Date sent:        Mon, 5 Jun 1995 11:00:39 -0700 (PDT)
From:             GREG HEREK

The following is excerpted from "Myths about sexual orientation: A lawyer's 
guide to social science research" by G.M. Herek, which appeared in the journal 
Law and Sexuality, 1991, v. 1, pp. 133-172.  Some references have been 
deleted; see the original article for the full reference list. 

Copyright [169] 1991 by Law & Sexuality: A Review of Lesbian and Gay Legal 
Issues (Tulane Law School, New Orleans). 

...

Myth #4:  Homosexuals are more likely than hete rosexuals to molest children 
sexually.

	Gay people often have been accused of preying on children.  This is a 
manifestation of a general cultural tendency to portray disliked minority 
groups (e.g., Jews, Blacks) as threats to the dominant society's most 
vulnerable members.  When Anita Bryant campaigned successfully in 1977 to 
repeal a Dade County (FL) ordinance prohibiting anti-gay discrimination, she 
named her organization "Save Our Children," and warned that "a particularly 
deviant-minded [gay] tea cher could sexually molest children."  The number of 
Americans who believe the accusation that gay men and women are child 
molesters appears to be decreasing.  Gallup poll data show that 42% of 
Americans now would allow gay people to be elementary school teachers, 
compared to 27% in 1977 (Colasanto, 1989).  Nevertheless, many of the 
remaining 58% probably continue to accept the stereotype.  

	When evaluating empirical research on child molestation, sampling issues 
and problems of terminology must be c onsidered.  Societal condemnation of and 
criminal penalties for child molestation intensify the difficulties usually 
encountered in attempting to draw representative samples of sexual 
minorities.  Most empirical studies have been conducted with convicted 
perpetrators, thereby excluding those who were not prosecuted or convicted.  
Consequently, we must rely on available data while recognizing that, because 
of its sampling biases, the results do not necessarily reflect societal 
patterns.

	A second problem in evaluating empirical research on child molestation 
concerns terminology.  Sexual abuse of male children by adult men is often 
referred to as "homosexual molestation," which implies that the perpetrator is 
himself gay or has a homosexual orientation.  Usually, however, the adjectives 
"homosexual" and "heterosexual" refer to the victim's gender in relation to 
that of the perpetrator, not to the latter's sexual orientation.  For example, 
Fisher (1969; Fisher & Howell, 1970) assessed the psychological needs of 50 
"homosexual pedophiliacs" (who were categorized as such because they had been 
convicted of a sexual offense against male children and no offenses against 
female children) and 100 "heterosexual pedophiliacs" (who had been convicted 
of a sexual offense against female children).  However, no information was 
provided about the offenders' adult sexual orientation or behavior.  
Similarly, Marshall (1988) referred to the males in his sample who molested 
boys as "homosexual molesters" (p. 273).  In a personal communication to this 
author, Marshall reported that only three of the seven men in his sample who 
had molested boys could be considered gay or homosexual; the other four had 
been heterosexually married.  All of the 14 men who molested young girls were 
considered by Marshall  to have a heterosexual orientation. 

	The distinction between gender of victim and sexual orientation of 
perpetrator is important because many child molesters have never developed the 
capacity for mature sexual relatio nships with other adults, either men or 
women.  Recognizing this, Finkelhor and Araji (1986) proposed that discussions 
of the sexual attractions of perpetrators should be conceptualized along a 
continuum ranging in degrees from exclusive interest in children to exclusive 
interest in adult partners.  Similarly, Groth and Birnbaum (1978) categorized 
child molesters as either fixated or regressed (see also Groth, Hobson, & 
Gary, 1982).  Fixation was defined as "a temporary or permanent arrestment of 
psychological maturation resulting from unresolved formative issues which 
persist and underlie the organization of subsequent phases of development" 
(Groth & Birnbaum, 1978, p. 176); fixated offenders never developed an adult 
sexual orientation.  Regression was defined as "a temporary or permanent 
appearance of primitive behavior after more mature forms of expression had 
been attained, regardless of whether the immature behavior was actually 
manifested earlier in the individual's development" (p. 177).  Regressed 
molesters can be adult homosexuals, heterosexuals, or bisexuals; what is 
important is that they report sexual relationships with other adults, whether 
men or women.  In a sample of 175 adult males who were convicted in 
Massachusetts of sexual assault against a child, Groth and Birnbaum (1978) 
found that none had an exclusively homosexual adult sexual orientation.  A 
plurality of the men (83 or 47%) were classified as "fixated;"  70 others 
(40%) were classified as regressed adult heterosexuals; the remaining 22 (13%) 
were classified as regressed adult bisexuals.  Of the last group, Groth and 
Birnbaum observed that "in their adult relationships they engaged in sex on 
occasion with men as well as with women.  However, in no case did this 
attraction to men exceed their preference for women....There were no men who 
were primarily sexually attracted to other adult males..." (p.180).  

	Failing to distinguish between an offender's sexual orientation and the 
gender of his victim can lead to overestimation of the proportion of gay men 
among the population of child molesters.  For example, Cameron (1985) 
purported to review published data to answer the question, "Do those who 
commit homosexual acts disproportionately incorporate children into their 
sexual practices?" (p. 1227).  He concluded that "at least one- third of the 
sexual attacks upon youth are homosexual" (p. 1228) and that "those who are 
bi- to homosexual are proportionately much more apt to molest youth" than are 
heterosexuals (p. 1231).  Cameron, however, assumed that all male-male 
molestations were committed by homosexuals.  A subsequent paper by Cameron and 
others (Cameron, Proctor, Coburn, Forde, Larson, & Cameron, 1986) described 
data collected in a door-to-door survey in seven U.S. cities and towns, and 
generally repeated the conclusions reached in Cameron (1985). As before, 
male-male sexual assaults were referred to as "homosexual" molestations (e.g., 
Abstract, p.327) and the perpetrators' sexual orientation apparently was not a 
ssessed. Such confusions can affect subsequent research. Cameron's (1985) 
equation of same-sex molestation with an adult homosexual orientation appears 
to have led Freund et al. (1989) to study why "the proportion of sex offenders 
against male children among homosexual men is substantially larger than the 
proportion of sex offenders against female children among heterosexual men" 
(p.115).  However, Freund and his colleagues failed to find greater sexual 
arousal among gay men (in their terminology, "and rophiles") when they were 
shown visual images of young males than among heterosexual men ("gynephiles") 
when they were shown visual images of young females.

	Recognizing the many problems created by the lack of representative 
samples and ambiguous terminology, we can critically evaluate the empirical 
research relating to adult sexual orientation and molestation of children.  In 
this process, we must search for consistent trends in the results of empirical 
studies that have adequately assessed and reported the sexual orientation of 
perpetrators.  It appears from these studies that gay men are no more likely 
than heterosexual men to molest children (for an earlier review, see Newton, 
1978).


NOTES

1.  Sexual abuse by women appears to be relatively rare.  When it occurs, it 
typically involves a female accomplice who assists a perpetrator in procuring 
victims or, occasionally, a woman who seduces a young male. Consequently, the 
child molester stereotype is applied more often to gay men than to lesbians.

2.  This assumption is puzzling in that it suggests inattention by the author 
to the literature he himself claimed to have reviewed.  For example, he  cited 
the Groth and Birnbaum (1978) study as evidencing a 3:2 ratio of 
"heterosexual" (i.e., female victim) to "homosexual" (i.e., male victim) 
molestations, and notes that "54% of all the molestations in this study were 
performed by bisexual or homosexual practitioners" (p. 1231).  As already 
noted, however, Groth and Birnbaum (1978) reported that none of the men in 
their sample had an exclusively homosexual adult sexual orientation, and that 
none of the 22 bisexual men were more attracted to adult ma les than to adult 
females.  Cameron's 54% statistic does not appear anywhere in the Groth and 
Birnbaum (1978) article, nor does Cameron explain its derivation.  It also is 
noteworthy that, although Cameron (1985) assumed that all male-male 
molestations were committed by homosexuals, he assumed that not all 
male-female molestations were committed by heterosexuals.  He incorporated a 
"bisexual correction" (p. 1231) into his data manipulations to increase 
further his estimate of the risk posed to children  by homosexual/bisexual 
men.  In the latter half of his paper, Cameron (1985) considered whether 
"homosexual teachers have more frequent sexual interaction with their pupils" 
(p. 1231).  Based on 30 instances of sexual contact between a teacher and 
pupil reported in ten different sources published between 1920 and 1982, 
Cameron concluded that "a pupil would appear about 90 times more likely to be 
sexually assaulted by a homosexual practitioner" (p. 1232); the ratio rose to 
100 times when Cameron added his bisexual correction.  This ratio is 
meaningless because no data were obtained concerning the actual sexual 
orientation of the teachers involved; as before, Cameron assumed that 
male-male contacts were perpetrated by homosexuals.  Further, Cameron's 
rationale for selecting particular sources appears to have been entirely 
idiosyncratic.  He described no systematic method for reviewing the 
literature, and appears not to have reviewed the voluminous literature on the 
sexual development of children and adolescents.   His final choice of sources 
appears to have slanted his findings toward what Cameron described as "the 
relative absence in the scientific literature of heterosexual teacher-pupil 
sexual events coupled with persistent, albeit infrequent, homosexual 
teacher-pupil sexual interactions" (p. 1232).  

3.  This study also suffers from severe methodological problems: The sampling 
methods were not adequately described; the representativeness of the sample is 
highly doubtful; the locations for dat a collection (Omaha [NE], Los Angeles 
[CA], Denver [CO], Washington [DC], Louisville [KY?], Bennett [NE], and 
Rochester [NY]) appear to have been selected solely on the basis of 
convenience (see Brown & Cole, 1985, for a detailed critique).  Additionally, 
the response rate appears to have been unacceptably low, so that their sample 
does not permit generalizations from the data to any larger population (Herek, 
1991, note #10). 

4.  During the mid-1980s, Paul Cameron was labeled in the gay press as "th e 
most dangerous antigay voice in the United States today" (Walter, 1985, p.28; 
see also Fettner, 1985).  In 1984, all members of the American Psychological 
Association received official written notice that "Paul Cameron (Nebraska) was 
dropped from membership for a violation of the Preamble to the Ethical 
Principles of Psychologists" on December 2, 1983, by the APA Board of 
Directors ("Notice: Persons dropped from membership," 1984).  At its 
membership meeting on October 19, 1984, the Nebraska Psycholo gical 
Association adopted a resolution stating that it "formally disassociates 
itself from the representations and interpretations of scientific literature 
offered by Dr. Paul Cameron in his writings and public statements on 
sexuality" (Nebraska Psychological Association, 1984).  In 1985, the American 
Sociological Association adopted a resolution which included the assertion 
that "Dr. Paul Cameron has consistently misinterpreted and misrepresented 
sociological research on sexuality, homosexuality, and lesbianism" ("Sociology 
group criticizes work of Paul Cameron," 1985).  Cameron's credibility was also 
questioned outside of academia.  In his written opinion in Baker v. Wade 
(1985), Judge Buchmeyer of the U.S. District Court of Dallas referred to 
"Cameron's sworn statement that 'homosexuals abuse children at a 
proportionately greater incident than do heterosexuals,'" and concluded that 
"Dr. Paul Cameron...has himself made misrepresentations to this Court" and 
that "There has been no fraud or misrepres entations except by Dr. Cameron" 
(p.536).  

5.  This is not to suggest that molestations of children by adult homosexual 
men never occur.  For example, Erickson, Walbek, & Seely (1988) reported that 
86% of the men in their sample who had molested males under age 14 described 
themselves as homosexual or bisexual.  Unfortunately, Erickson et al. did not 
report the actual number associated with this percentage (based on their data, 
the number appears to be approximately 54 out of 229 child molesters st udied, 
or 24%).  Nor did they differentiate homosexual from bisexual men, or report 
how many of the so-called homosexual men were heterosexually married (although 
some apparently were, based on the authors' other comments).  Of critical 
importance is the fact that the authors did not determine if the self- 
reported homosexual and bisexual men were involved in homosexual relationships 
with adults of the same sex, or whether the self-applied labels were used to 
describe the gender of their under-age victi ms (in Groth and Birnbaum's 
[1978] terminology, whether they were fixated). 


REFERENCES

Baker v. Wade, 106 Federal Rules Decisions 526 (N.D. Texas, 1985).

Brown, R.D., & Cole, J.K. (1985).  Letter to the Editor.  Nebraska Medical 
Journal, 70, 410-414. 

Cameron, P. (1985).  Homosexual molestation of children/sexual interaction of 
teacher and pupil. Psychological Reports, 57, 1227-1236.

Cameron, P., Proctor, K., Coburn, W., Forde, N., Larson, H., & Cameron, K.  
(1986).  Child molestation and homosexuality.  Psychological Reports, 58, 
327-337. 

Colasanto, D. (1989, October 25).  Gay rights support has grown since 1982, 
Gallup poll finds.  San Francisco Chronicle, p.A21.

Erickson, W.D., Walbek, N.H., & Seely, R.K. (1988).  Behavior patterns of 
child molesters.  Archives of Sexual Behavior, 17 (1), 77-86. 

Fettner, A.G. (1985, September 23).  The evil that men do.  New York Native, 
pp. 23-24.

Finkelhor, D., & Araji, S. (1986).  Explanations of pedophilia: A four factor 
model.  J ournal of Sex Research, 22 (2), 145-161. 

Fisher, G. (1969).  Psychological needs of heterosexual pedophiliacs.  
Diseases of the Nervous System, 30, 419-421.

Fisher, G., & Howell, L.M. (1970).  Psychological needs of homosexual 
pedophiliacs.  Diseases of the Nervous System, 31, 623-625.

Freund, K., Watson, R., & Rienzo, D.  (1989).  Heterosexuality, homosexuality, 
and erotic age preference. Journal of Sex Research, 26 (1), 107-117. 

Groth, A.N., & Birnbaum, H.J. (1978).  Adult sexual orienta tion and 
attraction to underage persons. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 7 (3), 175-181.

Groth, A.N., Hobson, W.F., & Gary, T.S. (1982).  The child molester: Clinical 
observations.  Journal of Social Work and Human Sexuality, 1 (1/2), 129-144. 

Herek, G.M. (1991). Stigma, prejudice, and violence against lesbians and gay 
men. In J. Gonsiorek  & J. Weinrich (Eds.), Homosexuality: Research 
implications for public policy (pp. 60-80).  Newbury  Park, CA: Sage.

Marshall, W.L. (1988).  The use of sexually explicit stimuli by rapists, child 
molesters, and nonoffenders. Journal of Sex Research, 25 (2), 267-288.

Nebraska Psychological Association. (1984, October 19).  Resolution.  Minutes 
of the Nebraska Psychological Association.  Omaha: Author.

Newton, D.E. (1978).  Homosexual behavior and child molestation: A review of 
the evidence.  Adolescence, 13, 29-43. 

Notice: Persons dropped from membership in the American Psychological 
Association. (1984).  Internal communication from APA to all member s.

Sociology group criticizes work of Paul Cameron. (1985, September 10).  
Lincoln (NE) Star. 

Walter, D. (1985, October 29).  Paul Cameron.  The Advocate, pp. 28-33.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Since this article appeared in 1991, another relevant paper has 
been published.  See: Jenny et al. (1994). Are children at risk for sexual 
abuse by homosexuals?  Pediatrics, v. 94 #1, pp. 41-44. (with accompanying 
commentary).