Shirley Feldman-Summers

Childhood molestation: variables related to differential impacts on psychosexual functioning in adult women.

To examine factors contributing to the differential adjustment of women sexually molested as children, three groups of 30 women each were recruited to participate in this study: (a) a clinical group consisting of women seeking therapy for problems associated with childhood molestation; (b) a nonclinical group consisting of women molested as children but who had never sought therapy and considered themselves to be well adjusted; and (c) a control group of women who had not been molested. Findings indicate that the clinical group was significantly less well adjusted than either the nonclinical or control group on measures of psychosexual functioning and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. In addition, women in the clinical group differed significantly from women in the nonclinical group in terms of (a) age at which last molestation occurred and (b) frequency and duration of molestation. It is proposed that differences in adult adjustment may be mediated by emotional responses evoked at the time of the incident(s), which in turn can be linked to the frequency and duration of molestation and to developmental factors associated with the age of last molestation.

Perceptions of Victims and Defendants in Criminal Assault Cases

An experiment was conducted to ascertain the manner in which male and female subjects perceive the victim and the defendant involved in criminal assault. Characteristics of the victim, type of crime committed, and sex of the subject were systematically varied. The experiment, therefore, took the form of a 5 (Married Woman/Single, Virgin/Single, Nonvirgin/Divorced Woman/Prostitute) X 3 (Rape/ Attempted Rape/Physical Assault) X 2 (Male Subjects/Female Subjects) factorial design. The findings indicate that as the respectability of the victim decreases, her perceived responsibility for the rape increases. Furthermore, as the victims respectability declines, the perceived impact of the crime on the victim decreases. In addition, significant sex differences (female > males) emerged in conjunction with the length of jail sentence recommended for the defendant, perceived psychological impact of the crime on the victim, the seriousness of the crime, and the perceived guilt of the defendant. The results are interpreted within a balance theory framework, and the implications of the research for legal procedures are discussed.

Influence Attempts When Competing Views Are Gender-Related: Sex as Credibility

A study was conducted to examine the effect of sex of subject, sex of majority and minority influence source, and male or female relatedness of the issue on conformity, Male and female subjects indicated their agreement (or disagreement) with male and female related statements following an influence attempt by either four male or four female confederates. The sex of the majority opinion was juxtaposed with a minority opinion held by an opposite-sexed confederate. Two major findings were obtained. First, for male related issues, subjects conformed more when the majority influence source was male than when female. Likewise, on female-related issues, subjects conformed more when the majority influence source was female than when male. Second, male subjects conformed more than female subjects on the female related issues whereas on male related issues they tended to conform less. The theoretical and practical significance of these findings is discussed.

The experience of forgetting" childhood abuse: A national survey of psychologists": Correction.

A national sample of psychologists were asked whether they had been abused as children and, if so, whether they had ever forgotten some or all of the abuse. Almost a quarter of the sample (23.9%) reported childhood abuse, and of those, approximately 40% reported a period of forgetting some or all of the abuse. The major findings were that (a) both sexual and nonsexual abuse were subject to periods of forgetting; (b) the most frequently reported factor related to recall was being in therapy; (c) approximately one half of those who reported forgetting also reported corroboration of the abuse; and (d) reported forgetting was not related to gender or age of the respondent but was related to severity of the abuse.