Amy Baker
Further, hints exist in the clinical literature that families of sexual offenders are rife with secrecy. As Johnson (1988) reported anecdotally, "Important things were kept secret from members of the family. Some parents had other children of which current children were not aware; in some cases children were unaware of previous husbands of their mothers; incarcerations were kept secret, although the person had been living in the house at the time they were sentenced to jail. Parents made up stories about persons who disappeared, or children were told not to ask questions" (p. 11).
Family systems theory (Imber-Black, 1998) suggests that children intuitively know that secrets are being kept from them. The room may become hushed when they enter; the topic of conversation may suddenly change when they are within earshot; inconsistencies in family stories may become apparent. Youth may not know the content of the secret, but it is very likely that they know of the secret's existence. As Bowen (1978) observed, children have an inexplicable awareness of unspoken parental concerns, felt throughout the emotional life of the family. Pincus and Dare (1978) also noted that children exhibit an unconscious awareness of the secrets in their own acting-out behavior. Thus, we hypothesize that family secrets are transmitted through the generations as part of a style of family relating (Herz-Brown, 1991). Consistent with Bowenian transgenerational family therapy theory (1978), we hypothesize that family secrets may be transmitted across generations through the creation of triangles and lack of differentiation among family-of-origin members, which is perpetuated and replicated in subsequent generations through the choice of partners and through parenting styles. As Van Manen (1996) suggests, "the good deeds and the wrongdoings of one generation often live on in successive generations. An attitudinal tendency toward secretiveness and inwardness by parents is not infrequently passed on as a character trait to their children" (p. 5).
Our hypothesis that families of sex offenders will have more family
secrecy and deception than comparison families is also based on the notion
that family secrets may actually contribute to the development of sexual
acting out. Family secrecy has many potential negative consequences for the
normal development of children, including lack of intimacy, distorted
reality, and feelings of powerlessness (Bowen, 1978; Imber-Black, 1993,
1998; Selvini, 1997). These three consequences of family secrecy are also
common characteristics of sexual offenders.
According to Imber-Black
(1998) and Karpel (1980) family secrets function in part to modulate
intimacy and distance among family members. When children are raised in an
environment of secrecy and deception, they feel cut-off and distant from the
people most important to them as well as confused about how to develop close
relationships based on honesty and trust. Family secrets create boundaries
and alliances depending upon who does and does not know the secret. On this
point, Eaker (1986) noted that, "Alliances and boundaries in the family are
formulated on the basis of knowledge about the secret, which has the effect
of isolating members from each other" (p. 237). Family secrets can also
create a sense of separation from people outside the family system who are
not part of the "awareness network" (Karpel, 1980).
This sense of isolation is a hallmark characteristic of some subsets of sexually abusing adolescents (Davis & Leitenberg, 1987; Worling, 2000). Miner and Crimmens (1995) conclude that the research data "point to the primacy of isolation and poor social adjustment as distinguishing characteristics of adolescent sex offenders" (p. 9). Feeling disconnected and outside the mainstream of society may function to loosen inhibitions against socially unacceptable behavior such as committing sexual offenses. Decreased identification with social norms may also be associated with diminished empathy with others, also contributing to sexual offending behavior.
Family secrets are also believed to foster distorted reality (Selvini,
1997). Family secrets tend to nurture misperceptions because critical
information is withheld. Children in such families learn that, in order to
reduce tension within the family system, any information, feelings, or ideas
that are contrary with the official family presentation must be repressed or
denied. Thus, the child's own sense of what he thinks and feels must be
adjusted (i.e., distorted) in order to not disrupt the family system.
Such reality distortion is also common among sex offenders. In fact,
offender denial is reported by clinicians as one of the most frequent
responses to confrontation and disclosure of the offense (Salter, 1988).
Baker, A. J. L. (2003) Family secrecy: a comparative study
of juvenile sex offenders and youth with conduct disorders – Family and
Couple Research.
Family Process, Spring, 2003
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