Research: Methodological flaws and syndrome construction

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Research flaws and false constructs  

Methodological flaws/false constructs

Minor-Adult sex  

Prevalence of harm
Association or causation?
Secondary harm
Family environment
Effects of age on outcomes

Minors  

Commercial and online victimization
Youth sexuality
Sexual repression
Cognitive ability
Teen pregnancy
Effects of pornography

"Child Sex Offenders"  

Characteristics of the offender
Who offends and how often?
Recidivism

Minor attraction  

Child pornography
Cognitive distortion
Abnormal psychology
Pedophilia as an orientation
Nonsexual aspects
Prevalence
Dangers of stigma
A "cure" for pedophilia?

Broader perspectives  

Non-human relationships
Historical relationships
Nonwestern relationships
Double-Taboo (Incest, Prostitution)
Evolutionary Perspectives

Template: Research - This template

Our research reviews elsewhere have often detailed how selective sampling (criminal, legal, therapeutic, self-defined victimhood) is used to identify symptoms first and then construct a syndrome with set characteristics (pedophilia, child sexual abuse). The syndrome is then erroneously generalized to the wider population of individuals experiencing a chronophilia or sex with an adult as a minor or child. Here we put into focus these methodological and conceptual flaws.

For some limitations of criminal sampling in pedophilia research, see psychopathy and abnormal psychology.

For other reviews of research problems (while this page remains largely incomplete, see MHAMic and Ipce).

Bias in Research

This section provides quotes from scholars who have addressed bias relating to some aspect of MAPs, youth sexuality, or intergenerational erotic encounters.

Bias in Academic Textbooks

"Research data, some of which was first published in 1935, does not support the assumption that masturbation and sex play in childhood is unhealthy or abnormal." (p. 218). "The trend toward acceptance of adult sexuality is evident in psychiatric texts and training programs," Yates notes, but what about children's sexuality?

To address this, Yates analyzes 15 then-current psychiatric textbooks for bias in how authors erroneously or problematically rendered human sexual capacity in the earliest years of life. Yates found that:

"The word "penis" was employed nine times as frequently as "clitoris"; in fact only three books mentioned the clitoris at all. The female apparatus was accorded a less specific label, i.e.; "the genitals," even when the term "penis" had been used to designate the male." (p. 221)

"Although this may sound impressive, the average number of pages devoted to childhood masturbation throughout the entire sample was less than four-fifths of a page. While [some] opted not to discuss masturbation in childhood, others coupled it with "alarm, horror, shame, and fear," (p. 222). By contrast, a minority of 3 authors including the 2 female textbook authors and another child psychiatrist, "deemphasize pathology and state that masturbation per se is normal or acceptable but secondarily associated with guilt, anxiety, and parental intolerance." (p. 222).

"No author conveyed enthusiasm about early erotic activity. There seemed to be an underlying assumption that growth toward erotic competence would occur without validation or involvement, and that the proper adult role would be to guide children out of, rather than into sexuality." (p. 222). Yates concludes with the following: "In all, the texts within the sample convey an attitude toward childhood sexuality that ranges from neutral to negative by omitting, isolating, and minimizing the importance while continuing to associate it with pathology." (p. 223).

"The acceptance of adult sexual behavior is increasing more rapidly than the acceptance of children's age-appropriate erotic activity. Current psychiatric texts, as well as the culture, continue to view early eroticism as problematic. This negative attitude could handicap children in their developmental progress toward erotic competence" (p. 224).

  • For more on pre-adolescent ("children's") sexuality and what scholars have meant when using this term, see our "Youth Sexuality" page.



CSA Syndrome

Even when unrepresentatively sampled, children involved in intergenerational sexual relationships do not show a set pattern of reactions. In addition to this, certain types of reactions have been correlated with social factors.

  • Constantine, L.L., (1981). "The effects of early sexual experiences: A review and synthesis of research," in Constantine, L.L. & Martinson, F.M. (eds.), Children and Sex: New Findings, New Perspectives.
    MHAMIC: "The author concludes that there is no set of reactions that is a single inevitable outcome of adult-child sexual interaction. More negative outcomes are associated with violence or coercion, tense situations, sex-negative attitudes, sexual ignorance, and unsupportive or judgmental adult reactions. The amount of anxiety and guilt that the child experiences depends on two main characteristics of the interaction. These factors are of overwhelming importance in immediate and long-term effects."
  • Finkelhor, David (1990). "Early and long-term effects of child sexual abuse: An update," Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 21(5), pp. 325-330.
    "Another attempt to consider the impact of sexual abuse has been the formulation of a specific sexually-abused-child disorder (Corwin, 1988). This effort has evolved in response to the need many clinicians perceive to have a diagnostic category in which to place sexually abused children. However, this approach has not caught on because it has proved so difficult to define a set of symptoms that clearly delineates sexually abused children. As we have pointed out, some victims appear to be asymptomatic in the immediate wake of abuse. Perhaps more important, victims manifest such a large variety of symptoms that there is no single set of symptoms that can be considered characteristic. The sexualized behavior that many clinicians think is so much the hallmark of the child who has been sexually abused occurs in only 7% of all victims according to the evaluations of 369 children by Conte and Schuerman (1987). The attempts to define a single sexually abused child syndrome are unlikely to meet with future success and acceptance."
  • Kendall-Tacket, K. A., Williams, L. M., & Finkelhor, D. (1993). "Impact of Sexual Abuse on Children: A Review and Synthesis of Recent Empirical Studies," Psychological Bulletin, 113(1), 164-180.
    "The findings suggest the absence of any specific syndrome in children who have been sexually abused and no single traumatizing process. [...] The range of symptoms, the lack of a single predominant symptom pattern, and the absence of symptoms in so many victims clearly suggest that diagnosis is complex. Because the effects of abuse can manifest themselves in too many ways, symptoms cannot be easily used, without other evidence, to confirm the presence of sexual abuse. Yet the absence of symptoms certainly cannot be used to rule out sexual abuse. There are too many sexually abused children who are apparently asymptomatic."

Tendency to disclose

Disclosure figures and the reasons for not disclosing shine a light on the positive and indifferent nature of the many experiences which can not be sampled via therapeutic/systemic referrals.

  • Lahtinen, H., et al., (2018). "Children's disclosures of sexual abuse in a population-based sample," Child abuse and Neglect, Feb 2018; 76: 84-94.
    "The present study aimed to explore the overall CSA disclosure rate and factors associated with disclosing to adults in a large population-based sample. A representative sample of 11,364 sixth and ninth graders participated in the Finnish Child Victim Survey concerning experiences of violence, including CSA. CSA was defined as having sexual experiences with a person at least five years older at the time of the experience. Within this sample, the CSA prevalence was 2.4%. Children reporting CSA experiences also answered questions regarding disclosure, the disclosure recipient, and potential reasons for not disclosing. The results indicate that most of the children (80%) had disclosed to someone, usually a friend (48%). However, only 26% had disclosed to adults, and even fewer had reported their experiences to authorities (12%). The most common reason for non-disclosing was that the experience was not considered serious enough for reporting (41%), and half of the children having CSA experiences did not self-label their experiences as sexual abuse. Relatively few children reported lacking the courage to disclose (14%)."

Excerpt Graphic

This graphic may be useful if you wish to reproduce some of our sources without being character limited.