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Sexual Abuse Within the Family: The Intergenerational Transmission of Victimhood and Offending

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Women and Children as Victims and Offenders: Background, Prevention, Reintegration

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of research carried out on 185 juvenile male sex offenders who received treatment in a residential center. We examined their and their parents’ history of sexual abuse. Specifically we tested hypotheses relating to the mechanisms linking offender and victim status in cases of sexual abuse within families, i.e. intra-familial abuse. Our findings offer most support for a social learning theory of sexual abuse. Juvenile sex offenders either from families where intra-familial abuse has occurred or who have a father with a history of sexual abuse against children occurring during their childhood have an increased risk of themselves abusing children, rather than peers. Juvenile sex offenders who themselves have been the victim of intra-familial abuse, or who have a sibling that has suffered intra-familial abuse, have an increased risk of committing intra-familial sexual abuse.

This chapter is an updated version of Bijleveld, C.C.J.H. and Hendriks, J. (2007). Gezin en seksueel misbruik. Tijdschrift voor Criminologie, 49, pp. 123–136.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Paraphilic disorders are described in the DSM-5, as atypical sexual interests where persons either feel distress about their interest, have a sexual desire or behavior which causes harm, distress or injury to others, or a desire for sexual behaviors against unwilling persons or persons unable to give consent.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Catrien Bijleveld & Jan Hendriks

  2. NSCR Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Catrien Bijleveld & Jessica Hill

Authors
  1. Catrien Bijleveld
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  2. Jessica Hill
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  3. Jan Hendriks
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Correspondence to Catrien Bijleveld .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Heuweiler, Germany

    Helmut Kury

  2. Faculty of Law, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    SĹ‚awomir Redo

  3. Zurich, Switzerland

    Evelyn Shea

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Bijleveld, C., Hill, J., Hendriks, J. (2016). Sexual Abuse Within the Family: The Intergenerational Transmission of Victimhood and Offending. In: Kury, H., Redo, S., Shea, E. (eds) Women and Children as Victims and Offenders: Background, Prevention, Reintegration. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08398-8_32

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