|
||
|
|||
Interviews with authors |
|
Dr. Freda Briggs - interviewed by P.M. © CopyrightNote: also see other book reviews of books on childhood sexual abuse A QUESTION that torments many survivors of child sexual abuse is 'Why did it happen? Why would an adult choose a child as a sexual partner?' This question is particularly important when offenders were acquaintances, family members or religious leaders. Sadly, the prime common factor seems to be that almost all child sex offenders are themselves survivors of abuse. It should be emphasised however that not all victims become victimisers; international researchers show that the problem affects about a quarter to one fifth of male victims. Because there are few reports of sexual offences by females, no reliable estimate has been made relating to the proportion of women who offend. However, recent studies show that female abusers are far more prevalent than report statistics suggest. Because of the hidden nature of this problem, there has been little research and little recognition of the damage caused by female abusers. The question that puzzles most people is why would any victim become a victimiser? Why would a child grow up to commit the very outrages that they experienced and often hated when they were young and vulnerable. Freda Briggs, Professor of Child Development at the University of South Australia, Magill Campus, has pursued that very question in research undertaken with colleagues Mary Williams and Russell M.F. Hawkins. Their findings were published in a report 'A comparison of the childhood and family experiences of convicted, incarcerated male child molesters and men who were sexually abused in childhood and have not committed offences against children' for the Institute of Criminology, Canberra (1994). Her book, 'From Victim to Offender: How Child Sexual Abuse Victims Become Offenders', is an extension of that research which provides unique, illuminating views on the nature of the problem. Most of the text consists of first-person accounts by abuse survivors, the majority of whom became abusers and were jailed for their offences. (Bibliographic details)
|
|
|
I was given the book by the facilitator of my survivors' support group with the warning that it was essential reading for anyone trying to understand the problem of abuse but that I might find it 'difficult to stomach'. He was right! Much of the material is devastating, especially accounts of the experiences of boys in the 'care' of state social welfare authorities and certain Catholic brothers. However, these chapters are important in their capacity to provide a startlingly clear explanation of the transition process from victim to victimiser and how the damage to boys' social, sexual and emotional development leads them to create another generation of victims. To these chapters, Briggs and a psychologist responsible for a sex offender program, Kevin Wallis, add their own insights into the problem. I thought that, rather than attempt a straight review of this very unusual book, it would be more interesting to interview Briggs about her research. When I phoned her at the University of South Australia, the voice on the other end immediately made me think of a favourite aunty who is warm, slightly gravelly and richly Liverpudlian. Briggs left England 20 years ago. She became interested in the area of child protection first as a London policewoman, then as a residential social worker and finally, as a teacher in disadvantaged schools. After becoming a lecturer in sociology and education, her established interest in child protection and abused children led to the introduction of a course, 'Child protection, a community Concern' (1980). Briggs became one of the first Australian academics to engage in non-medical research relating to child protection and, to date, she has written seven books and dozens of articles relating to different aspects of the problem. Interested in learning what makes some people become sex offenders, Briggs gained entry to South Australian correctional centres where a pilot study showed that 100% of child molesters had been multiply sexually abused in childhood. With this finding, she extended the study by increasing the number of subjects and comparing their childhood experiences with those of men who were also survivors of abuse but had no criminal convictions. The same pattern emerged. All of the prisoners were victims of all forms of sexual (and often other forms of) abuse and most were repeating their offences within weeks of their own victimisation. They were not complaining about their victimisation; on the contrary, most did not regard their early sexual experiences as abusive. They did not understand their relevance to their current incarceration. The attitude was one of: 'It happened to me and did me no harm therefore I do no harm... it's no big deal.' All of the South Australian prisoners either denied the offences for which they were imprisoned or, alternatively, they blamed their victims. Some men had served several prison sentences for car theft, burglary and violence as well as for child sexual offences. Some admitted that they had committed previous offences although they pleaded 'Not guilty' to the charges in court. Briggs also found that men with intellectual disabilities were over-represented. Many had been abused (and were taught how to abuse others) by adult residents and older boys in residential schools. None of the South Australian prisoners had access to a sex offender treatment program. They told Briggs that, because they were not separated from other prisoners, they had to deny their offences 'and keep a low profile' to avoid the 'rock spider' stigma and violence from other categories of inmates. In marked contrast, Briggs found that most of the self-selected men in the 'non-offender' category were well-educated professionals who had given careful thought to the effects of victimisation on their lives. When she mentioned her concerns about the marked difference in the two samples, Correctional Services suggested that she should contact Cooma Prison in the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales. 'Cooma was inhabited almost entirely by child sex offenders and a sex offender assessment and re-education program had been in place for 10 years,' Briggs said. 'A few local men who were not sex offenders were allowed to serve their sentences at Cooma but only after they understood the importance of the program and the fact that it was in everyone's interests that child molesters should be rehabilitated before release. Furthermore, there was an understanding among staff and prisoners that everyone was to be treated with respect. This ensured that child molesters were not subjected to the violence that often happens in prisons where there is no separation of sex offenders from the main group.' Briggs received an invitation to talk to prisoners at Cooma and although the prison was very old and physically uncomfortable, she found very different attitudes to the ones experienced in the more modern South Australia jails. First, there were 148 child molesters representing a wide cross-section of society: teachers, police officers, TV personalities, officers in the armed forces, public servants and priests with no previous criminal record as well as the chronically unemployed and repeat offenders. She was told that most of the men in the sex-offender program were willing to talk to her ? 'In fact, the problem won't be getting them to talk but getting them to shut up.? Having been involved in an effective re-education program, most participants had a good understanding of their abusive behaviour and its consequences. Some paedophiles had given themselves up to police because they were concerned about the damage they were doing to children they 'loved' and could find no help outside the justice system. These men were particularly concerned about the inadequacy of child protection for boys and wanted to tell parents just how easily their sons could be seduced. Initially, some of the men volunteered to appear in a serious TV documentary about the value of the sex offender program. Without the usual 'shadowing' to conceal identity, they confessed to their pederast tendencies and called for improvements to child protection for boys. Although the sex offender assessment program was run on a shoestring budget - at around $35,000 per annum - the comments from a female representative of NSW child protection services were damning. She said there was no evidence to prove the effectiveness of offender programs worked, and that 'we shouldn't waste money on these bastards - we should lock them up, throw away the key and direct the money to victims'. Briggs viewed this attitude as short-sighted given that offenders were victims. 'It was putting the cart before the horse,' Briggs said, 'because if sex offenders can be helped to control their urges, there will be fewer victims to support.' Not surprisingly, the documentary attracted the more sensationalist media and Briggs urged caution, advising the men that 'if they wanted to maintain control over their message, they should resort to the written word'. She confesses that she said this with 'tongue in cheek' because most of the men were early school leavers who had 'never written anything in their lives other than the occasional letter'. A week later, she received the first chapter from 'Neil'. He told his own story with great sensitivity and not a hint of self pity. She sent the manuscript to her publisher who agreed that Neil gave the clearest explanation for 'why victims become offenders' that she had ever read and a contract was signed. 'Neil showed that boys are vulnerable to paedophile abuse disguised as love when they lack physically affectionate fathers', Briggs said. 'One of Neil's concerns was ... -> Next page ->
|
|