Link between child abuse
and violence is strong
Island therapists say many
By Lori Tighe
sexually abused children will resort
to violence if not treated
Star-BulletinA 3-year-old girl saw the plastic paddle and asked: "What's that?"
It's for hitting, replied the Waianae therapist.
The girl, who had been sexually abused, picked up the paddle and began whacking everything in the office.
She hit the walls so hard that the Barbies, G.I. Joes and teddy bears fell off the shelves.
She finally stopped whacking four therapy sessions later.
The link between child sexual abuse and violence is strong, especially among untreated survivors, said Phyllis Schipper, program manager and therapist at the Sex Abuse Treatment Program in Waianae.
A few of her clients have told her that they have come close to killing.
The reported sex-abuse history of the 13-year-old suspect in the Arkansas mass shooting did not surprise Hawaii experts who deal with child survivors of sex abuse.
The Arkansas shooting suspect, Mitchell Johnson, 13, said he had been repeatedly sexually molested from age 6 to 7 by an adult at a day-care center where he stayed, according to his father and lawyer.
Mitchell and a friend now face charges of killing five people in Jonesboro, Ark., March 24.
As child sexual and physical abuse continues to escalate in Hawaii, so does the juvenile crime rate, according to Hawaii Kids Count 1997 report and the attorney general's office.
Although no predictor of mass killings, violent tendencies appear to rise if the child doesn't receive counseling, said Judy Lind, director of Hawaii's Children's Advocacy Centers, which handles reports of child sex assaults.
"Sex abuse doesn't predict violence," Lind said.
"But if children don't get treatment, they will tend to have problems."
One of the most important factors for how a child recovers from sex assault depends on how the family responds, Lind said.
Whether the family seeks help, or ignores the abuse, or even blames the child for allowing it to happen, can significantly affect the child.
"When out-of-family abuse happens, it's totally up to the parents to seek help," Lind said.
"It's not mandatory to report," she added.
The symptoms of child sexual abuse include fear and anxiety, sleep disturbances, poor self-esteem, depression with its underlying anger and hostility, poor school performance, shame, guilt, and self-destructive behavior, according to the "Sexual Trauma in Children and Adolescents" 1989 report.
"The list doesn't have murder on it," Lind said.
"Obviously the Arkansas shooting is the extreme."
Lind also cited another recent case of a New Jersey teen accused of killing a boy selling candy door to door for his school.
The teen was believed to have been sexually assaulted by a pedophile a few years before the murder.
The father of the Arkansas shooting suspect said he found out about the alleged abuse after the murder spree, according to the Associated Press.
Male survivors of sexual abuse rarely admit it occurred because of guilt and shame, said Rob Wetzel, Ph.D., a Honolulu psychologist who treats survivors.
"Boys have far more difficulty facing up to their sexual abuse. Their sense of shame is so intense," Wetzel said, "it's painful to talk about it."
Male abuse victims may be more prone to act out their trauma through violence toward others, while females tend to turn their trauma inward, Wetzel said.
"A common sign of sexual abuse in boys is an increase in aggressive behavior. Statistics say boys get more abused by males and perceive it as a threat to their masculinity. They feel they couldn't protect themselves and try to compensate for their lost manhood through aggressiveness," Wetzel said.
But the link from child sexual abuse to violence is neither straight nor absolute, said Barry Coyne, Ph.D., administrator of Sex Offenders Treatment Program with the Department of Public Safety.
"It's a disservice to boys who have been sexually abused to say they will become violent," Coyne said. It's a link, that's all."
Incidence of U.S.
child abuse is highStatistics from Child Help U.S.A.'s National Child Abuse Hotline:
One of every three girls and one of every five boys will be sexually victimized before their 18th birthday.
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