Are there background and trigger factors that can contribute to an adult sexually abusing a child, for the first time, or in a relapse?

Yes. Upset feelings or low mood are often a precursor to negative behaviours, including child sex abuse.

 

These upsets usually relate to recent life stresses, losses, or setbacks which serve to arouse additional distress from a pool in memory of childhood trauma or need-frustration. Unwholesome thoughts, fantasies and desires which promise a quick-fix can flow out of such misery, and are sometimes acted upon.  That is to say, that in addition to current upsets, there are also background factors related to life experiences during childhood that contribute to the offender’s inappropriate acting-out. What happens is that the current stresses impinge on a person’s sensitivities or vulnerabilities that were acquired during childhood. With such a fusion of current and internal historical stresses, poor problem-solving can result.

 

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