primary prevention - Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings

Sex Offenders: What can be done?

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Tue, 09 Sep 2025 13:00:00 +0000

It’s been a long time since I’ve had the time to write what’s been on my mind, but I can’t wait any longer: What can be done about the growing number of sex offenders?

My practice is growing. We are adding groups in both of our offices. While that is a good thing for my business, that’s a really bad thing for society.

Some Background About my Experience with Sex Offenders

In addition to running a therapy practice that works with individuals who have committed sex crimes, I have other gigs.

One of them is as an instructor for a school that teaches law enforcement officers to conduct polygraph examinations. I spend 20 hours with them teaching them about psychology. Last month, I spent my first day with this cohort.

One of the 18 attendees was an officer from North Carolina who is the ICAC (Internet Crimes Against Children) officer for his department. He shared with me the weekly email that he gets from NCMEC (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children).

This is one of the places that people report sexual abuse, child sexual exploitation materials, etc. They keep excellent statistics and ICAC officers get the data each week. I am a data geek and therefore asked if he could forward me the information.

My jaw dropped. Speechless.

I quickly moved into feeling overwhelmed and a bit of despair.

With nearly 20 years in the industry, I know it is bad out there. I know it is REALLY BAD.

But, I didn’t know it was this bad.

Do you believe your sexual behaviors are compulsive or harmful to you or others? Then you should take the CSBD-19 free, validated self-assessment tool.

Here’s a Snapshot

The NCMEC report that he forwarded me provided the following numbers:

In one week, NCMEC’s Cybertip line received 503,139 reports JUST from Electronic Service Providers (Kik, Snapchat, etc.)

That is over half a million reports in one week.

The public made nearly an additional 2500 reports in that week. Of those more than half million reports made just to the CyberTipline that week, over 480,000 of them were for CSAM.

To date, this year only, there have been over 12 million CSAM reports to the CyberTipline.

But there is no way for law enforcement to police these numbers.

They simply do not have the manpower to investigate every one of these tips. They not only have to investigate tips sent to their jurisdictions, they also have all other crimes to deal with outside of the CyberTipline.

There is also, unfortunately, no way to get all of the CSAM off of the web. It just can’t be done.

Again, it’s a workforce and technology thing.

I shared this with one of my colleagues at work and got a message that night that it is stuck in his head, too.

What Do We Do?

When I ask that question, I am asking it outside of the law enforcement/legal system.

I am tired of there not being really any primary prevention for CSAM use. Or any other type of sexual offending.

I am also not at all an expert in prevention outside of my work. My work is secondary or tertiary prevention depending on your point of view.

The thing that comes to mind is Education.

Parents need more education about pornography and what’s happening online.

Furthermore, children need more education and pornography literacy information.

And what do we do for the people who are engaging in offending or who are attracted to children and not offending and want to keep it that way?

We need to normalize therapy.

If you have never heard of Project Dunkelfeld in Germany, check it out. It’s one of the best examples of primary prevention of sex offenders I can point to.

Learn more about Primary Prevention and its benefits in these articles:

Next Steps in Dealing with Sex Offenders

Right now, I have no answers.

Thinking about what I can do about prevention is going to be renting a lot of space in my head for a while.

I implore all of you to think about what you can do as well.

Yes, we need to continue to report abuse when it happens.

But, wouldn’t the world be better if we could figure out how to stop sex offenders from offending in the first place?

Are you a professional looking to stay up-to-date with the latest information on, sex addiction, trauma, and mental health news and research? Or maybe you’re looking for continuing education courses? Then you should stay up-to-date with all of Dr. Jen’s work through her practice’s newsletter!

Are you a Licensed Professional Counselor seeking engaging, unique Continuing Education courses? Dr. Weeks offers accredited courses on her practice website on the effects of Pornography Abstinence and other unique topics!

Are you looking for more reputable data-backed information on sexual addiction? The Mitigation Aide Research Archive is an excellent source for executive summaries of research studies.

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Child Sex Trafficking: How do People Become Victims?

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Tue, 15 Apr 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Thankfully, in light of recent high-profile cases, the world is taking Child Sex Trafficking more seriously. Therefore, with this increased awareness, I’d like to share some data about what we know about how traffickers find their victims. This knowledge will, hopefully, help with education and prevention at all levels.

Previous research has identified several types of traffickers, based on how they recruit their victims. These have been categorized in differing ways.

Some studies divide the types of traffickers into those who use an aggressive/antisocial means to recruit victims versus a charismatic/manipulative means. Other researchers put traffickers into categories like:

Romantic boyfriend
Gang member
Relatives
Those who specifically prey on children with intellectual disabilities

Child Sex Trafficking: Types of Traffickers

Boyfriend/Girlfriend Recruitment

These traffickers present themselves as caring and compassionate friends.

They often offer to help the victim escape an abusive situation or home; they exploit these vulnerabilities of the victim. These traffickers might be someone posing as a boyfriend or the actual romantic partner of the victim.

Peer-to-Peer Recruitment

Some victims of sex trafficking are recruited by other victims of sex trafficking.

This may seem very counter intuitive. The research suggests that peer sex trafficking is often done unwillingly under actual or threatened abuse. Alternatively, this is sometimes seen as a survival strategy where a victim recruits another victim thinking, “Better them than me.”

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Gang/Criminal Recruitment

Many victims of sex trafficking are aggressively recruited by gang members.

Often these victims are young women who have a drug habit that is exploited or are convinced to enter prostitution to help the gang by being love bombed by the trafficker.

Family Trafficking

Both mothers and fathers have been known to traffic their children for various reasons.

Family trafficking can also involve other family members. Research has shown that mothers with drug addictions are most often seen in this category.

By identifying the different tactics used by various types of traffickers, public education and youth education can happen to try to prevent trafficking from the inception, before a child becomes a victim.

Child Sex Trafficking: Sub-Types of Perpetrator

A study published in 2023 in the scientific journal, Victims & Offenders, sought to further the research on child sex trafficking by describing recruitment strategies used by perpetrators.

The goal of this study is to inform prevention education and interventions.

The study reviewed 78 Child Protective Investigation case files in the state of Florida.

The study found 7 distinct subtypes of perpetrator of Child Sex Trafficking:

Peer/Acquaintance
Organized Crime
Romantic Coercive Conman
“Mate” crime predator
Family Abuser
Opportunistic Trafficker
Cybertrafficker

Peer/Acquaintance Trafficker

Maybe a neighbor, classmate, friend, etc. Uses peer recruitment, often via social media to find youth in their geographic area. The child is then groomed by being offered drugs, gifts or basic needs such as food or shelter. Grooming also includes building a friendship and normalizing commercial sexual exploitation.

Learn more about Primary Prevention and its benefits in these articles:

Organized Crime Child Sex Trafficking

Uses peer to peer recruitment. Finds youth in areas known for drugs and illegal activities. Child is groomed by being offered drugs and providing basic needs. Uses violence and intimidation when the child ends up paying for the “gifts” with sex.

Family Abuser

This person exploits their own young family members for either profit or to support a drug habit. The victim often lives with the abuser.

Romantic Coercive Conman

This trafficker is often seen as a boyfriend by the victim. They find victims by chatting online with girls on social media and dating apps. They will also go to places where girls frequent in person. The victims are groomed using romance and gift giving. They are also groomed with charm and often alcohol and drugs. The victim is then isolated from friends and family.

Mate Crime Predator

This trafficker preys upon the most vulnerable youth they can find. These are often youth with intellectual disabilities, mental health issues or physical disabilities. The victims are groomed with friendship. Traffickers often find these victims in places where you find run away children or using peer to peer recruitment via foster care or social media. Victims are groomed with basic needs or drugs and alcohol. This type of trafficker often also uses physically abusive tactics.

If you’re unfamiliar with sextortion, check out Dr. Jen’s article How to Protect Your Child from Sextortion.

Opportunistic Child Sex Trafficking

These traffickers often meet youth at places like truck stops or other places run away youth are to be found. They can then take advantage of the child’s specific vulnerability and groom them with offers of food, shelter, transportation and drugs or alcohol.

Cybertrafficker

This trafficker only interacts with victims online. The victims are found mostly on social media and dating apps. The trafficker befriends them and often promises money in exchange for sexual images and videos. They often then blackmail victims by threatening to disseminate the sexual images of the child.

Child Sex Trafficking Prevention

For prevention efforts to be successful, they need to be in place at all levels of the behavior.

By identifying the different tactics used by various types of traffickers, public education and youth education can happen to try to prevent trafficking from the inception, before a child becomes a victim.

Reference

Reid, J., Bilali, K., Fox, B. & Diaz, J. (2023). Toward a Typology of Child Sex Traffickers: Using Crime Script Analysis to Inform Prevention, Victims & Offenders., 18:3, 423-446. DOI: 10/1080/15564886.2022.2149648.

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Are you looking for more reputable data-backed information on sexual addiction? The Mitigation Aide Research Archive is an excellent source for executive summaries of research studies.

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CSAM on the Dark Web

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Mon, 27 May 2024 12:00:00 +0000

Those of us in the field know that access to CSAM on the dark web is really only a few clicks away. Despite what many people think, it is pretty easy to access. Many of our CSAM clients were accessing these materials on TOR sites. Despite its frequent use, we really don’t know much about the details of CSAM availability and users on TOR sites.

A Study on CSAM on the Dark Web

An article just published in Scientific Reports, a Nature publication, looked at CSAM materials on TOR sites from both a computer science perspective and a public health perspective.

It is an enlightening study.

CSAM on the Dark Web: What is TOR?

For the unaware, TOR stands for The Onion Router.

It is an communication protocol that provides many layers of obfuscation for its users.

It does this by concealing the origin of the communications, resisting browser fingerprinting and circumventing traffic.

These tools allow for anonymous online hosting. On TOR sites, illegal content proliferates, whether that be CSAM sharing, drug trafficking, or other crimes.

CSAM on the Dark Web Study: The Questions

The authors of this study analyzed content on TOR sites to address the following questions:

How much CSAM is distributed through the TOR network?
What are users seeking and searching for?

They also surveyed the CSAM users to find out information about them.

Finally, they looked at how interventions based on searches might reduce child abuse.

Do you believe you have an online pornography addiction? Take the free Cyber Pornography Addiction Test (CYPAT) and have the results to speak with your therapist.

Statistical Results

The authors used a web crawler from 2018-2023 and found that 1/5^th of all TOR sites share CSAM.
CSAM can also be found on 21 of the 26 top TOR search engines, with four of these search engines actually advertising CSAM.
11.1% of users specifically searched for CSAM using the phrase “child porn” to get there.
When they surveyed the CSAM viewers, 61.6% said they have tried to stop watching it and 48.1% said they went to stop viewing CSAM.
Those CSAM users who were specifically searching for child content were more often searching for content of girls than boys.
More than half of the CSAM explicit searchers are looking for content in the age range of 12 to 16 year olds.

The authors went as far as to recommend that the psychiatric diagnoses of pedophilia and hebephilia be altered to sexual attraction to children under 11 (paedophilic type), attraction to children 11 to 14 (hebephilic) or both.

Who are Tor CSAM users?

The data showed that most of the CSAM users were initially exposed to CSAM when they were children and that more than half of these exposures were accidental.

Based on self report, almost 70% reported that they preferred content of girls to boys.
A very small percentage of individuals preferred content depicting images of infants or toddlers.

Learn more about Primary Prevention and its benefits in these articles:

What are possible online interventions for users of CSAM on the Dark Web?

The study reported that there are three prominent TOR search engines that provide links to self help programs for people who are concerned about their searching of CSAM. A good number of the CSAM viewers said they want to stop viewing the material and most of them have tried to stop at least once.

If so many people want help, why don’t they get help?

Many of the survey respondents stated that they were afraid to get help. Previous research has cited barriers to seeking help including fear of being reported, fear of being stigmatized, shame, and lack of understanding by professionals.

Since people who are using CSAM on TOR seem to want help, it is an area that is ripe for effective intervention. It opens up the question of whether or not more dark web recruitment for anonymous interventions is possible.

Since three websites provide links to self-help programs, why are more not doing so?

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My Takeaways from the Study on CSAM on the Dark Web

I really liked this study for two main reasons:

It was a combination of computer science and psychology

I think we know more about the psychology of CSAM users than how and where they get it.

It is often stated in court that someone who views CSAM must really be working hard to find it and view it. Studies like this one show us that it is not very hard to come across the content and more than half of the people who view it first accessed CSAM accidentally.

It Openly Discusses Interventions

It digs into how we can use these TOR sites to let people know there is help available. If they want to stop their behavior, they need to know there are therapists who can help them in a knowledgeable and non-shaming fashion.

I wonder, now, what we can do as a practice to be more active in prevention in this medium.

Reference: Nurmi, J., Paju, A., Brumley, B.B., Insoll, T., Ovaska, A.K., Soloveva, V., Vaaranen-Valkonen, N., Aaltonen, M. & Arroyo, D. (2024). Investigating child sexual abuse material availability, searches, and users on the anonymous Tor network for a public health intervention strategy. Scientific Reports, 14:7849.

Have you found yourself in legal trouble due to your sexual behavior? Seek assistance before the court mandates it, with Sexual Addiction Treatment Services.

Do you feel your sexual behavior, or that of someone you love, is out of control? Then you should consult with a professional.

Are you looking for more reputable data-backed information on sexual addiction? The Mitigation Aide Research Archive is an excellent source for executive summaries of research studies.

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How to do Primary Prevention and More

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 18:59:44 +0000

My reading over coffee this morning was a great article in Time Magazine about moving the US toward the primary prevention of child sexual abuse, a front page Wall Street Journal article about child predators using TikTok to gain access to victims and my first moderately threatening troll comments on a webinar on my YouTube page.

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Primary Prevention vs Secondary Prevention

Let’s start with the Time Magazine article. This article, entitled America Has been going about stopping child sex abuse the wrong way, was written by Elizabeth Letourneau and Luke Malone.

Elizabeth Letourneau is the Director of the Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse at John Hopkins. Luke Malone is an award winning journalist who writes about child sexual abuse and victimization.

Reading this article this morning felt very validating.

When I teach to LEO or other mental health professionals, I discuss how the US is very good at secondary prevention but not so good at primary prevention. Meaning, once we catch someone AFTER they have abused a child, the system is relatively good at holding them accountable. That includes: mandating treatment during incarceration and/or after while the person is on probation or parole.

This is secondary prevention. We work hard to prevent ANOTHER sexual assault from happening.

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How should we do Primary Prevention?

Primary prevention, meaning we prevent the FIRST sexual assault from happening is not something our system is very good at.

Much of the teaching puts the onus on potential victims to stop potential assault rather than putting the responsibility on the abuser. This would be primary prevention.

Some other countries have done a better job at this and I point to Project Dunkelfeld in Germany. There, a person who is concerned they may offend against a child can call a program and receive treatment. The treatment program is publicly advertised and funded.

In the United States, for every $1 spent toward prevention research, $2700 is spent on incarcerating offenders. They also discuss current research projects that are working on ways of improving and increasing primary prevention in the US.

The authors have a book coming out at some point which I look forward to reading.

Learn more about Primary Prevention and its benefits in these articles:

Child Predators on TikTok

This app has made it big! They made it to the front page of the Wall Street Journal, a paper noted more for discussing financial markets than sexual abuse.

The WSJ featured an article discussing how TikTok has quickly become an avenue for child abusers to find and groom victims.

Those of us in the field have known this for some time.

It’s good to see it make the front page. Perhaps parents will read the article and start to monitor what their children are doing on the app. Frequently, there is little parental oversight on social media apps which leads some children to be vulnerable to predation.

If you’re unfamiliar with sextortion, check out Dr. Jen’s article How to Protect Your Child from Sextortion.

YouTube Trolls

Finally, to my first troll. I awoke this morning to some comments on a webinar on my YouTube channel about treating individuals with pedophilia. The comments were not surprising, but disappointing.

The person commented that I was an “intellectual” who should be “purged.” They made traditionally stereotypical comments about people who commit sex crimes needing to be beat up or killed. Though, in my mind, I made many replies, I have long ago learned that social media repartee with folks with strong but uninformed opinions goes nowhere.

So, to end my morning coffee, I simply reported them for making threats. Then I began my day of working in secondary prevention of sexual abuse.

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Have you found yourself in legal trouble due to your sexual behavior? Seek assistance before the court mandates it, with Sexual Addiction Treatment Services.

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Help for Minor Attraction

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 00:22:30 +0000

Based on science and clinical experience that there are individuals who acknowledge an attraction to children, also known as minor attraction.

What do we Really Know About Minor Attraction?

The most recent science about minor attraction suggests that the age of the people we are attracted to is influenced by our brain structures and not a choice. Many people who have this attraction also have NOT engaged in any behavior with a child. Because they realize that acting on their attraction is never appropriate.

Where can those afflicted by these urges go for help? How do they ensure they never act on these urges or to process their feelings?

Preparing a sentencing report for a minor attracted person? Get the data you need, quickly, with Mitigation Aide.

Where can they go?

Most of the time they do not seek help for fear of what may happen if they disclose this attraction. Because the fear of stigmatization is a real and justified fear.

Many therapists are not trained to help process this form of sexuality. And, worse yet, many refuse to do so.

There have been a few scientific studies of therapists. These studies have found that they hold the same stigma against pedophilia as the general public. So much for non-judgmental!

Where might someone go for treatment who wants to process their minor attraction? While there are therapists out there who are trained to help people process this attraction, these resources are few and far between.

Learn more about Primary Prevention and its benefits in these articles:

Enter: Troubled Desire

Doctors at The Institute of Sexology and Sexual Medicine at Charite-Universitatsmedzin Berlin created Troubled Desire specifically for this purpose. The website provides an anonymous online self-management program for individuals who experience an attraction to children. The University acknowledged that there was a great need for services for individuals who could not find a suitable therapist near them.

The University is practicing Primary Prevention. By providing resources and support for individuals who are attracted to children who have not offended. This means helping people not offend against children in the first place.

Unfortunately, the normal state of affairs is that we engage in secondary prevention. Therefore we help someone not offend AGAIN.

Know someone struggling with minor attraction? I suggest they check out the free, anonymous online course from Troubled Desire.

Have you found yourself in legal trouble due to your sexual behavior? Seek assistance before the court mandates it, with Sexual Addiction Treatment Services.

Do you feel your sexual behavior, or that of someone you love, is out of control? Then you should consult with a professional.

Are you looking for more reputable data-backed information on sexual addiction? The Mitigation Aide Research Archive is an excellent source for executive summaries of research studies.

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Pedophilia is Not a Behavior

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 13:07:17 +0000

It’s easy to tell when a bit of science about pedophilia is brought out to the general public. There is usually a rash of negative memes. Usually it’s implied, by agreeing with the emerging science, the writers or researchers are condoning the sexual abuse of children.

Recently, Dr. James Cantor, a highly respected and published researcher who focuses on the study of pedophilia, appeared on an Australian news show to discuss his findings.

He shared his research, which involves brain scans and neuroscience and shows the fascinating differences people have in their brain structures. Furthermore, it suggests people with pedophilia are born with this attraction. Therefore, it’s not something they can change.

What is Pedophilia?

Enter the memes and where I get on my soapbox and continue to spout science and education.

I have written about this topic before because it is something that I feel strongly about. I feel very strongly about it being accurately portrayed in the lay community.

Pedophilia is a sexual arousal to a person who is prepubescent; the age is not the important thing. However, what is important is the attraction is to a child’s body that has NOT started the physiological changes associated with puberty.

If a person is attracted to pubescent or post pubescent children, that is considered hebephilia.

Struggling with excessive sexual thoughts, urges, or activities that are causing you distress? Take the free, online Sexual Symptom Assessment Scale (SSAS) and get a link to share with your therapist.

What isn’t Pedophilia?

Pedophilia is NOT a behavior.

I believe that this is one of the most common myths in the non-scientific community.

Pedophilia is an attraction. Actions are behavior.

The frequently cited concern is that every person who has a pedophilic arousal template is a child molester.

Not true.

Stay up-to-date with all of Dr. Jen’s work through her practice’s newsletter!

Why do People Offend Against Children?

Some people sexually abuse children because they are attracted to them.

Some people sexually abuse children for reasons that don’t have much to do with sexual attraction.

For example: issues of power and control, distorted thinking, emotionally connecting with children in an inappropriate manner that becomes sexualized.

Some people who are attracted to children never engage in any sexual contact with them, nor do they view images of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

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Sexual Addiction Treatment Services has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7250. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Sexual Addiction Treatment Services is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

Why am I Lecturing About Pedophiles?

Why do I think it’s important?

When you get it wrong, when the press gets it wrong, it damages prevention efforts.

Every person who is attracted to children, whether they have offended or not, knows how society feels about them.

Most carry an immense amount of toxic shame. This shame keeps them from coming forward to seek help from trained professionals. Sadly, there are treatment professionals who also engage in this stigma.

We fail to protect children every time a Minor Attracted Person feels they can’t seek treatment.

We need to do a better job protecting children as a society. Therefore, treatment needs to be accessible for those who have not offended.

Learn more about Primary Prevention and its benefits in these articles:

Primary Prevention vs. Secondary Prevention of Pedophilia

The United States does a good job of secondary prevention.

Once we know you have offended and found guilty, you are mandated to treatment to prevent another offense. We try really hard to make sure you don’t offend AGAIN. We focus on decreasing recidivism, but it misses the mark.

I would much prefer to live in a world where there are no more first victims, not just no more subsequent victims.

Pedophilia ≠ Child Molestation

Pedophilia is an attraction.

Child molestation is a behavior.

They are not synonymous.

Do you feel your sexual behavior, or that of someone you love, is out of control? Consult with a professional.

Have you found yourself in legal trouble due to your sexual behavior? Seek assistance before the court mandates it, with Sexual Addiction Treatment Services.

Preparing a sentencing report for a minor attracted person? Get the data you need, quickly, with Mitigation Aide.

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Institutional Abuse and How to Predict and Prevent it

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Tue, 27 Aug 2019 12:34:17 +0000

Institutional abuse, stories of sexual harm from schools and churches, seems to be in the news almost every day.

This is both a good and a bad thing.

It is good because it means that more victims are starting to come forward, speak their truth and hold their abuser accountable.

I think it’s kinda obvious why it’s bad. No one should be able to abuse their position of power or authority.

So, How do we Prevent Institutional Abuse?

As with any type of sexual abuse, the question becomes, how do we prevent institutional abuse?

We all want to believe that there is some way to screen out those individuals who might be prone to sexually abusing others. We would love to bar them from becoming clergy, boy scout leaders, teachers, etc.

Despite the prevalence of this form of abuse, there is not a lot of research on institutional sexual abuse as a specific form of abuse.

ATSA’s most recent edition of their scientific journal, Sexual Abuse, was dedicated to the problem of institutional abuse.

Learn more about Primary Prevention and its benefits in these articles:

Scientific Studies and Research

I think it would be easier for most to believe there’s something unique about people who commit institutional abuse.

Harris and Terry (2019) indicate that child sexual abuse (CSA) perpetrators in institutional settings are similar to those who offend elsewhere.

Additionally, the factors that make children vulnerable to abuse are not unique to these settings either.

This makes it difficult to identify those who might abuse and keep them out of situations where they have easy access to victims.

Personality Characteristics and Institutional Abuse

Amrom, Calkins & Fargo (2019), researchers from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, looked at personality characteristics of sexual abusers.

They hoped to find a way to identify sexually abusive clergy.

They used the MMPI-2 and MCMI-III in the study, which are widely accepted personality measures.

What is known from studies of pre-employment MMPI-2s is that clergy applicants tend to present as:

Defensive
Extroverted
Compulsive
Self-confident
Uncomfortable with expressions of anger
Strongly needing approval

Additionally, past research shows us that Episcopal and Presbyterian clergy applicants tend to present as generally well adjusted, but do display elevations of narcissistic, compulsive and histrionic traits.

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The Categorization of Amrom’s Study

Amrom et. al.’s study looked at the MMPI-2 and MCMI-III of three categories of clergy:

Sent to treatment for child sexual abuse
Referred to treatment for noncriminal sexual behavior with adults
Referred to treatment for non-sexual reasons such as depression, drug, or alcohol problems

Finally, Amrom’s control group took the test for pre-employment and had no history of clinical or sexual issues.

Results of Amrom’s Study

Amrom’s study indicated there were no differences between the sexual abuse group and the sexual misconduct group.

There was, however, a difference between the sexual abuse group and the control group. The control group showed more signs of psychopathology than the sexual abuse group.

Amrom, et. al. identified an elevation on the MCMI-III’s Aggressive/Sadistic subscale for the sexual abuse group.

Ultimately, the authors opined that the MCMI-III and MMPI-2 were not able to distinguish between the four groups. Therefore, these personality measures aren’t very helpful for screening out potential sexual abusers from the clergy applicants.

Institutional Abuse and Grooming

Another study in the special edition by Spraitz and Bowen (2019) looked at the grooming techniques used by priests who have sexually abused.

Some studies have shown, in addition to traditional grooming techniques, clergy will use their role as priests or as an extension of God to abuse parishioners. The researchers analyzed records from several Archdioceses and unsealed records that all involved priests or monks in sexual abuse cases. They created a taxonomy of grooming techniques in the priest sexual abuse cases.

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What is Grooming?

Grooming is the process an abuser uses to create a “special” relationship with a victim and create opportunities to abuse. Typically the abuser is an adult and the victim is a child.

In this study, priests used the following techniques:

Giving alcohol, cigarettes or drugs to the victim
Giving gifts to the victim
Taking the victim on overnight trips
Physical contact
Using mentorship or friendship
Playing favorites
Creating a relationship with the family
Abusing the position of respect and reverence

Results of the Grooming Study

Unfortunately, the researchers found the grooming techniques of abusive clergy in their sample were no different from non-clergy.

The technique of abusing the position as a person of God was not an overt form of grooming.

They found that the use of this technique may not be “purposeful, overt, or done consciously in all instances.”

There were clergy who did use this technique overtly, but not many in this study.

Takeaways About Institutional Abuse

In short, the studies in this special issue of Sexual Abuse confirm, for the studies published, the individuals who perpetrate sexual abuse in institutions are not significantly different from those who abuse outside of institutions.

These results are frustrating as it would be a boon to the prevention of sexual abuse if there was a way to predict who might abuse versus who might not.

The research will continue and hopefully, in the future, more work will be published that can help institutional abuse prevention efforts.

Do you feel your sexual behavior, or that of someone you love, is out of control? Consult with a professional.

Have you found yourself in legal trouble due to your sexual behavior? Seek assistance before the court mandates it, with Sexual Addiction Treatment Services.

As professionals, our time is valuable. Dr. Weeks created the Mitigation Aide Research Archive because there isn’t enough focused, data-backed research available in easily digestible formats.

The post Institutional Abuse and How to Predict and Prevent it first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

Sexting in 8th Grade – Part II

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 16:56:40 +0000

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Sexting in 8th Grade – Part I

Last week I shared the story of my long time friend’s experience with her child early in the school year: Her 5^th grader watching her 8^th grade friend sexting on the bus.

As you might imagine, the story does not end there.

After the initial conversation with her daughter, which went amazingly well because she talks to her children about the hard stuff, she is left with the question of “now what?”

The “now what” question is not about what to do with her own child, she will keep up the open communication with her.

The question is what to do with the information she now possesses: that this young girl is sending pictures of herself to boys in the school.

The Options for “Now What”

As we continued our conversation, we worked through the options.

My friend’s first option is to do nothing and not tell anyone about the behavior. This option did not sit well with my friend. She felt that if this was her child who was sexting on the bus, she would want to know so she can address the behavior.

The next option was to tell an administrator at the school that a child was sexting on the bus. This option also did not sit too well with my friend.

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In telling someone at the school, the girl would possibly end up getting in a lot of trouble. It also opened up the opportunity for a large scale “sexting scandal” like those we read about in the papers. My friend is not one to try to make chaos and drama, so a large scale investigation and possible scandal were out.

Option number three was to talk to the parents of the girl.

This sounds like a straight forward option, but in talking about this option, we realized it is not as straight forward as it seems. First, would the parents of the girl be able to hear the news of their child’s behavior without being defensive, in denial or reactionary? Though my friend knows the parents from the community, she does not know them well enough to gauge what type of reaction they will have to the news.

What outcome do we hope for?

The other concern in telling the parents, is that they will, inevitably, (we hope) address the sexting behavior with their child. It will be quite obvious to the girl where the news came from.

My friend feared for the ramifications this might have on her daughter. Would she be labeled a “snitch?” Would she be ostracized by this friend or by other kids at the school? Would there be a social consequence for her daughter for telling her parents what was happening on the bus?

Though, as adults, we might not think these are big concerns, they are huge concerns to a child in school, where the social environment is hugely important.

Add to this the fact that my friend’s daughter did not want her to tell the other girl’s parents out of her fear for any of the aforementioned possible consequences.

In the end, my friend decided that she is both a parent and a responsible person. She would want someone to tell her if her child was sexting.

She also has a real fear for what may happen to the young girl who is sexting and does not want her to experience any long term consequences from her behavior. She continues to talk to her own child about the entire experience. Luckily, her daughter is a pretty amazing kid (like her mom) and has already decided to distance herself from the friend because the friend’s behavior makes her uncomfortable.

I share these stories for several reasons.

First, real life accounts are often more powerful than book learning.

Second, I want you all to know that even if you talk to your kids proactively about cybersex, it doesn’t end there. There will be tricky landscapes to navigate throughout their school career.

This post contains affiliate links. The author or blog owner may earn a commission if you make a purchase using these links.

For an in-depth guide on talking to your adolescents about cybersex and pornography, check out Dr. Jen’s book. Amazon | BookBaby

Do you feel your sexual behavior, or that of someone you love, is out of control? Then you should consult with a professional.

Have you found yourself in legal trouble due to your sexual behavior? Seek assistance before the court mandates it, with Sexual Addiction Treatment Services.

The post Sexting in 8th Grade – Part II first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

Down the Rabbit Hole

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 13:40:13 +0000

This post contains affiliate links. The author or blog owner may earn a commission if you make a purchase using these links.

Update: 3 Reasons You Might Want to Block Pornography

How Many Clicks Until Your Child Finds Hardcore Pornography?

If this is your first visit, let me start by saying I work with pornography addicts.

A few weeks ago a client shared with me an experience he had with his child. This client has been in recovery for years. He is VERY knowledgeable about online pornography, it’s dangers and how easy it is to access pornography online.

The Incident

My client related that his wife had found pornography on his son’s phone. His son is in the 12 year old range.

My client and his wife are savvy folks.

They handled this situation and conversation with their son with grace, knowledge, compassion and most of all, lack of judgment.

The point of this story is not that he found pornography on his 12 year old son’s phone. It’s not that he and his wife handled it beautifully (but that’s great!). The point is that my client, a pornography addict in recovery, was shocked by WHAT he found on his son’s phone.

Rape Pornography.

How did I get here?

This young man went down the rabbit hole.

That is what many of my clients call the process:

You start with an innocuous image – maybe something risque but not pornographic.
You begin searching the web for something related that titillated you.
Click Click Boom. The clicking process starts the trance for which the internet is so famous.

This can happen if you are clicking links on Zappos, Wikipedia or pornography.

The internet sucks you in and you end up on some site, three hours later, with no idea how you ended up looking at the page you are looking at. For a great discussion of this, check out Phillip Zimbardo’s Ted Talk on The Demise of Guys.

Do you believe you have an online pornography addiction? Then take this free Cyber Pornography Addiction Test (CYPAT) and have the results to speak with your therapist.

Back to the Story

My client’s son clicked on a non-pornographic link on a webpage he was viewing.

He told his father that in a series of very FEW clicks, he ended up watching pornography that simulated (we hope) rape scenes.

It was that easy.

Three or four clicks into adolescent curiosity online and an impressionable young mind is watching violent pornography. It piqued his curiosity and on a subsequent visit to the internet, he typed rape pornography in the search box.

What the Research Says

It’s not uncommon for adolescents to view pornography.

It is now seen, in some circles, as part of the process of adolescent sexual awakening and awareness.

However, what research also tells us is that adolescents who are frequent users of pornography have views that support the objectification of women and have distorted views on the act of sex itself.

Violent pornography sends messages to minds that are not yet ready to fully understand them, about the role of consent and violence in sex.

These messages are not good.

The Takeaways

My client was not shocked that his son was viewing pornography. He was shocked at the type of pornography he was watching.

He was upset at himself about his own denial. He never thought this would happen.

This is the point of my story today: Parents are often in denial, even parents who are more in tune to the technological world.

If your child is older than ten, chances are he or she has seen pornography. If they are 12 or older, chances are they have seen quite a bit of pornography. Parents need to talk to their kids about internet pornography.

This conversation has to happen not just once, but often. Parents need to know what types of pornography their children might view and be able to talk about that too.

Has your child seen violent pornography? Have they seen pornography with animals, same sex participants, or even child pornography? Parents need to prepare to talk about all of these things if they want to truly help their child navigate this online world in the healthiest way possible.

This post contains affiliate links. The author or blog owner may earn a commission if you make a purchase using these links.

For an in-depth guide on talking to your adolescents about cybersex and pornography, check out Dr. Jen’s book. Amazon | BookBaby

Do you feel your sexual behavior, or that of someone you love, is out of control? Then you should consult with a professional.

Have you found yourself in legal trouble due to your sexual behavior? Seek assistance before the court mandates it, with Sexual Addiction Treatment Services.

Are you looking for more reputable, data-backed information on sexual addiction? The Mitigation Aide Research Archive is an excellent source for executive summaries of research studies.

The post Down the Rabbit Hole first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.