In this video I discuss the latest research on parental impact of sibling sexual abuse (SSA). The consequences are far more serious for the parents in these situations because they have to handle both the abuser and the abused child.

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Learn More about Sibling Sexual Abuse

• Sibling Sexual Abuse as Family Dysfunction
• Sibling Sexual Abuse: A Parental Perspective
• Book Review: Sibling Sexual Abuse
• Adverse Childhood Experiences and Sibling Incest

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The key takeaway from the video are the challenges and the insecurities these parents experience.

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Are you exploring your trauma? Do you feel your childhood experiences were detrimental to your current mental or physical health? Utilize this free, validated, self-report questionnaire to find out.

Take the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Questionnaire

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? Consult with a professional.

The post Living with Sibling Sexual Abuse: A Parent’s Perspective first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

I have written a little about sibling incest on this blog. It is something that’s, unfortunately, rather common and not frequently researched. I appreciate when I see research on the topic. I hold out hope for anything that can aid our understanding and guide us toward prevention and treatment.

The Study on Sibling Incest and Adverse Childhood Experiences

A study was published in 2023 in the Journal of Sexual Aggression by Tomsen and colleagues. 

This study specifically looked at youth who sexually abuse through the lens of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) by comparing ACE experiences between youth who sexually harmed a sibling and those who sexually harmed a non-sibling child.

So, let’s dig right into the research.

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Are you exploring your trauma? Do you feel your childhood experiences were detrimental to your current mental or physical health? Utilize this free, validated, self-report questionnaire to find out.

Take the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Questionnaire

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Subjects of the Sibling Incest Study

The subjects were adolescent males in Australia who were referred to a Youth Forensic Service for assessment and treatment. All were between the age of 12 and 19 when they started treatment. 

The study used the classic ACE questionnaire but also added their own questions to it. They added the variables of caregiver inconsistency, social isolation, bullying victimization, and poor social interaction. 

They also looked at whether the youth were prone to internalizing problems (i.e., depression, anxiety), externalizing problems (i.e. aggression) or early sexual behavior problems prior to the age of 10.

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Learn More about Sibling Sexual Abuse

• Sibling Sexual Abuse as Family Dysfunction
• Sibling Sexual Abuse: A Parental Perspective
• Book Review: Sibling Sexual Abuse
• Adverse Childhood Experiences and Sibling Incest

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Results of the Sibling Incest Study

The study found the youth who sexually harmed a sibling had higher ACE scores than those who sexually harmed a non-sibling. They also found significant differences in family functioning between the two groups. 

The differences were found for caregiver sexual abuse victimization, caregiver mental health problems and caregiver inconsistently. 

These issues were more prevalent for the youth who sexually harmed siblings. 

Youth who sexually harmed siblings were also more likely to experience social isolation and bullying before the age of 12.   

The youth who sexually harmed siblings were also more likely to internalize problems than externalize them.   

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?

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

What does this mean for treatment?

The authors suggest this provides evidence that treatment for youth who sexually harm others needs to also include the entire family system. Not just the youth. 

They also suggest that interventions for youth who sexually harm siblings should include interventions related to developing interpersonal skills and social functioning.   

Reference: Thomsen, L., Ogilvie, J. & Rynne, J. (2023).  Adverse childhood experiences and psychosocial functioning problems for youths who sexually harm siblings.  Journal of Sexual Aggression, 29:3, 374-390.

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.

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 Adverse Childhood Experiences and Sibling Incest first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

Some of you who read my work might know I had a little YouTube channel. I posted videos about research updates, webinars about sexual offending, problematic sexual behavior and the podcasts I do. When I say little YouTube channel, I mean little. It had 261 subscribers and a decent number of views, but it wasn’t popular due to its niche content. Friday morning, I woke up to find out I’d been kicked off YouTube. They sent an unceremonious email saying they were deleting my channel because it was “Violating their policies.”

What policies you might ask? According to YouTube, the content on my channel was violating sexual content policies. In short, I was making adult content.

The irony is both frustrating and amusing. The algorithm, or whatever AI process they use, thought that my content, created to educate about problematic sexual behavior, keep children away from pornography and decrease the risk of sexual abuse is categorized the same as me making actual pornography.

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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.

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I am fairly sure I know which video got me banned.

I posted a short video about adult-themed video games. Things got squirrelly after that. I tried educating parents and others about their existence and for what to look out for.

Banning me from YouTube makes no difference to my business. It does make me ask a simple question:

If my content, functioning hopefully to decrease sexual abuse and sexual addiction, gets kicked off YouTube, as is many of my colleagues, where are we to do prevention work?

Kicked Off YouTube, For Educating People

Social media of any kind is the place to get the word out about anything. If prevention content that includes the words pornography, sexual abuse, or pedophilia is routinely banned, where, exactly, is the right place to do this work?

It makes logical sense to be doing this work on the platforms where teenagers are routinely being sent unsolicited penis pictures. It makes sense to do this work on the number one site that people go to for information, YouTube.

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Learn why it’s important for everyone, especially teens, to be able to control their online experiences. Dick Pic Culture: How do Teenage Girls Navigate it?

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Forgive my frustration.

Sometimes it feels as though the only place we can speak freely about these issues, CSAM, child sexual abuse, abuse prevention, is in our professional forums or conferences. While it’s nice for us to be able to share with colleagues, it’s a bit of an echo chamber. We already know what is going on. We are not the people who need to hear the messages.

As a result of my YouTube ban, we will be posting the videos on this site in the hopes of continuing the prevention effort.

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.

The post On Getting Kicked Off YouTube first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

What do distinguished researchers do during COVID-19 lock downs? A huge meta-analysis of recidivism research for sexual offending that covers the span of 70 years, of course. Then, they look at the recidivism rates based on the changes in law and culture in the United States and Canada.

Recidivism Research at the ATSA Conference

Patrick Lussier, a professor of criminology at Universite Laval in Canada, presented a keynote speech at this year’s ATSA Conference based on two scientific publications this year looking at 70 years of recidivism research of sexual offenses in the US and Canada.

It was a super interesting talk made even better by their analysis of recidivism rates in relation to law changes and sexual offender registry adoption.

What do and don’t we know about sexual offense recidivism?

The first study by Lussier et al was published in the journal Criminal Justice Review.

They started with 3206 studies on recidivism which was pared down to 859 studies which fit the criteria for inclusion:

• Published after 1949
• Be in English or French
• Be a longitudinal study looking at sexual offenders
• Provide actual data on recidivism

One of the very interesting aspects of this study was the historical perspective taken on sexual offending and recidivism.

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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.

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Recidivism Research, Sexual Offending, and the Past

The earliest writings on sexual “deviance” come from the 19th century and the book by Kraftt-Ebing, published in 1886 is often cited. In this book, he described sexual deviance as a sexual behavior that is repetitive and persistent that was deemed odd, atypical and outside the norm.

From the 1950s to the 1970s, research on sexual offending began to focus on mental health problems of the offending person as well as the characteristics of people who offended.

Publications at the time indicated that there was an assumption that prison was not something that would deter a person who committed a sexual crime, and they would instead need individualized psychological interventions. Therapy tailored to their individual needs was the preference.

Studies from this era treated people who offended as specialists with major mental health problems related to sexual deviance.

The 1980’s

Starting in the 1980s studies started to look at sexual offense recidivism and a shift happened in the field. A very influential report was published stating that nothing worked to deter recidivism.

This influenced a movement away from looking at those who offended as individuals and moved things towards a deterrent focused model. This eventually would lead to a very large increase in incarceration rates.

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

• How to do Primary Prevention and More
• Help for Minor Attraction
• Research: CSAM on the Dark Web
• You Are Not a Monster: Review of a Long Dark Shadow
• Search: Primary Prevention on Dr. Jen’s Recovery Readings

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The 1990’s to Today

In the 1990s sexual recidivism became a common indicator of risk which influenced laws and management of those convicted of sexual offending.

In the early 2000s sexual recidivism became a go-to statistic for evaluators and the courts.

Since the 2010s there has been criticism of the risk paradigm which suggests that people who have committed a sex crime have continuing propensities to commit future sex crimes.

This is supported by many studies that indicate low recidivism rates. The field has come to understand that the risk of reoffending is not a static thing, but changes based on the developmental stage of the person as well as life circumstances.

What do we know about sexual recidivism?

There is no such thing as a true base rate.

• Recidivism rates based on what the study is measuring, the length of the follow up period and the nature of the individuals in the sample population.

Recidivism rates vary based on the length of the follow up period

• Studies on recidivism can have a follow up period that varies from a few months to about 25 years.

Recidivism rates are associated with individual characteristics

• These can include the person’s criminal history, past sexual offending history, psychological, sexual, and social functioning.

Recidivism is not limited to sexual recidivism.

• Many people who commit a sexual crime are not specialists. Recidivism rates for sexual reoffending are low, the lowest across all types of crime.

Recidivism rates for adult offenders vary by age.

• Rates of crime peak in adolescence and decrease into adulthood.

The Specificity of Adolescent offenders.

• Adolescents who commit a sexual crime are not destined to become adult offenders.

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.

What is unresolved?

Current measures underestimate risk.

• How much? We all know that recidivism studies are based on known behavior, and we also know that many sex crimes are not found out. Therefore, we know that recidivism rates are likely an underestimate of actual recidivism. What we do not know is how big that underestimate is.

What is the accuracy of long-term estimates of sexual recidivism?

• Studies have gotten better in terms of having longer follow-up periods. However, these studies are based on older samples. Therefore, we do not know if this effect still holds true with more recent cohorts of offending individuals.

What is the effect of where you live?

• Is it possible that registry laws and laws that restrict residences are creating variations in sexual recidivism rates caused by crime displacement?

What is the effect of post release experiences on recidivism?

• Most studies simply look at whether or not a new offense was committed. They do not look at what the person’s environment was like. Were they on probation/parole? Were they in therapy? Did they have employment, housing, supportive people around them? Are low risk individuals actually low risk or are they being effectively managed in the community?

After reading this summary (and we didn’t cover everything) one might leave with more questions than answers.

Studies like this are important to highlight the weaknesses in the field and introduce new avenues of research for us to improve recidivism research, prediction, and treatment and policy making for individuals who have committed a sexual crime.

Reference: Lussier, P., Thivierge, S.C., Frechette, J. & Proulx, J. (2023). Sex Offender Recidivism: Some Lessons Learned from Over 70 Years of Research. Criminal Justice Review, doi:10.1177/0734016823157385journals.sagepub.com/home/cjr

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!

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 70 Years of Recidivism Research first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

I accepted an invitation to join ODIN Intelligence to assist a team of educators teaching probation and parole officers to improve outcomes for individuals who commit sexual crimes.

My invitation came from Justin Moyer, an Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) law enforcement officer from California, who teaches about registry and supervision issues. Coupled with his own program, Justin felt my expertise in the psychology of sexual offending, trauma, and officer burn out would nicely round out the summit.

The Summit’s Location and Purpose

The Barbados Probation Department organized the summit and hosted it on their beautiful island. We taught a tailor-made version of our program to everyone from probation officers to judges.

The government of Barbados does not yet have specialized treatment or supervision for individuals who have committed sexual crimes. They wanted to learn what they could from us to apply it to their own system and culture.

More Studies are Needed to Improve Outcomes

Preparing for this was different from any other program I have taught. Therefore, I was acutely aware of one very glaring fact:

The majority of the research on people who commit sex crimes is from North American or Western European countries. Consequently, the subjects are predominantly white.

When it comes to risk assessment, the same thing applies. The majority of subjects used to create risk assessment measures such as the STATIC-99R are white. There has even been some research published that suggests that these measures overestimate risk in black men.

Therefore, to improve outcomes we must research and validate culturally relevant data.

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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.

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Diverse Attendance

When we received our agendas for the event, we quickly realized this was more important than we initially thought!

The event started with a very formal opening ceremony including remarks from an elected official and the heads of the Probation Department. The National TV and newspaper covered the event.

The Barbadian Probation Department invited a very inclusive list of attendees. There were over thirty people who attended including:

• Probation officers
• Lawyers
• Child welfare workers
• Prison treatment providers
• Social workers
• Judges

Unfortunately, there were no law enforcement officers who chose to attend.

Attendees expressed shock when we noted that such a diverse group of professions gathered together would likely not happen in the US. I am hardly able to imagine judges showing up to a training with probation officers, social workers, and treatment providers.

It’s truly a shame, because the richness of comments, questions and insights from having so many people familiar with so many different aspects of the field was amazing.

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.

Improve Outcomes Through Cultural Awareness

Any time you teach in a different place culture has a huge impact. I find this fascinating, as a therapist with a research background.

I teach primarily about internet-based sex crimes in the US. For instance, CSAM possession, online solicitation, and luring.

The criminality in Barbados was different. They experienced a greater amount of hands-on sexual abuse of both children and adults.

There was a feeling among some of the attendees that a deep cultural misogyny affects this difference.

Are you a Licensed Professional Counselor in need of continuing education? Learn more about Sex Addiction, Erotic Conflict, and Moral Incongruence from Dr. Weeks and Sexual Addiction Treatment Services, an NBCC ACEP™ approved provider!

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.

Research Deep Dive

I emphasized during my teaching that research and risk assessments were not normed on their culture. Furthermore, the research didn’t include people of color. Therefore, I emphasized that this was an amazing research opportunity for the clinicians and probation officers planning on implementing risk assessment procedures.

When there is nothing in place, validated measures are likely better than nothing, but a culturally sensitive measure would be something to really work towards.

Personal Reflections

One of my favorite private discussions was with a treatment provider at the men’s prison who had recently been accepted into a Ph.D. program. During the four days of talks he made the decision that sex crimes would be the focus of his research. He wanted to start working to address the dearth of data about Caribbean nations.

At that point, as someone who loves to help cultivate careers, I felt like my work was done.

I’m super excited to possibly collaborate with him and see what great things he does in the future!

I feel invigorated by being part of this summit. I rarely ever hear this level of excitement or enthusiasm from US audiences. Despite the desire to create positive change in their communities.

I feel the energy from that room was a balm to my own professional burnout. But, perhaps, teaching mere feet from the most gorgeous beach had something to do with it as well!

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!

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 How to Improve Outcomes: An International Summit first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

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.

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

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.

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?

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

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.

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

• How to do Primary Prevention and More
• Help for Minor Attraction
• Research: CSAM on the Dark Web
• You Are Not a Monster: Review of a Long Dark Shadow
• Search: Primary Prevention on Dr. Jen’s Recovery Readings

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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.

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

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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.

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

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!

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

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

The post How to do Primary Prevention and More first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

Protect Children is a non-governmental not-for-profit organization, based out of Finland that recently published the results of their survey related to the ReDirection Project which looked at CSAM on the Dark Web. 

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

Article originally appeared on the Mitigation Aide Research Archive on June 23, 2022.

About the ReDirection Project

The project aims to help consumers of Child Sexual Abuse Materials (CSAM) by providing them an anonymous and self-directed program designed for individuals who view CSAM. The ReDirection Project is the organization’s effort to provide primary prevention of child sexual abuse and exploitation.  

In 2020, they had two surveys on their website. The main survey, Help Us Help You, was for individuals who felt they needed some help with their CSAM production. The second survey was for those who felt they did not need help but were consuming CSAM materials. 

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

• Characteristics of Male Internet Only Child Pornography Offenders
• Comparing Child Pornography Offenders to Child Contact Offenders: What’s the Difference?
• Updated Review of Online Child Pornography Offender Research

The Report about CSAM on the Dark Web

The recently published report is the result of over 8400 responses to the surveys. Survey respondents were all users of the dark web to consume CSAM materials.

The authors provide 6 main bullet point results from the survey:

1. A large number of individuals who consumed CSAM materials want to or have tried to stop using it in the past but have been unsuccessful in their attempts to stop.
2. 70% of the survey respondents stated that they had first been exposed to CSAM materials before they were 18 years old. Almost 40% were first exposed to CSAM prior to the age of 13. 
3. Almost half of the respondents (45%) view CSAM materials of girls aged 4 to 13 years old. 
4. More than half of the survey respondents have feared that their viewing of CSAM materials might lead them to a contact offense with a child. 
5. Nearly half of the survey respondents have watched actual child abuse on a livestream feed.
6. More research is needed.  As most research is conducted with individuals who are convicted of CSAM crimes, knowledge from those not arrested can be informative.  

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

• How to do Primary Prevention and More
• Help for Minor Attraction
• Research: CSAM on the Dark Web
• You Are Not a Monster: Review of a Long Dark Shadow
• Search: Primary Prevention on Dr. Jen’s Recovery Readings

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Specific Results of the Survey

• 70% of survey respondents first saw CSAM prior to the age of 18. Nearly 40% were under the age of 13.
• 51% first came across CSAM material by accident.
• 43% of survey respondents have been watching CSAM material for 1 to 4 weeks.
• 55% view illegal material occasionally.
• 45% view CSAM of girls between the ages of 4 and 13.
• 50% would like to stop viewing CSAM materials.
• 62% have tried to stop viewing CSAM materials at some point.
• For those who have stopped viewing CSAM, the main motivator was the negative feelings of guilt and shame.
• 45% have seen live streamed CSAM material.
• At some point in their CSAM use, 62% of respondents felt they were unable to control their use.
• 48% did not feel that their CSAM use made them afraid of a contact sexual offense.
• 56% reported that they never thought about direct sexual contact with a child after viewing CSAM.
• 63% of the CSAM users stated that they never sought direct contact with a child with the remainder seeking said contact anywhere from rarely to every time.
• About half the respondents had thought about or attempted suicide or self-harm.
• 58% never thought about telling anyone about their CSAM use.
• 54% of CSAM users stated they never had (29%) or never wanted (25%) contact with other CSAM users.

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.

Limitations of the Study

First: it is a survey of dark web users. 

It is possible that the survey results are not generalizable to other populations. 

Second: inherent in any voluntary survey, there is the possibility that there are characteristics of those willing to take a survey that are different from those individuals who chose not to, again possibly affecting the generalizability of the results. 

The Real Value of the Study

The authors are correct in that most of our knowledge of individuals who consume CSAM materials comes from people who have been arrested for its possession. Therefore, all data misses a huge segment of people, those who are viewing the material and not getting caught. Additionally, the more we know about the consumers of CSAM, the better able we are to create prevention programs to help decrease the use of CSAM at a primary prevention level.

Reference: Insoll, T, Ovaska, A & Vaaranen-Valkonen, N. (2022).  CSAM users in the Dark Web.  https://protectchildren.fi/2021/09/23/redirection-survey-report/

Article originally appeared on the Mitigation Aide Research Archive on June 23, 2022.

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

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.

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.

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

The post Research: CSAM on the Dark Web first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

The Autism Spectrum, Sexuality & the Law is a great introduction to how individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are affected by sexuality exploration, sexual offenses and the ramifications of therapists practicing outside of their scope.

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

In addition, the need for proper guidance and education for the use of pornography. Nick Dubin is the individual that had the unfortunate experience with misguided exploration of his sexuality. Throughout the book, he details his struggles with ASD and how he maneuvered throughout life with unasked questioned about himself, ASD and his sexuality.

Since the inception of his awareness regarding his sexuality, he never knew how to articulate it until he was an adult. Even though from a developmental standpoint, he was younger.

One concept to understand is fixation. When it comes to fixation, individuals with ASD become hypervigilant or obsessed with a subject they are interested in.

The part that lead him to his demise was when he was seeing two therapists. One that specialized in ASD and another was assisting him with sexuality exploration.

Nick was just getting his feet wet with exploring whether he was a homosexual or not.

The therapist that didn’t specialize with ASD, told Nick to look into pornography.

This was the slope. We do not know what was told to Nick during the session(s) but as Nick was diving into pornography, he started to look at pornography online then Nick ended up looking at child pornography. This lead to his arrest.

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.

My Viewpoint on The Autism Spectrum, Sexuality & the Law

From my experience, working with individuals on the spectrum that have committed sexual offenses. One concept to understand is fixation. When it comes to fixation, individuals with ASD become hypervigilant or obsessed with a subject they are interested in.

For example, if Nick was interested in dinosaurs, he would constantly research, watch movies and documentaries about dinosaurs for hours. Nick became fixated on the pornography that he was looking at and fell down the rabbit hole of random site clicking. This is a recipe for disaster.

With random site clicking, an individual could be clicking on unpopular or fringe sites without realizing it, which have a risk of displaying unregulated (not even sure if regulated sites are really regulated) content that could be considered child sexual abuse media.

After Nick committed these crimes, he proceeded with therapy and other legal stipulations.

He has written this book which is very insightful that describes not only life with ASD but also what happens when some people with ASD encounter pornography without understanding what it really is and how to utilize pornography safely.

I have recommended this book to the parents of my clients with ASD that have committed sexual offenses or problematic sexual behaviors.

Who is this book for?

This is a book that should be read to educate lawyers, mental health professionals and other individuals that want to further understand ASD. This book can also be used to exemplify how important psychosexual education is for everyone.

This issue shows that education is needed regarding the use of pornography.

We all know that pornography is out there, but we also know that child sexual abuse media is also and seeps it’s way through some of the popular and unpopular search engines. The more we could inform people on healthy portrayal of sexuality in pornography and general use of pornography, hopefully this could decrease these misguided usages of pornography and unintended viewing of child abuse media.

Originally appeared on TherapyInLit&Films on April 19, 2022

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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.

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

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

The post The Autism Spectrum, Sexuality & The Law first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

As a member of the professional community that works with Minor Attracted Persons as well as individuals who have committed sex crimes, I was immediately aware of the controversy surrounding Dr. Allyn Walker and the publication of their book A Long Dark Shadow:  Minor-Attracted People and Their Pursuit of Dignity. 

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Dr. Walker is a professor and researcher who focuses on various aspects of human sexuality. The book is the result of a qualitative study they did using interviews of individuals in the MAP community. This research was done in a completely appropriate and professional manner with the full support of their academic institution.

Fallout from A Long Dark Shadow

After an interview discussing the book, Dr. Walker became the subject (or victim) of social media. There was immediate pushback from people at their university stating that they were promoting child abuse or other similar complaints. 

The comments went crazy. 

This initially resulted in the university placing them on leave. I imagine the hope was that the fervor would die down. Dr. Walker ultimately resigned from their position based on the harassment and death threats they were receiving. 

All of this for what?  People, who had not read the book, getting upset by assumptions. 

People misconstruing Dr. Walker’s statements, which clearly stated that sexual abuse of children is abhorrent and unacceptable, as being supportive of sexual offending. It is because of this controversy that I immediately purchased the book. The topic is of interest but my main motivation for purchase was to support Dr. Walker.

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.

My Review

I will start this review by saying that if I were ever to write a book about minor attraction, this is the book I would write. 

The first thing I felt upon reading it was a great sense of validation. 

Yes! 

There are other psychology professionals in the world who understand that pedophilia ≠ sexual offending. There are other psychology professionals willing to spread the word. 

I am an adjunct professor for a local graduate program as well as an instructor of a law enforcement polygraphy school. 

Everyone who has ever had a class with me leaves (hopefully) with a clear understanding of the differences between attraction and behavior and that pedophilia is a sexual attraction and not a behavior AND that there are plenty of people in the world who are attracted to children who never commit a sexual offense. 

The Real Research Behind A Long Dark Shadow

The book is based on Dr. Walker’s research which involved extensive interviews with people who identify as minor attracted. These individuals were brave enough to come forward to a psychology professional, who they often duly distrust, to share their stories. The chapters focus on many aspects of living with a minor attraction.

The first chapter discusses identity formation. MAPS themselves often share the negative views held by society about minor attraction and struggle to integrate their own sexual interest into their identity. Many of them questioning, “Am I a Monster” which is a question I have heard in my office many times.

The book continues to address the effect of societal shame on MAPS.

Many people, due to stigma, feel that they have to live a dual life and never disclose their minor attraction. They fear rejection from family, partners, loved ones, friends and society at large. Unfortunately, this fear is not unfounded as many also do experience that rejection. 

Often this living a dual life can lead to depression, anxiety, or even suicidal thoughts for some. 

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

• Characteristics of Male Internet Only Child Pornography Offenders
• Comparing Child Pornography Offenders to Child Contact Offenders: What’s the Difference?
• Updated Review of Online Child Pornography Offender Research

Strategies for Coping

Subsequent chapters deal with the strategies they use to cope with their own attractions as well as to refrain from sexual offending. Many MAPS acknowledge an attraction to children but do not have a desire to physically act on those attractions. This goes against a societal assumption. As the book states, we don’t assume all adult attracted people are walking around actively thinking about raping other adults so why do we think this about minor attracted people? 

However, the reality cannot be ignored that some MAPS do, in fact, not resist these urges and sexually abuse children. The book also discusses what strategies some of the individuals use to avoid engaging in any type of contact sexual offense. 

Medical Professional Reactions

Another book chapter discusses MAP’s experiences with mental health professionals. 

This chapter is upsetting to me as a mental health professional but an expression of reality. People avoid seeking therapy to help cope with the attraction, stigma, shame, or other mental health issues around the minor attraction for many reasons. 

They fear, rightly, that many therapists will have a negative reaction to their disclosure and will refuse to treat them. They often fear that a therapist will make an unwarranted call to children and youth, or the police based on the disclosure of an attraction, not based on any behavior. While some might think this is farfetched, I have experienced this in my own practice, hearing of other therapists thinking they need to make a mandatory report when a client says they have an attraction to minors but never disclosed any behavior in that direction. 

A final concern for some MAPS that keeps them from treatment is the fear that a therapist might try to engage in a sexual orientation change experience. Basically, the minor attraction equivalent of conversion therapy. We know that we cannot change sexual attractions, and many consider SOCE to be inhumane or unethical. 

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

• How to do Primary Prevention and More
• Help for Minor Attraction
• Research: CSAM on the Dark Web
• You Are Not a Monster: Review of a Long Dark Shadow
• Search: Primary Prevention on Dr. Jen’s Recovery Readings

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Final Thoughts

The plea to reduce stigma against individuals who are attracted to minors is twofold. 

The one that comes to mind first for many is to help with primary prevention. For those MAPS who do struggle with urges to act on their desires, providing safe spaces to work through these urges and work on resilience techniques can help keep a child safe as well as keep the person from engaging in a behavior that everyone knows is not appropriate. 

The main reason to reduce stigma, particularly by therapists, is that MAPs are people. 

They are just as deserving of a safe place to work through their issues with depression, anxiety, stigma, grief, and loss, etc. as the rest of us. They deserve a safe space and a nonjudgmental professional to work with that can help them improve their general health and wellbeing. 

If you have an interest in this topic, I strongly urge you to read this book. I will be incorporating it into our treatment program for those individuals who are minor attracted. 

I don’t want to make this disclaimer but given the nature of our world and the internet, I feel that I need to say that supporting Dr. Walker, this book, and the reduction of stigma against minor attraction in no way supports harming children. 

It actually supports working to prevent child abuse.

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

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.

The post You Are Not a Monster: Review of A Long Dark Shadow first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

I came across this book about Autism and Sexuality while searching for information on Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and sex crimes. Unfortunately, we are seeing more and more individuals with ASD being arrested for sex crimes. I’ve been on a quest to make myself much more knowledgeable about the subject.

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The book, The Autism Spectrum, Sexuality and the Law: What every parent and professional needs to know, is part personal narrative and part educational. It is co-authored by an individual who was arrested for possession of child pornography, a psychologist specialized in ASD and a therapist specialized in sexuality and ASD. 

The Story

The book starts with the story of the investigation of Nick by the Federal government. 

This part of the story is very familiar to me. I hear it often from my clients. The manner in which the feds enter a home and talk to the suspect is routine and unchanging. 

What was new to me was this story from the perspective of someone with ASD and how he was affected by the traditional police policies. 

The book then goes on to share Nick’s history and how he finally was diagnosed with ASD as an adult. 

There are two chapters, one each, from Nick’s parents. Again, this perspective is common in my work with family members. But to hear it under the frame of ASD adds to the story. The pain of his parents is palpable. A pain, I imagine, many parents go through when their child is facing very serious consequences for very serious actions.

As Nick’s father is a law professor, his chapter provides excellent resources from a legal perspective as well.

Beyond Autism and Sexuality: The Law

The subsequent chapters are written by professionals with the purpose to educate the reader about ASD. The symptoms and how those symptoms can predispose someone with ASD to troubles with the law. 

The final chapters discuss the fact that nearly everyone, parents, teachers, etc, discounts the fact that individuals with ASD are sexual beings. This means they are frequently not taught sexual education as non ASD children are. There is an assumption that they will not have the same desires. 

Obviously, this assumption is inaccurate. 

Frequently, when the education is not provided, they will turn to the same place we all turn to, the internet. 

Using the internet for sexual education is fraught with challenges for everyone. Even more so for individuals with ASD due to some of their challenges with social interaction and theory of mind.

The Takeaway

While I did not learn as much from this book as I was hoping, I still believe it is an extremely useful resource. I can envision suggesting this book to the families of the individuals we work with who have family members with ASD whose behavior crosses legal boundaries and gets them involved with the criminal justice system.

Update April 2022: For a related review from another therapist’s perspective, see Eli Irving’s review of this book.

Update May 2022: Related research articles for sentencing reports and forensic psychological investigations.

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

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.

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

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 The Law, Autism and Sexuality first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.