Sexual Aggression

With good reason, contemporary American society is preoccupied with themes of violence and sexual aggression in our children and adolescents. Our knowledge, understanding, and empathy prove to be inadequate in explaining the horrific acts we now read about regularly. While I believe that we will never fully understand what leads a child or adolescent to violently aggress sexually, I believe this book goes a long way toward furthering our understanding by reminding us of what we do know as scientists and clinicians and what we have yet to learn. The biopsychosocial forces that combine to produce a sexual predator are complex. This volume brings together contemporary theoretical and clinical thinking on the subject of sexual aggression in a readable and informative manner. Elissa P. Benedek, M.D., Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan This volume is edited by one of the nation's outstanding developmental psychiatrists who is a known authority on sexual aggression. He has assembled an impressive group of clinicians who address relevant topics comprehensively. This is a much needed compendium for those who treat victims and perpetrators of sexual aggression. Dr. med. univ. Hans Steiner, Professor of Psychiatry, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California Jon Shaw has gone where few dare to tread and has put together a great volume. Solid information on sexual aggression, particularly when the perpetrators are juveniles, is hard to come by. Thus, this book represents a bargain. The references alone are worth the price of the book, because many of the relevant ones won't turn up on an Index Medicus search. Markus J.P. Kruesi, M.D., Director, Institute of Juvenile Research, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois Jon Shaw M.D., and his colleagues have produced an excellent document, an enlightened guide, a meaningful chronicle. Today our number one destructive behavioral and social epidemic is sexual aggression and its prolific ramifications. Yet, we do not anticipate the discovery of a vaccine as a prevention, nor an antibiotic as a cure. Instead, we must strive to comprehend the many variations of our human biopsychosocial components which account for this rapidly expanding and enormously destructive phenomenon affecting so many people and their relationships. Dr. Shaw and collaborators, in Sexual Aggression, bring to all behavioral and mental health clinicians and scientists, whether practitioner, educator, sociologist, criminologist, epidemiologist, or student, a timely, authoritative, and comprehensive review of this modern day individual and societal tragedy. Larry A. Stone, M.D., Executive Medical Director, Laurel Ridge Hospital, Clinicial Professor of Psychology, University of Texas, San Antonio, Texas

Sexual Aggression explores this phenomenon—from the recognition of the development of sexual behavior problems in childhood to the assessment and treatment of both male and female adolescent and adult sex offenders.

In recent years society has witnessed more and more reports of violence and abuse related to sexual aggression. The increase of sexually aggressive behavior among adolescent offenders is of particular concern and consideration.

Sexual Aggression explores this phenomenon—from the recognition of the development of sexual behavior problems in childhood to the assessment and treatment of both male and female adolescent and adult sex offenders. The book is divided into two sections. The first section presents an overview of the problem of sexual aggression and the psychological consequences of such acts, covering important topics such as childhood sexual development and forms of non-normative behavior within the family. The issue of sexual harassment of children is examined as well as the short-term and long-term consequences of sexual abuse and victimization. Cultural and ethnic influences are explored as they relate to the response to abuse by the child and family.

The second section assesses and evaluates sexually aggressive behavior and offers treatment options. Both male and female offenders are described, as are the determinants of adolescent sexual aggression. The final chapters address the complex evaluation of child sex offenders and the therapeutic and pharmacological strategies for treatment.

A thorough yet accessible approach to the phenomenology and assessment of sexually aggressive behavior, Sexual Aggression is especially relevant to psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers who treat sexually aggressive adolescents and adults—as well as the victims of sexual aggression.