Considerable efforts have been made during the last generation to encourage children and their families to report victimization to authorities. Nonetheless, concern persists that most childhood victimization remains hidden. The 2008 inventory of childhood victimization--the National Study of Children's Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV)--allowed an…

Survey information shows that sexual abuse of children is widespread, being reported by 19% of the females and 9% of the males in the sample. Most sexual victimization took place within the child's family, not with strangers, as "child molesters" have traditionally been stereotyped. While the problem cuts across social and economic lines, it seems…

This paper reviews clinical experience and research evidence about father-daughter incest and family sexual abuse, and suggests six factors important in its etiology: the personal characteristics of the offender; the role of the mother; a milieu of abandonment; subcultural isolation; poor family sexual boundaries; and opportunity factors. (Author)