The Sexual Abuse of Boys in Organized Male Sports

Abstract

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is now a significant issue for organized sports. Since its “discovery” thirty years ago, research on CSA has been guided mostly by the “maleperpetrator—female victim” paradigm; hence, the perspective of the sexually abused male in the sports context has rarely been considered. This article considers organized male-sports as a social space that facilitates the sexual abuse of boys. Through promoting a sociological perspective on child abuse rather than an individualized and pathologized approach, I consider how the institutions of childhood, masculinity, and sports fit together and the contribution that sports make to the adult—child relation. I use Spiegel’s ecosystems model of the sexually abused male (SAM) and the sociology of sports literature to identify how some normative features of male sports contribute to the sexual abuse of male children.

The Disclosure Experiences of Male Child Sexual Abuse Survivors

“…! nature of the abuse, the manner in which data is collected, as well as the limited number of victims who disclose in a timely manner (Hartill, 2009;Stolenborgh, Van, Ijzendoorm, Euser, & Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2011); it is nonetheless believed that the numbers are quite staggering. Stolenborgh, et al (2011) conducted a thorough meta-analysis of the prevalence of CSA around the world by looking at 217 articles published between 1980 and 2008.…”

The Construct of Grooming in Child Sexual Abuse: Conceptual and Measurement Issues

“…Buying gifts for children or taking them on private outings obviously are not always precursors to sexual abuse. Using the male sports world as an example, Hartill (2009) wrote that "in preparing for the abuse, the perpetrator is able to use such 'disinhibiting' techniques through drawing on practices and discourses that are, to varying degrees, a normative feature within many, if not all, male sports contexts" (p. 239). Obviously part of the reason for this similarity to normative behavior is that the potential abuser does not want to be detected and thus wants to disguise what he is setting out to accomplish.…”

Social Constructions of Masculinity and Male Survivors of Wartime Sexual Violence: an Analytical Review

“…Although not the focus of this article, we also note that male-directed sexual violence does exist in peacetime within certain institutions such as prisons, gangs, male sports, and fraternities (Hartill, 2009;Jones & Pratt, 2008). During peacetime, institutionalized male sexual violence may occur as part of initiation into a group (Hartill).…”