Ronald J. Goldman

The Prevalence and Nature of Child Sexual Abuse in Australia

SynopsisIn a study replicated from the USA, 991 Questionnaires were completed by first year social science students in a range of Victorian post-secondary institutions from universities to apprenticeship schools, in both urban and rural areas. Most items covered the sexual history of the subjects during childhood and adolescence and the three main sections were analysed and reported. 82% of the sample report some kind of sexual experience with another person before the age of 13, some 60% being with other children. Children’s sexual experiences with adults, classified as child sexual abuse on age discrepancy criteria, were said to be experienced by 28% of girls and 9% of boys, the mean age of the incidents reported being 9.8 years for girls and 103 years for boys. The mean age of older abusers of girls is 30.5 years and 22.4 years of boys. Over 90% of abusers are men, the girls experiencing mainly heterosexual advances. 24% of abusers were strangers compared with 76% known to the children. The type of sex...

Children's Perceptions of Parents and Their Roles: A Cross-National Study in Australia, England, North America, and Sweden.

Within a broader project on childrens sexual thinking, 838 children and 5 to 15 years in Australia, England, North America, and Sweden were interviewed (Goldman & Goldman, 1980, 1981.) Two items were focused upon: how children perceive differences between mothers and fathers, and how children perceive the roles of mothers and fathers. Five categories of differences between mother and father were located. Attitudinal differences positively correlated with age in all four countries. Parental roles contained five response categories. All categories show the traditional sex bias. Mother is seen by all children as predominantly concerned with domestic duties, care of children, and low status occupations, while father is seen overwhelmingly in a leisure role, as occupier of high status occupations, and playing authority-leadership roles in the family. Implications are discussed in terms of the need for society to accept and promote androgynous persons.

Sources of Sex Information for Australian, English, North American, and Swedish Children

Summary A sample of 838 children aged 5–15 in Australia, England, North America, and Sweden were interviewed about physical and sexual development. Six major topics were covered, including a section on how children viewed sex education. Reported here are questions about whom children were confident to ask sex questions and what their major sources of sex information were. It was found that girls more than boys were confident to ask mothers about sex, neither being confident to ask their fathers. From 9 years children showed reluctance to ask teachers, and were even more hesitant to ask friends. The three most cited sources of sex information were mother, school, and the media. Some differences between Swedish children and their peers in English speaking countries were found.

How children view old people and ageing: A developmental study of children in four countries

Abstract Children in Australia, England, North America and Sweden aged 5-15 years were interviewed about physical and sexual development. In a preliminary section children were asked to identify old age in terms of a specific age, what happened to old people, and what were the causes of old age. It was found that children developed a realistic identification of old age by 9 years of age, the English speaking countries showing increasing realism with increasing age, Australian children the least realistic. Swedish children made more realistic assessments earlier. The majority of characteristics attributed to old people categorized as physical, psychological, social-economic and sexual were negative and were related to a biologically based decline model in all countries. In the English speaking countries, children scored low on a Piagetian scale on “the causes of old age” most achieving concrete operations by 15 years and only a few achieving formal operations. Boys scored significantly higher than girls in...

Perception of Sexual Experience in Childhood: Relating Normal Development to Incest

SynopsisResearch findings into children’s developing perceptions of sexuality are presented. These are based on interviews with nearly 1,000 children in Australia, England, North America and Sweden aged 5 to 15 years. The findings most relevant to the experience of incest in childhood are extrapolated and applied speculatively to father-daughter incest at prepubertal, transpubertal and postpubertal stages. It is concluded that incest impedes, distorts or displaces normal sexual development; and that more research is badly needed.

Children's perceptions of sex differences in babies and adolescents: a cross-national study.

A sample of 838 children aged 5–15 in Australia, England, North America, and Sweden were interviewed about physical and sexual development. One section covered how children perceived sex differences. Criteria used for scoring were based on a biological realism scale. In identifying sex differences of newborn babies, a progression from realistic to unrealistic recognition was observed with increasing age in all countries. The Swedish younger age groups were more realistic than their English-speaking peers, with the latter catching up in the teenage years. In discerning pubertal sex differences, children tended to move from presexual ideas between 9 and 11 years and to have achieved full sexual answers between 13 and 15 years. Evidence did not support the latency period theory or the presence of castration fantasies in children. Cross-national differences are discussed and their implications explored.

Children’s concepts of why people get married: A cross-national study

SynopsisA sample of 838 children aged 5–15 in Australia, England, North America and Sweden were interviewed about social, sexual and biological development. One section dealt with what concepts children had about reasons for marrying. Answers were coded into five categories, socio-biological, emotional dependence, sexual, economic and legal-conventional reasons. It was found that the socio-biological category demonstrated idiosyncratic results for Sweden, particularly in responses giving ‘babies’ as the reason for marriage. Swedish children did not appear to see marriage as a necessary prerequisite for having children. The other three samples revealed the majority in the emotional dependence category. Sexual and economic responses were infrequent. An increased number of legal-conventional answers were seen at 15 years due possibly to greater awareness of social pressures. Overall, children appeared to retain a romantic view of marriage, although a sizeable proportion supported friendship-companionship con...

A Critical Evaluation of the Swedish (1977) Sex Education Syllabus

SynopsisA revised manual (1977) for teachers of sex education by the National Swedish Board o f Education was made available in English in 1982. The aims, methods and contents suggested for each age group in Sweden are critically evaluated by the authors in the light of research, developmental trends and societal changes experienced by Swedish children and adolescents. The article is in 2 parts, Part I covering Goals and Developmental trends, and Part II covering Contents and Methods, and related matters. It was found that the topics chosen were generally consistent with the criteria set out by the Swedish authorities, and also consistent with trends and changes evident world wide among Western democracies. As such it is assessed as a relevant model for Australia, especially in those states considering the provision o f sex education in primary schools.