Quantitative research on sexual abuse

Abstract

This essay will examine quantitative research into the phenomenon of sexual abuse and the implications of this for therapeutic program development. This will include sexual abuse of children and adults, both male and female. Sexual abuse will be used as the generic term, and includes sexual assault, rape and child sexual abuse. The major areas of research on this subject vary from those focusing on individual deviance to those that attributed the behaviour to cultural and societal influences, and various combinations of the individual and society. This essay will concentrate on the quantitative approaches used in the current research to study these influences, and the strengths and weaknesses of this type of research in this field.