tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6945371051071312299.post1572747887423329779..comments2023-06-05T03:59:27.169-04:00Comments on Child Psych: Ten Common Causes of Child Trauma Due to ViolenceUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6945371051071312299.post-54010189787735701762010-01-29T15:49:44.844-05:002010-01-29T15:49:44.844-05:00Steve--
The 5% number is for both boys and girls. ...Steve--<br />The 5% number is for both boys and girls. For boys only, it is 8% and for girls only, it is 3%. I appreciate your bringing up the issue of "ball-tapping." It is not something I have run into very often, and it has not been in the local media here. The stories you referenced are heart-breaking.<br /><br />As to why it has not been categorized as sexual assault, there are several reasons I can think of. First, Finkelhor classified non-sexual genital assault as a sub-category of physical assault and as far as I can tell, his studies are the only ones even documenting the problem. Second, the criminal justice system uses different criteria to categorize crimes than what would make sense to the average person and often doesn't reflect the victim's experience. A particularly egregious example in my state, Maryland, is that males cannot be rape victims, because the criminal code defines only vaginal penetration as rape. Clearly, this unjustly minimizes the trauma that male rape victims experience. Probably the other issue is that sex crimes are defined as sexual acts forced upon another person. It would be difficult to prove that "ball-tapping" was for the purpose of sexual gratification of the assailant since it is not a common sexual activity.<br /><br />I'm not as familiar with the laws about physical assault & battery, but I believe that assault with the intent of serious injury (aggravated assault) is a felony, and the penalties may be as severe as for sexual assault. You and other advocates are more likely to be successful pushing to have non-sexual genital assault classified as aggravated assault. It certainly would be easier for prosecutors to prove intent to cause serious injury to a jury than to prove intent to gain sexual gratification, especially, given some of the attitudes ("boys will be boys") mentioned in the articles you linked to.Child Psychhttp://columbiachildpsychologist.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6945371051071312299.post-75354120002672116172010-01-27T11:51:29.969-05:002010-01-27T11:51:29.969-05:00Concerning #5, non-sexual genital assault, where d...Concerning #5, non-sexual genital assault, where did the 5 percent number come from? When I read Dr. Finkelhor's study from 1995 he found 1 in 9 boys had been subjected to this at least once, and often more than once, in only a 12 month period. In 2007 he did some further research, I don't recall if any of the focus on non-genital assault was new or not. And recently in the news in Indiana they are reporting on an epidemic of this violence in their schools, which the students have labeled "ball tapping" and which is happening, according to the victims, to every boy. For many of the boys it is happening every single day, often many times per day. <br /><br />This Indiana news story broke when a 13-year-old who was having a breakdown as a result of being abused in such a humiliating sexual manner while teachers did nothing, could not take it anymore. Finding no help at all from teachers, parents, principal, etc, he ran to a news reporter begging for help. The reporter researched the boy's claims, found them to be true, and found another boy, 18, who had endured the same abuse daily, several times per day, for 6 years until he finally graduated. That boy ended up in emergency surgery due to accumulated scar tissue in his genitals which shut everything down and caused horrific, unbearable pain. His testicles were never ruptured. They were simply injured little by little each time he was assaulted until the accumulated damage was horrendous. He can be seen breaking down in tears twice in his interview on the news webpage. He states "it's assault" and seems upset that absolutely nothing is being done to stop it or punish the assailants. Most people consider it to be sexual assault and I am part of a push to require the law to recognize it as such, especially in light of Dr. Finkelhor's accidental finding relating to the deep psychological damage suffered by the victims. I am very serious about this and am interested in your views on why it is not categorized as sexual assault. I know of no studies on the psychology of the assailants, but I know what I have seen in the eyes and faces of genital assailants as well as witnesses who cheer and appear to become highly sexually excited. <br /><br />The news articles I'm referencing are here:<br />http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=11452052<br />http://www.wthr.com/global/story.asp?s=11568681Memphishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01636056194130886380noreply@blogger.com