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RE: APA statements
Ben-
I had asked the same question and was emailed this (second hand).
Lisa A-J
TO: Council of Representatives
FROM: Raymond D. Fowler, Ph.D.
DATE: May 25, 1999
SUBJECT: Controversy Regarding APA Journal Article
You may be aware of an ongoing controversy regarding an APA
journal article on child sexual abuse. Unfortunately, misinformation is
being spread about this article by certain groups and some elements of
the media. We don't question the right of those groups to express
their own views vigorously, but in doing so they are distorting both the
nature of the article and the policies of the American Psychological
Association.
Let me give you some background.
Last July, APA published an article, "A Meta-Analytic Examination
of Assumed Properties of Child Sexual Abuse Using College Samples,"
by Rind, Tromovitch, & Bauserman, in Psychological Bulletin. The authors
of the article reviewed the findings of 59 studies of college students
who had, as children or adolescents, experienced some form of child sexual
abuse. The authors subjected these studies to meta-analysis in an effort
to determine the common factors across studies.
The first overall finding was that those students who had been the
victims of child sexual abuse were somewhat LESS well adjusted than those
students who had not suffered such abuse. The next level of finding was
that there was a great deal of individual variability in the reports of the
abused students about how the experience had affected them---their
self-reports of their reactions ranged from highly negative to somewhat
positive. That anyone reported childhood sexual abuse as "positive" may
seem surprising and may be an artifact of both the criteria used to
define child
sexual abuse and of gender differences. Male adolescents were more
likely to report neutral or positive reactions than females or younger
children,whose reactions were reported as much more negative and whose
long-term adjustment was more negatively impacted.
Many factors seemed to determine the long-term effects of the
abuse, including the sex of the child, the nature of the abuse (violent
or non-violent), and the family environment. For example, the damage
was greater and more long lasting among females, when violence was
used and when the family was, in other ways, dysfunctional. The authors
concluded that the effects of child sexual abuse vary with the individual,
that some child sexual abuse victims perceived it, at the time and in
retrospect, as a positive rather than negative experience, and that there
was no
support for the general belief that child sexual abuse always has long
term negative effects on all victims. The article does not address the
question of whether or not some of the students had received any form of
psychotherapy, which may have ameliorated the long-term impact of
childhood abuse experiences. Many of these findings, while
answering important empirical questions, provided an opportunity for the
article to be misrepresented as condoning sexual contact between adults and
children,or at least failing to condemn it.
Several months after the article was published, the Web site of
NAMBLA (the North American Man-Boy Love Association) publicized the study
as "Good News," misrepresenting it as support for their position in
favor of sexual relations between men and boys. Subsequently, it was
denounced by "Dr. Laura," a talk show host who spent hours attacking
APA for publishing what she called "severely flawed" "junk science."
This, in turn,
attracted the attention of some members of Congress who
participated in a press conference on the issue and subsequently
submitted a
resolution in the House of Representatives condemning the study and, by
implication, APA. That resolution (attached) is currently referred to House
Committee, but no action has been taken.
The conclusions of the study have been strongly objected to by
critics, even though the findings are consistent with, and, in fact, based
on, the 59 previous studies. The report that some college students, who as
children or adolescents had experienced sexual interactions with adults,
reported it as positive has especially aroused anger and outrage.
Many critics have demanded that APA repudiate the study.
Because the article has attracted so much attention, we have carefully
reviewed the process by which it was approved for publication and
the soundness of the methodology and analysis. This study passed the
journal's rigorous peer review process and has, since the controversy,
been reviewed again by an expert in statistical analysis who
affirmed thatit meets current standards and that the methodology, which is
widely used by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop
guidelines, is sound.
We also believe it asked a valid and important research
question-are there varying degrees of harm from child sexual abuse? Can
the child's age, resiliency, and family environment lessen the ill effects
of such abuse? There is no support in the article for a change in social
policy or current law vis-ˆ-vis pedophilia. In fact, the authors
state that questions of harmfulness are separate from the question of
the wrongfulness of the act.
These conclusions have been distorted and misreported by various
groups and media figures who are now claiming that APA is saying that
child sexual abuse is not harmful to children, or that young children
are capable of "consenting" to sex with adults. Of course, APA's
position is just the opposite; child sexual abuse is harmful to children.
Pedophilia is WRONG, should never be considered acceptable behavior, and is
properly punishable by law. In response to the controversy, the Board of
Directors approved a resolution on child sexual abuse reaffirming
APA's longstanding policies on the topic (see below).
In essence, we believe that, through this issue, science has been
misrepresented to further the cause of politics and sensationalist
publicity. That is ultimately a disservice to science, to society
and to children. We are working hard to try and correct the record with
those politicians and members of the media who care about the facts.
You will find below a copy of the Board of Directors' resolution
on child sexual abuse, which will be brought before Council in August for
ratification. A statement that further outlines APA's position is also
posted on APA's Web site if you want to direct colleagues who have
questions to it. The citation to the article is below: the full
text of the article can be located in the member services section of the
APA Web site.
Citation: Rind, B., Tromovitch, P., & Bauserman, R. (1998). A
meta-analytic examination of assumed properties of child sexual
abuse using college samples. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 22-53.
The full text can be located at: http://members.apa.org/governance/bulletin/
APA statement: http://www.apa.org/releases/childsexabuse.html
Congressional Resolution:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/C?c106:./temp/~c106QXUgc8
If you have further questions about this issue, please contact
public.affairs@apa.org <mailto:public.affairs@apa.org>
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Lisa Amaya-Jackson, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor in Psychiatry-Duke Univ. Med. Ctr.
Director, Trauma Evaluation, Treatment & Research Program
Center for Child & Family Health-- collaboration b/w Duke, UNC-CH, & NCCU
919-419-3474 x 405 Fax: 419-9353 email: laj@acpub.duke.edu
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
-----Original Message-----
From: Benjamin E Saunders [SMTP:saunders@musc.edu]
Sent: Thursday, June 10, 1999 12:35 PM
To: Child Maltreatment Researchers
Subject: APA statements
I received this and was wondering if this is accurate. Does anyone have
any information on the APA's response to the recent congressional
criticism of this published article.
Ben
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Benjamin E. Saunders, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Director, Family and Child Program
National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center
Medical University of South Carolina
165 Cannon Street, Box 250852 (843)792-2945 telephone
Charleston, SC 29425 (843)792-3388 fax
Visit our website at: http://www.musc.edu/cvc/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted to you as disseminated through PRWire, without further comment:
Subj: APA Admits Error in Publishing Highly Criticized...
Date: 99-06-09 16:24:22 EDT
Sender: PRNewswire
APA Admits Error in Publishing Highly Criticized 'Adult-Child Sex' Study;
FRC's Parshall Applauds 'Good First Step' as APA Pledges 'Unprecedented'
Independent Review
WASHINGTON, June 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Backing away from a controversial article
that had said child molestation with "willing" children may not be harmful,
and may, in some cases, even be beneficial, the American Psychological
Association unveiled Wednesday a resolution condemning all "sexual relations
between children and adults."
"After much pressure, the APA has begun to undo the damage wrought by its
publication of a badly conceived article that has been hailed by such groups
as the North American Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA)," said FRC's Chief
Spokesperson Janet Parshall. "It's a good first step, but now the APA needs
to root out the pro-pedophilic academicians who are trying to normalize
child abuse. And the APA should write to NAMBLA and strongly urge them not
to use this article as justification for molesting young boys."
In a June 9 letter to Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-TX), APA Chief Executive
Officer Raymond D. Fowler pledges to create legal briefs attacking misuse of
the article in the courts, and he includes a board-approved resolution in
which the APA "repudiates and disassociates itself from any organization or
publication that advocates sexual interaction between children and adults."
"NAMBLA should stop celebrating and touting this trashed study as
justification for their perverse sexual desires for young boys," said FRC
Senior Director of Legal Policy Jan LaRue. "We especially appreciate that
the APA's general counsel is preparing amicus brief materials that could be
adapted for use in any court of law to challenge any efforts to use the data
in this or any other study to justify, condone, or normalize sexual
interactions of any sort between children and adults. This has tremendous
legal significance."
DeLay, along with Reps. Matt Salmon (R-AZ) and Dave Weldon (R-FL) had
denounced the article at a May 12 press conference hosted by FRC. The
article, which was published in the July 1998 edition of Psychological
Bulletin, is "A Meta-Analytic Examination of Assumed Properties of Child
Sexual Abuse Using College Samples," by Bruce Rind, Philip Tromovitch and
Robert Bauserman.
In his letter, Dr. Fowler, who had earlier defended the article on national
television as "a good study," now acknowledges that the article is
"inflammatory" and includes opinions "inconsistent" with APA's policy on
child protection issues. He admits that APA "failed" to "evaluate the
article based on its potential for misinforming the public policy process."
"Pressure from Dr. Laura Schlessinger, child protection organizations, and
many pro-family legislators, along with support from past and present
officials of the American Psychiatric Association, forced the APA to take a
second look and admit their mistake," said Robert Knight, FRC's Senior
Director of Cultural Studies. "We commend them for doing so and urge them
to conduct whatever internal house-cleaning is necessary to prevent such
future occurrences. The publication of a detailed critique in the
Psychological Bulletin is another important step that should be taken in
this corrective process."
"Without everyone's focused attention on this issue, children victimized by
child molesters would have been even more vulnerable," Dr. Laura
Schlessinger said Wednesday. "While this seems to be a clear win, we have
to maintain our vigilance and strengthen our collective will to defend
families and children from those who would do them harm."
SOURCE Family Research Council