masculinities, sexualities and child sexual abuse

519 Pages·2014·18.72 MB·English

I
MASCULINITIES, SEXUALITIES AND CHILD
SEXUAL ABUSE
BY
ANNE ISABEL COSSINS
A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
•>
FACULTY OF LAW
THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES
SEPTEMBER 1998
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‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my
knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another
person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the
award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational
institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any
contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at
UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that
the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to
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PLEASE TYPE THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES
Thesis/Project Report Sheet
C- 2>S> {N]
Surname or Family name:
A Kbit
First name: Other name/s: ^ S A s e u -
Ph. D
Abbreviation for degree as given in the University calendar:
School: 1-kVAj Faculty: LA LaJ
Title:
K^&Cui^ (^ vtieS, ^EXUa,levies At^P SEXUAL^ ASuSfc
Abstract 350 words maximum: (PLEASE TYPE)
In light of evidence that shows that the vast majority of child sex offenders are male, the vast majority of
victims of child sexual abuse are female, and the vast majority of abusers of male children are male, the
question posed by this thesis is, why is child sexual abuse committed primarily by men and male
adolescents, unlike other types of child abuse? This thesis poses the hypothesis that child sex offending,
rather than being a deviant masculine sexual practice, is related to normative masculine gender practices,
that is, practices structured on dynamic and changing relations of power. Using a practice-based
sociological approach, the relationship between masculinities, sexualities and child sexual abuse is
analysed and the power/powerlessness theory is developed to explain the predominantly male problem of
child sex offending. The theory postulates that, because the social construction of masculinities involves
the construction of dynamic and changing relations of power between men, men’s lives are characterised
by a combination of power and powerlessness. It is argued that an offender’s experiences of powerlessness
as a result of his relationships with other men is the key to understanding child sex offending, since
sexuality is a key social practice for differentiation between masculinities, the alleviation of experiences of
powerlessness and for establishing relations of power with other men. Such a proposition means that there
can be no pre-existing tendency (biological or psychological) to engage in child sexual abuse. In
particular, the theory argues that a man’s particular attachment to the link between sexuality and
experiences of masculinity and power will be a key factor for determining how he does sex and whom he
chooses as a sexual partner. For these reasons, child sex offending can be understood as a particular
masculine sexual practice that some men engage in to protect the vulnerable self that is created through the
effects of the masculine social practices of other men. The theory is capable of explaining the behaviour of
all types of offenders because it recognises that child sex offending is likely to represent different issues of
power for different men practising different masculinities. The theory is tested through a re-analysis of
offender interviews originally conducted by Colton and Vanstone (1996), an analysis of victim report
studies conducted in Australia, Britain, New Zealand and the USA and an analysis of psychological studies
on the characteristics of child sex offenders.
The second main hypothesis addressed by this thesis is that low conviction rates for child sex
offences are related to institutional practices of hegemonic masculinity within the criminal justice system
(in particular, the trial and appeal processes), in light of data that shows that conviction rates for child sex
offences are significantly lower than conviction rates for most other criminal offences. By examining the
concept of the institution, the way that gender is institutionalised, the mechanisms by which a dynamic and
changing gender regime operates within the criminal justice system, and the specific rules of evidence that
govern the conduct of the child sexual assault trial, this thesis argues that particular segregation rules
operate to create a gendered division of rights and restraints within the child sexual assault trial which
prevents the vast majority of child sex offences from being prosecuted.
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CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY
I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my
knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person,
nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for die award of any
other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where
due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research
by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly
acknowledged in the thesis.
I also declare that die intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own
work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and
conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.
(Signed)
CONTENTS
PAGE
Dedication v
Abstract vi
Acknowledgments vii
Abbreviations viii
List of Tables ix
Chapter One
Introduction: The Male Problem of Child Sex Offending 1
A. The Research Issues 1
B. Some Caveats 4
C. An Historical Framework in which to for Examine the Motivations
of Male Child Sex Offenders 6
(i) Incest, Child Prostitution and the Sexual Slave Trade 8
(ii) The Social Purity Movement in England and Australia 9
(iii) Protecting Men from False Accusations 19
(iv) The Criminalisation of Incest in Australia 22
(v) The Criminalisation of Incest in England 26
(vi) Conclusion 29
D. The Main Research Issue Re-Visited 33
E. The Second Main Research Issue of This Thesis 33
F. The Structure of the Thesis 34
G. Definitions and Terminology Used in this Thesis 38
Chapter Two
Current Explanations of Child Sexual Abuse 42
A. Introduction 42
B. Child Sex Offending: Violence, Sex, Power, Dysfunctional
Families or Just Plain Deviance? 43
(i) Introduction 43
(ii) An Analysis of Child Sexual Abuse as a Function of Family
Pathology 46
(iii) Sexually Coercive Behaviour: A Case of Biological Propensity
or Culturally Produced Behaviour? 52
(iv) The Relationship between Power and Child Sexual Abuse 59
(v) Child Sexual Abuse as a Sociological Phenomenon 66
(vi) Psychological Theories of Child Sex Offenders and ‘Good’
and ‘Bad’ Masculine Sexuality 72
(vii) The Characteristics of Child Sex Offenders 81
(viii) The Multi-factorial Analysis of Child Sexual Abuse 85
1
(ix) Conclusion 103
Chapter Three
Masculinities and Sexualities: A Sociological Theory of Child Sexual Abuse 105
105
A. Introduction
114
B. The Role of Power and Sexuality in the Making (and Unmaking) of Men
114
(i) Gender as Social Practice
123
(ii) Social Practices of Masculinity and Structures of Power
132
(iii) The Centrality of Heterosexism to Masculine Sexual Ideals
137
(iv) Masculine Sexual Practices
145
(v) ‘Pedosexuality’ as a Specific Masculine Sexual Practice
154
(vi) Blurring the Distinction between Pathology and Normality
C. The Social Construction of Feminine Sexuality: Creating
158
Socially Acceptable Targets of Sexual Abuse
167
D. Conclusion
Chapter Four
The Masculine Sexual Practices of Child Sex Offenders: Testing the
Power/Powerlessness Theory 175
175
A. Introduction
176
B. Victim Report Studies and Child Sex Offender Profiles: A Bad Match?
176
(i) Introduction
(ii) The Studies: What They Say about the Prevalence of
178
Child Sexual Abuse
182
(iii) The Studies: What They Say about Offender Types
(iv) Conclusion: The Validity of the Fixated/Regressed
191
Classification Scheme
C. The Characteristics of Child Sex Offenders: Evidence of Deviance
194
or Experiences of Powerlessness?
194
(i) Introduction
196
(ii) Discussion
(iii) Poor Social Skills, Loneliness, Isolation, Passivity, Low Self-Esteem
199
and ‘Deviant’ Sexual Arousal: Do They Cause Child Sex Offending ?
199
Poor Social Skills
207
Timidity and Passivity
Deviant Sexual Arousal 210
216
Lack of Intimacy
219
(iv) What is the Role of Alcohol in Child Sex Offending?
(v) Is an Experience of Child Sexual Abuse Causative in Child Sex
Offending or Evidence of the Degree of Powerlessness Experienced
by the Offender? 221
(vi) Juvenile Onset of Child Sex Offending: A Function of Poor Social
Skills or the Development of Masculine Sexual Practices in
Adolescence? 232
(vii) Establishing Relations of Power: The Selection of Vulnerable
n
!
\
Children 236
(xi) Conclusion 241
D. In Their Words: The Masculine Social Practices of Child Sex Offenders 245
(i) Introduction 245
The Colton and Vanstone Interviews as a Data Source 246
The Institutional Context in which the Interviews Took Place 249
Description of the Processes Involved in My Re-analysis 253
The Validity of My Methodology 255
(ii) Analysis 257
(a) Kim 257
(b) Dafydd 264
(c) Ronnie 266
(d) James 270
(e) David 273
(iii) Conclusion 278
E. “Yes, But Women Sexually Abuse Children Too” 282
(i) Discussion 282
(ii) Conclusion 298
Chapter Five
The Gap between Sexually Abused Children and the Criminal
Justice System 299
A. Introduction 299
B. Incidence of Child Sexual Abuse in Australia and NSW 301
C. The Prosecution of Child Sex Offences in NSW 305
(i) Introduction 302
(ii) Conviction Rates for Child Sex Offences in NSW for the Period
1992 to 1996 306
(iii) A Comparison of Conviction Rates for Child Sex
Offences and All Other Criminal Offences in NSW 311
(iv) A Comparison of Charges Laid, Conviction Rates and
Substantiated Cases of Child Sexual Abuse 313
(v) Previous Studies on Conviction Rates for Child Sex Offences 315
D. Conclusion: Is the Adversarial System a Barrier to the Successful
Prosecution of Child Sex Offences? 328
Chapter Six
A Gendered Division of Rights and Restraints within the
Criminal Justice System 334
A. Introduction 334
B. The Criminal Justice System: An Institutional Site for the
Practice of Hegemonic Masculinity? 338
(i) Sites of Masculine Social Practice 338
(ii) The Gender Practices of the Criminal Justice System 345
(iii) The Sexual Assault Trial: The Criminal Justice System’s
iii
Gender Regime in Practice 352
C. The Relationship between Conviction Rates for Child Sex Offences
and the Gender Regime of the Criminal Justice System 372
(i) Introduction 372
(ii) The Prosecution of Child Sex Offences 376
(iii) The Operation of a Gender Regime within the Child Sexual
Assault Trial 380
The Operation of the Corroboration Rule within the
Child Sexual Assault Trial 383
The Doctrine of Delay in Complaint 393
The Operation of the Delay in Complaint Doctrine and the
Corroboration Rule as Segregation Rules within the Child
Sexual Assault Trial 399
Challenging the Rationale behind the Delay in Complaint Doctrine 408
Factors Associated with Delay in Complaint 415
Cross-Examination of the Female Complainant of
Child Sexual Assault 423
Chapter Seven
Conclusion
A. What this Thesis has Achieved 434
B. Where to from Here: Future Work 456
Bibliography 464
List of Cases 488
iv
THIS THESIS IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF
JUDY BERNICE COSSINS
21 MAY 1963 - 2 SEPTEMBER 1993
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