[Base]
[Index]
Bell, A., Weinberg, M.
Sexual preference: Its development among men and women
Bloomington, Indiana University Press (1981)
One methodically plausible estimate comes from a study that was not
about sexual abuse at all - Bell and Weinberg's widely cited study of
homosexuality in San Francisco (Bell & Weinberg, 1978,
1981). These researchers needed a control group of heterosexuals to
compare with their large homosexual sample, so they commissioned an
area probability survey of heterosexual men in San Francisco. This was
a "random" sample obtained by field interviewers knocking on
doors. Its main limitations were that it specifically excluded
homosexuals and that it was relatively small for a study of this
sort. Nonetheless, of this group of 284 men who were interviewed
face-to-face about a wide variety of sexual matters, 2.5% said they
had had a "prepubertal sexual experience with a male adult involving
physical contact" (See Table 10-1).
Bell and Weinberg give a somewhat higher figure for sexual abuse
of boys in their homosexual sample. The homosexual sample, however,
was not a random one, but was collected from volunteers recruited by
paid recruiters. The fact that the figure for abuse is almost twice as
high for the homosexual than the heterosexual men (4.9% vs. 2.5%) may
be because the homosexual sample was composed of volunteers more
willing to confide wheras the heterosexual sample was composed of
respondents selected randomly. But it also may reflect the fact that
more homosexual men have had such experiences. For more discussion of
the possible connection, see Chapter 12.