SEXUAL ABUSE BY MEN WHO WORK WITH CHILDREN - AN EXPLORATORY-STUDY

This paper reports findings from an exploratory study on sexual abuse by men who work with children. As a first step towards filling a major gap in the relevant research literature, in-depth interviews were car ried out with a small sample of men serving prison sentences for sexua lly abusing children in their trust. The paper focuses on their accoun ts of their life histories, including their experiences of prison trea tment programmes, and provides a detailed picture of their thinking, f eelings and motivations. In revealing how the men construct their own sense of masculine identity within social and professional contexts th at are dominated by a heterosexual, white male hegemony, the paper cha llenges purely psychological explanations of why men sexually abuse. I t concludes that sexual abuse in organizational settings is less likel y to be challenged if masculinity is not focused on as an issue of pow er.