Psychology Faculty Posters

Permanent URI for this collection

This collection contains posters presented at conferences by faculty and students in the Dept. of Psychology.

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1

Open Access
Child Sex Abuse Perpetrators Among Male University Students
(2006-11) Becker-Blease, Kathryn; Friend, Daniel; Freyd, Jennifer J.
Previous studies indicate that approximately 21% of undergraduate men report attraction to “little children”, 4 – 9 % report having fantasies about sex with a child, and 5 – 6% report masturbating to these fantasies. Between 3 and 7% report some likelihood of having sex with a child if there was no chance they would be caught (Briere & Runtz, 1989; Smiljanich & Briere, 1996). Understanding potential for perpetration among young adult men is important for prevention, but research on perpetration in non-convicted samples is limited. We asked 531 undergraduate men about their experiences with abuse as a child, as well as perpetration of child sexual abuse. Approximately 18% report fantasies about child sexual abuse and 8% have masturbated to these fantasies. Four percent indicate some likelihood that they would have sex with a child, and just over 2.5% report having perpetrated at least one sexually abusive act against a child. More students in this survey report fantasies about child sex than in past surveys, perhaps because of the increased availability of child pornography, or differences in willingness to admit such fantasies. The results are discussed in terms of the need for prevention programs