Social Exchange Theory Of Child Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse then progresses to pressured and/or forced sex by making the child feel trapped within the abusive relationship (Crosson-Tower, 2008). The abuser traps the child by making them feel guilty or blackmailing them, threatening to hurt them or their family. Finally, secrecy, disclosure and suppression can either liberate the child, or further entrap them. With secrecy, the child keeps the abuse a secret, whether forcibly or on their own accord. Secrecy on the part of the child may be because they are being blackmailed or because they are afraid it is their fault. Despite disclosure of the abuse to an adult, sometimes the child’s cries for help are suppressed by the person they disclosed to. If a child’s disclosure of abuse is suppressed by an adult they trust, it can be more damaging than even the abuse itself.
The theory that can be most applicable to child sexual abuse would be social exchange theory, which states that relationships between individuals are influenced by how different people interact and negotiate with one another. In a sexually abusive relationship
between an adult and a child, the perpetrator uses the child for their own sexual.gratification, thus focusing on their individual needs and satisfaction. Because the perpetrator ignores the physical, psychological and emotional effects the abuse has on their victims, the perpetrator is self-interested, another principle of the systems exchange theory
Pertaining to the child victim of sexual abuse, the principle of rewards and benefits versus costs is an important perspective to consider . For the victim, there are not any rewards or benefits for the abuse, but rather only costs in the form of physical and emotional distress. The rewards and benefits almost exclusively belong to the perpetrator because they reap the rewards, i.e. sexual gratification, power and control. When it comes to rationality and reciprocity and its application to child sexual abuse, these are demonstrated by the actions of the victim. In the secrecy phase, the victim keeps their abuse secret in order to protect other people who might be affected by disclosing the abuse. For example, if the perpetrator threatens to hurt the child’s family if they tell anyone about their sexual encounters, so the child does not disclose the information to anyone in order to keep their family safe. This is an example of reciprocity and also rational thinking by the child, even if the perpetrator’s threats are empty ones. The theory of social exchange is most appropriate for child sexual abuse because it focuses on the relationship between the perpetrator, who is self interested, and the victim, who has to continually weigh the costs and benefits of the actions.
In an article entitled Child Sexual Abuse: from Prevention to Self-Protection, the authors discuss how making children aware of what is a good touch and bad touch may help prevent future cases of child sexual abuse (Kenny, Capri, R., Thakkar-Kolar, Ryan, & Runyon, 2008).
Giving children the knowledge to know the difference between a good touch and a bad touch is similar to the “Uh-oh feeling” that Esterlee Molyneaux from the Child and Family Support Center discussed in class (E. Molyneaux, personal communication, January 25, 2010). In the article, the authors find that children who “have knowledge of sexual matters” are less likely to be victims of sexual abuse (Kenny et al, 2008, p. 37). However, the article goes on to discuss that there is a significant lack of sexual abuse awareness in educational systems and that any knowledge that children have is mostly likely from parents and
peers.
There is a number of child sexual abuse programs implemented across the United States, which are targeted at children aged six to 13, who are the most vulnerable to sexual abuse by an adult (Kenny et al, 2008, p. 38). Methods of teaching children about self-protection against sexual abuse include knowing the proper names for body parts, identifying what is a good touch and a bad touch, who to trust or not, and talking about it with a trusted adult (Kenny et al, 2008). After participating in self-protection programs, children are evaluated through a series of tests to see how much they learned from the programs. Results showed positive effects, which were most associated with parental involvement in the programs (Kenny et al, 2008, p. 44). Studies show that after the programs, children felt safe and in control of themselves and their environment. However, there were also negative side-effects, which showed no change in sexual behaviors in children, and confusion because of conflicting preexisting knowledge (Kenny et al, 2008).
The author discussed how these self-protection programs are limited by the fact that they are just that – programs¬. (Kenny et al, 2008). These programs do not change to accommodate different situations that children may encounter and might leave some things out (Kenny et al, 2008). Kenny suggests that these programs need to develop more fully before being offered to a wider audience, mainly discussing how the organization of the programs should be changed (2008). By organization, it meant to say that these programs should be more accommodating to parents and should be longer so that more can be taught at once (Kenny et al, 2008).
The programs will not totally eradicate child sexual abuse, but it will at least inform children of its dangers by teaching them how they can protect themselves (Kenny et al, 2008). Many improvements need to be made to the programs before they can be implemented into society at large, Kenny suggests (2008). Studies looked at by Kenny et al suggest that even if a child has a limited amount of knowledge of sexual abuse, it might be enough to dissuade a predator from victimizing them (2008). The article concludes that in order to fix the problem of child sexual abuse, it needs to be recognized by all parties that sexual abuse of children is a taboo. However, as long as there are those who do not believe in child sexual abuse, these prevention programs can never be completely successful. I learned a lot about child sexual abuse through having to apply one of the theories to this topic. It was interesting to think about how the perpetrator is self-interested and how the child has to continually outweigh the costs and benefits. One point that struck me most is how most sexual abuse is not reported until the children are into adulthood. This is important to me because I have a couple aunts and uncles who disclosed that they had been sexually abused by their foster parents while they were children in the 1960s. As a result, the article about teaching children self-protection and trying to prevent child sexual abuse was important for me to study. I agree with the authors of the article that the best way to prevent the sexual abuse of children is to teach them how to protect themselves and to know when to get out of a situation. I am aware that this type of abuse will never go away, but at least there is a starting point.

References
Crosson-Tower, C. (2008). Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Kenny, M. C., Capri, V., R., R., Thakkar-Kolar, Ryan, E. E., & Runyon, M. K. (2008). Child Sexual Abuse: From Prevention to Self-Protection. Child Abuse Review, 17(1), 36-54. DOI: 10.1002/car.1012.