NAMBLA discussion

Sorry, I couldn't resist this topic of conversation that we had today regarding NAMBLA and Rind.

So...They have an actual site.... www.nambla.org

It was formed in 1978. Membership is open to everyone sympathetic to man/boy love and personal freedom. (Now, I'm all about personal freedom.... but still....)

Here's a sampling of a question asked on their FAQS page:

Q: Ok, but if a boy does come on to you, wouldn’t it be better simply to refuse the advance?

A: If your concern is for the safety of the man (any man), in today’s climate, then the answer is probably, yes -- walk away, and stay away, and just don’t have anything to do with kids in general. But boys take rejection very hard, and they take isolation even harder. It has a deeply negative effect on their outlook, which can have lifelong implications -- and broad implications for society. Unfortunately, this kind of self-segregation of men from boys has become a major social problem in its own right -- a problem which will never be solved while man/boy love is stigmatized as harshly as it is now.

And to add some of Rind's research in there...

Q: But isn’t the harmfulness of sex supported by scientific research?

A: Actually, no it isn’t. Peer-reviewed studies have shown clearly that there is nothing intrinsically harmful about sexual experiences between boys and men. For a full explanation, see: Outcomes: Can Science Shed Some Light?

The available research supports the following conclusions:

1. Most sexual contacts between boys and older partners are consensual -- in academic terms, they are not forced or coerced.

Baurmann, M. C. (1983). Sexualitat, gewalt und psychische folgen. Wiesbaden: Bundeskriminalamt.
Sponsored by the German Ministry of Justice, this is probably the largest study of sexual violence against minors ever conducted. The researchers reviewed every reported case of rape against a person under 21 and every reported case of illegal sexual contacts with a person under 14. The sample included approx. 8,000 girls and approx. 800 boys. A subset of the cases, including 114 boys, were closely examined using two objective psychological tests and two different methods of subjective evaluation in each case. While half of the girls had reported being coerced or forced (this group was primarily teenaged girls raped by males in their twenties), none of the boys in the sample reported coercion in their experience.
Rind, B., Tromovitch, P., & Bauserman, R. (1998). A meta-analytic examination of assumed properties of child sexual abuse using college samples. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 22-53.
A “meta-analysis” is a study of multiple studies, in which samples are statistically combined to achieve a more statistically powerful result. The method has been used in many fields of study and is highly regarded among researchers. This meta-analysis included 59 different studies of “child sexual abuse.”
Finkelhor, D. (1979). Sexually victimized children. New York: Free Press.
Finkelhor is a masterful spin-doctor, but in this book he makes two mistakes: It seems evident here that his career is based on a desire to discredit the social movements of the 1960s, but more importantly, the text tells several bald-faced lies about the data he collected. He reports that among his non-clinical sample of 84 boys who had sexual contacts with older partners, 33%

2. Boys who have sexual contacts with older partners usually feel the experience was harmless or beneficial.

Baker, A. W. & Duncan, S. P. (1985). Child sexual abuse: A study of prevalence in Great Britain. Child Abuse & Neglect, 9, 457-467.
This study of a nationally representative population sample, is among the largest and best-sampled studies ever conducted on sexual experiences of the general population. The actual findings of this study are extremely eye-opening, despite the authors' apparently strong sex-negative bias.
Li, C. K., West, D. J., and Woodhouse, T. P. (1993). Children’s sexual encounters with adults. Buffalo: Prometheus.
West was the Director of the Institute of Criminology, and Professor of Clinical Criminology at the University of Cambridge, where he was a Fellow of Darwin College.


3. Boys who have sexual contacts with older partners usually do not feel negatively about the experience.

Finkelhor, D. (1979). Sexually victimized children. New York: Free Press.Fromuth, M. E., & Burkhart, B. R. (1987). Sexual victimization among college men: Definitional and methodological issues. Violence Victims, 2, 241-253.Goldman, R. J., & Goldman, J. D. G., (1988). The prevalence and nature of child sexual abuse in Australia. Australian Journal of Sex, Marriage, and Family, 9, 94-106.Li, C. K., West, D. J., and Woodhouse, T. P. (1993). Children’s sexual encounters with adults. Buffalo: Prometheus.Rind, B., Tromovitch, P., & Bauserman, R. (1998). A meta-analytic examination of assumed properties of child sexual abuse using college samples. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 22-53.Schultz, L., & Jones, P. (1983). Sexual abuse of children: Issues for social service and health professionals. Child Welfare, 62, 99-108.

4. Many boys who have sexual contacts with older partners report strongly positive feelings about the experience.

Okami, P. (1991). Self-reports of “positive” childhood and adolescent sexual contacts with older persons: An exploratory study. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 20, 437-457.Sandfort, T. G. M. (1982). The sexual aspect of paedophile relations. Amsterdam: Pan/Spartacus.Sandfort, T. G. M. (1984). Sex in pedophiliac relationships: An empirical investigation among a non-representative group of boys. The Journal of Sex Research, 20, 123-142.Sandfort, T. G. M. (1987). Boys on their contacts with men. Elmhurst, New York: Global Academic Publishers.Tindall, R. H. (1978). The male adolescent involved with a pederast becomes an adult. Journal of Homosexuality, 3, 373-382.

5. Boys who have non-coerced sexual contacts with older partners are not psychologically less adjusted than other males.

Bauserman, R., & Rind, B. (1997). Psychological correlates of male child and adolescent sexual experience with adults: A review of the nonclinical literature. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 26, 105-141.Coxell, A., King, M., Mezey, G., & Gordon, D. (1999). Lifetime prevalence, characteristics, and associated problems of non-consensual sex in men: Cross sectional survey. British Medical Journal, 318, pp. 846-850.Rind, B., Tromovitch, P., & Bauserman, R. (1998). A meta-analytic examination of assumed properties of child sexual abuse using college samples. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 22-53.6. The degree to which a boy feels free to guide or to end the contacts, i.e. the degree of consent, is the single largest determining factor in whether he will feel negatively about the experience and whether it will affect his psychological adjustment.Bauserman, R., & Rind, B. (1997). Psychological correlates of male child and adolescent sexual experience with adults: A review of the nonclinical literature. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 26, 105-141.Constantine, L. L. (1981). The effects of early sexual experience: A review and synthesis of research. In L. L. Constantine & F.M. Martinson (Eds.), Children and sex (pp. 217-244). Boston: Little, Brown and Company.Constantine, L. L. (1983). Child sexuality: Recent developments and implications for treatment, prevention, and social policy. International Journal of Medicine and Law, 1983, #2, 55-67.Coxell, A., King, M., Mezey, G., & Gordon, D. (1999). Lifetime prevalence, characteristics, and associated problems of non-consensual sex in men: Cross sectional survey. British Medical Journal, 318, pp. 846-850.Finkelhor, D. (1979). Sexually victimized children. New York: Free Press.7. The age at which someone has a sexual experience is not a useful predictor of their later psychological adjustment.Rind, B., Tromovitch, P., & Bauserman, R. (1998). A meta-analytic examination of assumed properties of child sexual abuse using college samples. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 22-53.8. The particular physical act that occurs during consensual sexual contacts between a boy and an older partner is not a useful predictor of his later psychological adjustment.Bauserman, R., & Rind, B. (1997). Psychological correlates of male child and adolescent sexual experience with adults: A review of the nonclinical literature. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 26, 105-141.Rind, B., Tromovitch, P., & Bauserman, R. (1998). A meta-analytic examination of assumed properties of child sexual abuse using college samples. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 22-53.9. Men who love boys cannot be distinguished from other men on standard personality inventories and other psychological tests.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.

I'm shocked there were this many types of studies done regarding this topic. However, it falls into our discussion today, is NAMBLA merely biasing this information towards their goal? How many of these studies have been skewed towards NAMBLA's belief system? This certainly makes me think twice about the next time a new study comes around on the news... How much can this information really be trusted? It proves our discussion in class regarding research.