Intra-Familial and Extra-Familial Child Sexual Abuse: Differences in Swedish Court Cases
Abstract
Child sexual abuse (CSA) has been shown to differ depending on the
relationship between child complainant and defendant, yet no found
studies have compared intra-familial and extra-familial CSA in
Sweden. The present thesis aimed to study quantitative differences
between alleged intra-familial and extra-familial cases of CSA. Cases
from Swedish District Courts (n = 174) of sexual abuse against
children up to 7 years old were analyzed. In line with previous
research, several differences in characteristics between alleged intraand
extra-familial cases were found. A significant difference in
juridical decision to convict or acquit was also shown, with more
intra-familial cases resulting in acquittal and more extra-familial
cases resulting in conviction. Extra-familial relationship was also a
significant predictor to conviction. Future studies may want to
further examine whether an explanation for the difference in juridical
decision could be found in differences in evidence provided.
Description
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Article
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Keywords
comparison, intrafamilial abuse, extrafamilial abuse, court cases, International Resources, Sweden
Citation
Bergh, C. (2017). Intra-Familial and Extra-Familial Child Sexual Abuse: Differences in Swedish Court Cases. Gothenburg, Sweden: University of Gothenburg.