We identified 40 articles on the cycle of sexual abuse issued between 1965 and 1996. Results Inconclusive About the Relationship Between Childhood Sexual Victimization and Adult Sexual Offending Against Children

There was no consensus among the studies we reviewed that being sexually abused as a child led directly to the victim’s becoming an adult sexual abuser of children. However, some studies did conclude that it might increase the risk that victims would commit sexual abuse later. A majority of the retrospective studies noted that most sex offenders had not been sexually abused as children, and the two prospective studies showed that the majority of victims of sexual abuse during childhood did not become sex offenders as adults. However, these studies varied considerably in the types of child sexual abusers studied, whether control or comparison groups were used, and if so, the types of individuals in these groups. Second, self-reports of childhood sexual abuse obtained from known sex offenders are of questionable validity. Sexually abused children were significantly more likely to have been arrested for prostitution, however. Most of the studies were retrospective in design; that is, they began with a sample of known sex offenders of children and sought to determine whether they were sexually abused during childhood. The two studies we reviewed that were prospective in design attempted to overcome this limitation by identifying samples of sexually victimized children and tracking them into adulthood to determine how many became sex offenders.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed research studies regarding the cycle of sexual abuse, focusing on the likelihood that individuals who are victims of sexual abuse as children will become sexual abusers of children in adulthood.

What GAO Found

GAO found that: (1) there was no consensus among the 23 retrospective and 2 prospective studies reviewed that childhood sexual abuse led directly to the victim becoming an adult sexual abuser; (2) the retrospective studies, which sought to determine whether a sample of known sex offenders had been sexually abused as children, differed considerably in the types of offenders studied, use of control or comparison groups, and definition and reporting of childhood sexual abuse; (3) although some of the retrospective studies concluded that childhood sexual abuse may increase the risk that victims will commit sexual abuse later, most of the studies noted that the majority of sex offenders had not been sexually abused as children; (4) the prospective studies, which tracked sexually abused children into adulthood to determine how many became sex offenders, studied sample populations that may not be representative of the entire population of childhood sexual abuse victims; and (5) the prospective studies found that victims of childhood sexual abuse were not more likely than nonvictims to be arrested for sex offenses.