cover image By Silence Betrayed: Sexual Abuse of Children in America

By Silence Betrayed: Sexual Abuse of Children in America

John Crewdson. Little Brown and Company, $17.95 (267pp) ISBN 978-0-316-16094-0

Recounting widely publicized and controversial cases of child sexual abuse, Chicago Tribune Los Angeles bureau chief Crewdson, author of The Tarnished Door, presents an overview of child victimization, ""one of the most pressing problems faced by this society.'' Scores of molesters and victims interviewed here, including pedophiles and participants in incest, describe how they entered into a sexual relationship willingly or unwittingly, and how it affected their lives and families. Many of the estimated 38 million men and women who claim to have been sexually abused as children are now themselves abusers, according to Crewdson. He maintains that today's social and economic conditions, including the great number of children in child care centers, contribute to the increase in sexual abuse, and that such cases are difficult to prove because of the youth of the witnesses. He also discusses treatment of abusers and factors that impede prevention and the reporting needed to combat this problem. (January 26)