Sexual politics/Rind

Rind 1998

A Meta-Analytic Examination of Assumed Properties of Child Sexual Abuse Using College Samples. Rind B, Tromovitch P, Bauserman R, Psychol Bull. 1998 Jul;124(1):22-53.

Abstract: Many lay persons and professionals believe that child sexual abuse (CSA) causes intense harm, regardless of gender, pervasively in the general population. The authors examined this belief by reviewing 59 studies based on college samples. Meta-analyses revealed that students with CSA were, on average, slightly less well adjusted than controls. However, this poorer adjustment could not be attributed to CSA because family environment (FE) was consistently confounded with CSA, FE explained considerably more adjustment variance than CSA, and CSA-adjustment relations generally became nonsignificant when studies controlled for FE. Self-reported reactions to and effects from CSA indicated that negative effects were neither pervasive nor typically intense, and than men reacted much less negatively than women. The college data were completely consistent with data from national samples. Basic beliefs about CSA in the general population were not supported.

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Ondersma 2001

Sex with children is abuse: Comment on Rind, Tromovitch, and Bauserman (1998), Ondersma SJ, Chaffin M, Berliner L, Cordon I, Goodman GS, Barnett D, Psychol Bull. 2001 Nov;127(6):707-14.

Abstract: B. Rind, P. Tromovitch, and R. Bauserman (1998) reported a meta-analysis of the relation between sexual abuse in childhood and adolescence and psychological functioning among college students. Several aspects of their work have proven to be highly controversial, including their assertion that the relation between child sexual abuse and adjustment is quite small and their questioning of whether child sexual abuse should be labeled abuse in scientific inquiry. In this commentary, the authors summarize the controversy that has ensued, place it in a historical context, discuss the limitations of B. Rind et al.'s findings, and critique the manner in which those findings are presented. The authors also argue for the appropriateness of the term abuse and for scientific terminology that reflects rather than contradicts consensual public morality.

Dallam 2001

The effects of child sexual abuse: Comment on Rind, Tromovitch, and Bauserman (1998) Dallam SJ1, Gleaves DH, Cepeda-Benito A, Silberg JL, Kraemer HC, Spiegel D., Psychol Bull. 2001 Nov;127(6):715-33.

Abstract: B. Rind, P. Tromovitch, and R. Bauserman (1998) examined the long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) by meta-analyzing studies of college students. The authors reported that effects "were neither pervasive nor typically intense" and that "men reacted much less negatively than women" (p. 22) and recommended value-neutral reconceptualization of the CSA construct. The current analysis revealed numerous problems in that study that minimized CSA-adjustment relations, including use of a healthy sample, an inclusive definition of CSA, failure to correct for statistical attenuation, and misreporting of original data. Rind et al.'s study's main conclusions were not supported by the original data. As such, attempts to use their study to argue that an individual has not been harmed by sexual abuse constitute a serious misapplication of its findings.

Rind 2001

The validity and appropriateness of methods, analyses, and conclusions in Rind et al. (1998): A rebuttal of victimological critique from Ondersma et al. (2001) and Dallam et al. (2001). Rind B, Tromovitch P, Bauserman R., Psychol Bull. 2001 Nov;127(6):734-58.

Abstract: The authors respond to 2 victimological critiques of their 1998 meta-analysis on child sexual abuse (CSA). S. J. Dallam et al. (2001) claimed that B. Rind, P. Tromovitch, and R. Bauserman (1998) committed numerous methodological and statistical errors, and often miscoded and misinterpreted data. The authors show all these claims to be invalid. To the contrary, they demonstrate frequent bias in Dallam et al.'s criticisms. S. J. Ondersma et al. (2001) claimed that Rind et al.'s study is part of a backlash against psychotherapists, that its suggestions regarding CSA definitions were extrascientific, and that the moral standard is needed to understand CSA scientifically. The authors show their suggestions to have been scientific and argue that it is Ondersma et al.'s issue-framing and moral standard that are extrascientific. This reply supports the original methods, analyses, recommendations, and conclusions of Rind et al.

Sher 2002

Publication of Rind et al. (1998). The editors' perspective, Sher KJ, Eisenberg N., Am Psychol. 2002 Mar;57(3):206-10.

Abstract: The authors address several issues surrounding the B. Rind et al (see record 1998-04232-002) meta-analysis on the long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse from their perspective as the editors who accepted the manuscript for publication. In particular, they discuss the appropriateness of their editorial decision, the appropriateness of a policy of considering authors' prior publications in editorial decisions (as suggested by some critics), and the editors' role in the specific recommendations made by B. Rind et al. They go on to consider actions they could have taken to minimize the mischaracterizations of the study's findings and conclusions and their views of the American Psychological Association's actions with respect to the authors personally and to society more generally.

Garrison 2002

Weathering a political storm. A contextual perspective on a psychological research controversy. Garrison EG, Kobor PC. Am Psychol. 2002 Mar;57(3):165-75.

Abstract: In the spring of 1999, a storm of controversy arose at the local, state, and national levels surrounding an article on the effects of child sexual abuse published in 1998 in Psychological Bulletin. The article was vehemently denounced by various media outlets, conservative grassroots organizations, members of the general public, state legislatures, and ultimately by the United States Congress. The authors chronicle these unprecedented events and related challenges faced by the American Psychological Association. The authors also describe the Association's efforts to resolve the crisis, while staunchly upholding academic freedom and scientific integrity, and review the lessons learned for the field of psychology.

Lilienfeld 2002

When worlds collide. Social science, politics, and the Rind et al. (1998). Child sexual abuse meta-analysis. Lilienfeld SO, Am Psychol. 2002 Mar;57(3):176-88.

Abstract: A 1998 meta-analysis by B. Rind, P. Tromovitch, and R. Bauserman in Psychological Bulletin indicated that the relations between child sexual abuse and later psychopathology were weak in magnitude. Shortly thereafter, this article was condemned by media personality Dr. Laura Schlessinger and numerous conservative organizations and was denounced by the United States Congress. In addition, the American Psychological Association (APA) distanced itself from the authors' conclusions. This incident raises questions regarding (a) authors' responsibilities concerning the reporting of politically controversial findings, (b) academic and scientific freedom, (c) the role of the APA in disabusing the public and media of logical errors and fallacies, and (d) the substantial gap between popular and academic psychology and the responsibility of the APA to narrow that gap.

Baird 2002

Politics, operant conditioning, Galileo, and the American Psychological Association's response to Rind et al. (1998). Baird BN Am Psychol. 2002 Mar;57(3):189-92.

Abstract: The controversy surrounding B. Rind, P. Tromovitch, and R. Bauserman (1998) provides valuable lessons into scientific independence, politics, and organizational decision making. In an unprecedented action, the U.S. Congress officially condemned findings of Rind et al. Meanwhile, the American Psychological Association took similarly unprecedented measures in an effort to assuage its Congressional critics. This article, written from the perspective of a psychologist serving in Congress, discusses the various political and organizational dynamics that developed during the controversy. Understanding and learning from this incident can help psychologists and their professional associations better prepare for and respond to potential controversies arising from research or other publications.

Sher 2002

Publication of Rind et al. (1998). The editors' perspective, Sher KJ, Eisenberg N., Am Psychol. 2002 Mar;57(3):206-10.

Abstract: The authors address several issues surrounding the B. Rind et al (see record 1998-04232-002) meta-analysis on the long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse from their perspective as the editors who accepted the manuscript for publication. In particular, they discuss the appropriateness of their editorial decision, the appropriateness of a policy of considering authors' prior publications in editorial decisions (as suggested by some critics), and the editors' role in the specific recommendations made by B. Rind et al. They go on to consider actions they could have taken to minimize the mischaracterizations of the study's findings and conclusions and their views of the American Psychological Association's actions with respect to the authors personally and to society more generally.