What increases the risk of abuse recurring?
- Affectional deprivation in childhood, and other negative experiences.
- Masturbating to fantasies of abuse.
- Offending has occurred many times and was not detected.
- Not accepting that child sexual abuse causes psychological harm, such as by having distorted beliefs that the adult was “teaching” or “training” the child sexually to help their development.
- Involvement with pornography.
- Failure to accept personal responsibility.
- Being a childhood victim oneself.
- Distorted attitudes, such as arise from the Internet or other offenders, that suggests that because children have sexual feelings, sexual activity when they are young does not cause psychological damage to them. These falsehoods should never be entertained.
- Offenders or prospective offenders being too ashamed or too scared to ask for help.
- Confusing sexual feelings with affection and love. (This can occur if a child who missed out on affection as a child was either abused in childhood, or engaged in sexual activity at a young age. The confusion (or contamination) of affection and sexuality is a major contributor to childhood victims becoming abusers).
- Intoxication.
