Sexual abuse history among adult sex offenders and non-sex offenders: A meta-analysis

There is support for the sexually abused-sexual abuser hypothesis, in that sex offenders are more likely to have been sexually abused than non-sex offenders, but not more likelyto have been physically abused.

Abstract

The most obvious implications of these findings is that the prevention of sexual abuse of children, either through prevention programs directly targeting children or through treatment programs targeting individuals who are likely to sexually offend against children (e.g., known sex offenders against extra-familial boys), may eventually reduce the number of sex offenders. This implication is dependent, however, on a causal role of childhood sexual abuse, and on the effectiveness of prevention and treatment practices.