Organised Sexual Abuse

by Michael Salter

Organised Sexual Abuse offers a comprehensive, interdisciplinary investigation of this phenomenon. Since the early 1980s, social workers and mental health professionals around the globe have encountered clients reporting sexual abuse by organized groups or networks. These allegations have been amongst the most controversial in debates over child sexual abuse, raising many unanswered questions. Are reports of organized abuse factual or the product of moral panic and false memories? If these reports are true, what is the appropriate response? The fields of child protection and psychotherapy have been polarised over the issue. And, although cases of organized abuse continue to be uncovered, a reasoned and evidence-based analysis of the subject is long overdue. Examining the existing evidence, and supplementing it with further qualitative research, in this book Michael Salter the relationship between sexual abuse and organized abuse; questions over the veracity of testimony; the gap between the policing response to sexual abuse and the realities of child sexual exploitation; the contexts in which sexually abusive groups develop and operate; the role of religion and ritual in subcultures of multi-perpetrator sexual abuse; as well as the experience of adults and children with histories of organized abuse in the criminal justice system and health system. Organized Sexual Abuse thus provides a definitive analysis that will be of immense value to those with professional and academic interests in this area.

Genres: Nonfiction, Social Science

216 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

My work is focused on the intersections of gender, violence and culture and the ways in which violence is made meaningful by victims, perpetrators and others. Ongoing research interests include: child sexual abuse and its impacts across the lifespan, medico-legal responses to gendered violence, mental illness and substance abuse in traumatised populations, the role of online and digital technology in representations of violence, and the cultural significance of crime and violence. My background is in public health and public policy, and I've worked in the non-government and university sectors in translating research into policy and practice. My work aims to combine theoretical and empirical insights to inform work in a range of areas, including social work, child protection, therapy and counselling, policing and the law.

Research

I am currently a co-investigator on a Criminology Research Council funded grant addressing the social and legal aspects of young people's sexual use of digital and online technology with colleagues from the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales. In addition to this project, I am undertaking research in a number of diverse areas including: the use of social media by victims of gendered violence to challenge legal processes, the fetishisation of technology in crime control and politics, the phenomenon of multi-perpetrator domestic violence and the significance of ethnicity and culture in media reporting on organised sexual abuse.

I have recently completed a study of adult survivors of organised sexual abuse, and a study of sexually abused clients in the alcohol and drug sector with Dr Jan Breckenridge (UNSW). These projects involved qualitative research with traumatised populations, which continues to be an area of interest for me.

Source: http://www.uws.edu.au/school-of-socia...

Reviews

[Violet · Rating 5 out of 5]

very intense, very difficult reading experience. i was stunned, i think, when i first realized that salter was taking the things his research participants reported having experienced entirely seriously, and not doubting them even a little in his writing. he does a fair bit of "now, to someone who's never [experienced organized abuse/been close to someone who survived organized abuse], i know this will seem unbelievable"--but he always follows those sort of statements with "but you have to believe that it is true, it is happening." a very important book.

[Ashton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic resource.