Re: observing intercourse

["Jim Christopherson" <jim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Paul Okami had written a number of articles, published in the Journal of Sex
Research, reviewing the literature on this
topic, the general conclusion of which is that it is only in Western culture
with a Freudian tradition that the "primal scene" is regarded as a problem.
The reference for one of these articles is:

Okami, P. (1995) ÎChjldhood exposure to parental nudity, parent-child
co-sleeping and primal scenes: a review of clinical opinion and empirical
evidenceâ Journal of Sex Research, 32, 1, pp51-64.

In cultures where the whole family sleeps in one room, no-one would see it
as an issue. The evidence of harm comes from clinical studies. More general
survey research does not reach that conclusion.
Jim Christopherson,
Centre for Social Work,
University of Nottingham UK
-----Original Message-----
From: Benjamin E Saunders <saunders@xxxxxxxx>
To: Child Maltreatment Researchers
<CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: 23 November 1999 22:28
Subject: observing intercourse


>Colleagues,
>
>I am looking for help with two issues.  First, is anyone aware of any
>published research examining the impact, if any, of children inadvertantly
>observing adults having sexual intercourse.  The prototypical example of
>this situation would be parents having sex with the door open and the
>child observing the sexual behavior without the child's knowledge.  I am
>not interested in intentional situations, i.e., a sexual offender has a
>child watch while he or she has sex with a partner in order to increase
>sexual gratification. Any references would be greatly appreciated.  This
>situation is increasingly being identified as "abuse" or neglect in some
>areas and I was wondering if we know anything about the impact of
>observing sexual activity between adults on children.
>
>Second, I am also looking for published research that examines the impact,
>if any, of sexual assault in childhood on victims' adult work life.  What
>is the impact of childhood sexual assault on occupational achievement,
>income achievement, work life expectancy (i.e., years of productive work),
>promotions and career progression, etc. Do adults assaulted as children
>change jobs more often?  Do they use more sick days?  Do they ultimately
>make less money over their work life compared to what they would have made
>had they not been assaulted?  Is there any evidence that there are certain
>jobs that CSA victims cannot do as adults because of their victimization
>or limitations on their work that prevent them from being able to be
>employed in certain jobs.
>
>Any help with any of these issues would be greatly appreciated.
>
>Thanks, 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/
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>