Consensual intergenerational experiences of younger people are often quite positive and beneficial for the participants, regardless of their ages. In contrast, non-consensual experiences, when the wishes of the youngster are disregarded, can be very damaging. These clearly are the lessons to be drawn from recent scientific studies of sexual experiences between men and boys. Studies conducted by victimologists and people who seek to regulate the sexual behavior of others have obscured and hidden these facts from the public.
A major study of over 8,000 German youth who had been reported as "victims" in criminal cases was conducted by Michael Baurmann for the German state police agency (similar to the FBI in the US). Using the opinions of the youth, the opinions of experts, and standard psychological assessments, Baurmann found that none of the boys had been harmed. Boys under 14 years of age were between 10% and 15% of the total cases studied. However, other factors were at work in the experiences of girls. Click here for the English summary of Baurmann's findings.
The outcomes of sexual experiences between adults and younger people primarily depend upon whether the sex was consensual. Also, sexual experiences are powerfully influenced by expectations and the attitudes toward sex which have been passed on to younger people by their parents and social environment. Rigidly anti-sexual attitudes and fears can predispose anyone to harm. Boys often approach sex with great interest and enthusiasm, so that their consensual sexual experiences are not harmful.
Once sexual experiences have become known to others, secondary harm to youngsters can be induced by the reactions of parents, police, social workers, lawyers and other adults, where no apparent harm results from the sexual contact itself.
If people are not taught to despise their bodies and fear sex, if their sexual choices are not forced on them by others, and if they are not subjected to harsh or stigmatizing reactions to their sexual choices and experiences, they will not be harmed by having sex, regardless of how old or young they are or with whom they have sex.
Adam, Barry "Age, Structure, and Sexuality: Reflections on
the Anthropological Evidence on Homosexual Relations," Journal
of Homosexuality, Vol. 11, No. 3/4, pp. 19-34, Summer 1985. (Also published
as The Many Faces of Homosexuality: Anthropological Approaches to Homosexual
Behavior. New York: Harrington Park Press, 1986.)
Compares data from 19 different named cultures, and many more not named,
where man/boy homosexual relationships are institutionalized, to support
the view that the kinship structures of a society largely determine the
prevalent modes of sexual expression in that society, whatever they may
be.
Baurmann, M. C. Sexuality, Violence,
and Psychological After-Effects: A Longitudinal Study of Cases of Sexual
Assault which were Reported to the Police. Wiesbaden: Bundeskriminalamt,
1988.
A massive longitudinal study of all reported victims of sex offenses against
minors in the German State of Lower Saxony during a four-year period from
1969-1972, with six to ten year follow-ups, under the direction of the
German Ministry of Justice. The total sample is over 8,000, including over
800 boys up to age 14. Violence and/or coercion were present in roughly
half the reported offenses against girls, and were correlated with negative
outcomes. None of the boys experienced force or coercion, and no
negative outcomes were observed for any of the boys. The study used
both subjective and multiple standardized objective measures. It is
by far the most in-depth large study and the largest in-depth study in
this field.
Best, Joel Threatened Children: Rhetoric & Concern about
Child Victims. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990.
A highly recommended, pioneering survey of a constellation of social
problems and their recent magnification. Provides thorough statistical
evaluations and analyses of the most common fears and prejudices underlying
society's concerns about child abduction, sexual abuse, and other urban
myths, from a sociological perspective. Describes media pandering to public
fears.
Constantine, Larry L. "Effects
of Early Sexual Experiences: A Review and Synthesis of Research,"
in Constantine, L. L., Martinson, F. M., (eds.) Children and Sex: New
Findings, New Perspectives. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1981.
Reviews 30 studies, most of which include child-adult contacts. Breaks
down experiences by outcome for the younger partner as: positive, neutral,
or negative. Examines relationships between several variables and observed
outcomes.
Constantine, Larry L. "Child Sexuality: Recent Developments
and Implications for Treatment, Prevention, and Social Policy," International
Journal of Medicine and Law, 1983 No. 2, pp. 55-67.
Reviews findings of the above article. Discusses implications for treatment,
prevention, and social policy. Includes proposals for legal revisions.
Among the findings of this major literature review:
"The most important determinant in the outcome of childhood incest
or adult-child sexual encounters is the child's perception of freedom of
choice in participating." Among the observed implications:
"The research to date points to the child's subjective experience
as the central concern. If it is the child's person which is to be protected
from being violated against the child's will, then it is the child's will
which governs the determination."
Freedman, Estelle "Uncontrolled Desires": The Response to the Sexual Psychopath, 1920-1960." Journal of American History vol. 74 no. 1 (June 1987). Pp. 83-106.
Gagnon, John "Female Child Victims of Sex Offenses,"
Social Problems, Vol. 13, pp. 176-192, 1965.
Investigates common characteristics of girls who have experienced various
kinds of sexual contact with adults, based upon a large sample from the
original Kinsey study.
Gay, Judith "`Mummies and Babies' and Friends and Lovers
in Lesotho," Journal of Homosexuality, Vol. 11, No. 3/4, pp.
97-116, Summer 1985. (Also published as The Many Faces of Homosexuality:
Anthropological Approaches to Homosexual Behavior. New York: Harrington
Park Press, 1986.)
Examines institutionalized woman/girl love in southern Africa, noting the
key role of these relationships in providing the girls with emotional support
prior to marriage and providing a network of support for women in new towns
or schools.
Jones, G. P. "The Study of Intergenerational Intimacy in North America: Beyond Politics and Pedophilia," Journal of Homosexuality, Vol. 20, pp. 275-295, 1990.
McClintock, Martha K. and Gilbert Herdt "Rethinking Puberty: The Development of Sexual Attraction," Current Developments in Psychological Science, Volume 5, No. 1 (December, 1996).
Money, John "Juvenile, Pedophile, Heterophile: Hermeneutics
of Science, Medicine and Law in Two Outcome Studies," International
Journal of Medicine and Law, 1983 No. 2 pp. 39-54.
An unusually detailed investigation of two consensual long-term "pedophiliac"
relationships. This long-term, prospective case study finds the relationships
to be non-harmful and possibly beneficial for both partners. Money is among
the most widely cited American authors on pediatric sexology and sexual
and gender development.
Nelson, Joan "Incest: Self-Report Findings From a Nonclinical
Sample," Journal of Sex Research, Vol. 22, No. 4, pp. 463-477,
Nov. 1986.
Nelson looks at the experiences of 100 subjects who have had sex with relatives.
Results indicate that outcomes vary from negative to positive.
Okami, Paul "Self-reports of 'Positive' Childhood and Adolescent
Sexual Contacts with Older Persons: An Exploratory Study," Archives
of Sexual Behavior, Vol. 20, pp. 437- 457, 1991.
Examines how contacts are perceived by the younger partner in later life.
Investigates relationships between "positive" self-assessment
and several variables.
Okami, Paul "Sociopolitical Biases in the Contemporary Scientific Literature on Adult Human Sexual Behavior with Children and Adolescents," in Feierman, J. (ed.) Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1990.
Okami, Paul "`Child Perpetrators of Sexual Abuse': The Emergence
of a Problematic Deviant Category," Journal of Sex Research,
Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 109-130, Feb. 1992.
Okami discusses the nature and origins of recent attacks against sexual
expression by young people, and finds much of the literature on the subject
of sexual contacts between minors to be scientifically unsound. Highly
recommended reading.
Okami, Paul and Goldberg, Amy "Personality Correlates of
Pedophilia: Are They Reliable Indicators?" Journal of Sex Research,
Vol. 29, No. 3, pp. 297-328, August, 1992.
A critical and extensive review of the literature. Okami finds that "
... professionals in the field continue to express belief in a 'typical'
psychological profile for pedophiles ... Empirical support is equivocal
and in certain cases absent(p. 306). ... With the exception of the
tautological diagnosis of "sexual deviate," little clinically
significant pathology was found among either "pedophiles" or
"sex offenders against minors." ( Abstract)
Rind, B. and Bausermann, R. "Biased Terminology Effects and Biased Information Processing in Research on Adult-Nonadult Sexual Interactions - An Empirical Investigation," Journal of Sex Research, Volume 30 No. 3 (August 1993), pp. 260-269. Includes tables, references.
Rind, B., Tromovitch, P., and Bauserman, R. (1998) "A Meta-Analytic Examination of Assumed Properties of Child Sexual Abuse Using College Samples", Psychological Bulletin, 124, 22-53.
Rubin, Gayle "Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality" in Abelove, Barale, Halperin, et al, (Eds.), The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader. (1992).
Sandfort, Theo "Sex in Pedophiliac Relationships: An Empirical
Investigation Among a Nonrepresentative Group of Boys," Journal
of Sex Research Vol.20, No.2, pp. 123-142 May, 1984.
"The sexual contacts were found to have had no negative influence
upon the boys' sense of general well-being, nor did the boys perceive in
these contacts a misuse of authority by the adult." (Quoted from
the Abstract)
Sandfort, Theo The Sexual Aspect of Paedophile Relations.
Amsterdam: Pan/Spartacus, 1982.
A detailed presentation, explanation, and discussion of data from a study
of 25 ongoing consensual long-term relations between men and boys. Recommends
that future legislation should observe young peoples' right of sexual self-determination.
Sandfort, Theo Boys On Their Contacts With Men. Elmhurst,
New York: Global Academic Publishers, 1987.
Summarizing Sandfort's earlier studies, this book also contains extensive
quotes in context from the boys interviewed.
Tindall, R. H. "The Male Adolescent Involved With a Pederast
Becomes an Adult," Journal of Homosexuality, Vol. 3, No. 4,
pp. 373-382, 1978.
A longitudinal study of nine cases covering a span of over thirty years
which finds the relationships to be non-harmful, with positive benefits
in some cases.