use, or teen sexual relations. In this study, delinquency was operationalized as being placed on probation for one of these types of offenses by the Wayne County Juvenile Court.
Sexual Abuse - Sexual abuse is defined by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (1998) in terms of several inappropriate physical behaviors inflicted on children including: sexual touching and fondling, exposing children to adult sexual activity or pornographic movies and photographs, having children pose, undress or perform in a sexual fashion on film or in person, peeping into bathrooms or bedrooms to spy on a child, committing or trying to commit rape on a child. The Academy further notes that sexual abuse of a child involves forcing, tricking, bribing, threatening or pressuring a child into sexual awareness or activity, and involving an older or more knowledgeable child using a child for sexual pleasure.
According to the Center Against Sexual Abuse (1996),sexual abuse is pervasive in America. Their statistics indicates that:
1. Approximately 38 percent of girls are sexually abused before the age of 18 years.
2. Around 16 percent of boys are sexually abused before the age of 18 years.
3. Anywhere from 90 to 95 percent of all sexual abuse cases go unreported to police.
4. In most cases, the child knew the sex offender.
5. In most cases where girls are sexually abused, about 29 percent are abused by relatives and about 60 percent are abused by acquaintances.
6. In most cases where boys are sexually abused, about 16 percent are abused by relatives and about 44 percent are abused by acquaintances.
7.Fabricated sexual abuse reports constitute only about one to four percent of reported cases.
8. Of cases that are reported, approximately 75 percent are reports made by adults and about 25 percent are reports made by children.
8. Physical force tends to be used only in about one-third of sexual ab...