of the sample was African-American (64%), 25% were Hispanic, 9% were Caucasian, 0.8% were Oriental and 0.8% were reported as Other. 63% of the respondents were either divorced, separated, widowed or single at the time of the interview. 37% were either married, remarried or in a defacto relationship. Structured clinical interviews were conducted by psychologists at the Sexual Behavior Clinic. The interviews were designed to assess mothers' demographic characteristics, psychiatric disorder histories, sexual and non-sexual arrest histories, knowledge of their sons' crimes, physical/sexual abuse histories, and degree of belief in their sons' sexual crime. No reliability or validity statistics were given. The authors conducted 2 x 2 cross tabulations and chi square statistical analyses on several variables to make comparisons between the two groups of mothers in this study. Some respondents answered several questions "don't know" or "not sure." The authors reported that these cases were dropped from the analyses.
The authors hypothesized that mothers of adolescent perpetrators of incest charged with a sexual crime would: 1) believe more often that their sons had committed the offense and, 2) would report higher levels of abuse victimization, when compared with mothers of non-incest perpetrators charged with a sexual crime.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
The authors found that when the two groups of mothers were compared, the mothers of adolescent incest perpetrators had received psychotherapy (p=0.004, chi-square = 8.09), admitted to having been physically abused (p=0.04, chi-square = 4.2), having been sexually abused (p=0.01, chi-square = 6.30) and that their sons had been physically abused (p=0.008, chi square = 6.95) more often than mothers of non-incest perpetrators of a sexual crime. Mothers of incest perpetrators self-reported greater levels of sexual dysfunction (p=.01, chi-square = 6.61). They also believed that their son had committed the sexual offense (p=.001, chi-square = 10.61), believed that their son needed to receive treatment for his offending behavior (p=.015, chi-square = 5.82) and reported that their sons were less involved with the law (p= .0003, chi-square = 13.04) when compared with mothers of non-incest perpetrators of a sexual crime.
The authors suggested that since the mothers of incest perpetrators had received psychotherapy more often, this may have facilitated the disclosure of their own and their sons' experiences and behavior. The authors commented that since adolescent incest perpetrators were reported to have been less involved with the law, mothers' may have found it easier to disclose their sons' offenses. The authors reported that their findings regarding intergenerational transmission of incest and sexual dysfunction were consistent with previous research findings in the area of sexual abuse.
AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS:
The authors recommended that future research be focused on parental influences on sons' behaviors and the role of familial variables in the development of deviant sexual interests among adolescents.
(CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
New York
Family Relations
Comparative Analysis
Family Characteristics
Family of Offender
Child Molester
Mother of Offender
Parent of Offender
Juvenile Offender
Juvenile Violence
Domestic Violence Offender
Sibling Violence Offender
Child Abuse Offender
Child Sexual Abuse Offender
Incest Offender
Adult Parent
Male Offender
Male Violence
Juvenile Male
Offender Characteristics
Parent Child Relations
Sexual Assault Offender
Family Denial
Rapist vs. Child Molester |