Stephanie J. Dallam, RN, MSN, is Researcher for the Leadership Council. Prior to the Leadership Council, she worked in pediatric intensive care for 10 years at University of Missouri Hospital and Clinics, and is a former nursing instructor at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She has written numerous articles on issues related to the welfare of children.
The author would like to thank David Gleaves, Joyanna Silberg, and Lynn Crook for useful comments and criticism. The author would also like to thank Els Grimminck for help with obtaining and translating Dutch newspaper articles.
A study entitled âA Meta-analytic Examination of Assumed Properties of Child Sexual Abuse Using College Samples,â published in the July 1998 edition of the prestigious Psychological Bulletin, resulted in enormous social controversy and debate. The studyâs authors, Rind, Tromovitch and Bauserman, analyzed 59 studies of college students and concluded that mental health researchers have greatly overstated the harmful potential of being abused. Despite finding that students who reported a history of child sexual abuse (CSA) were less well adjusted in 17 of the 18 types of psychological adjustment examined, Rind et al. (1998) suggested that the relationship may be spurious due to the confounding of CSA with family dysfunction. Rind et al. also reported that âmen reacted much less negatively than womenâ (p. 22) and that âconsentâ was an important moderator of adjustment in males. They later summarized their findings, stating: âWe showed that for boys in nonclinical populations, willing relations are generally experienced positively or neutrally and are not associated with maladjustmentâ (Rind, Bauserman, & Tromovitch, 1999, p. 2185). Rind et al. (1998) went on to suggest that when labeling events that have âheretofore been defined sociolegally as CSA,â scientists should focus on the young personâs perception of the experience: A willing encounter with positive reactions would no longer be considered to be sexual abuse; instead, it would âbe labeled simply adult-child sexâ (p. 46).
Not surprisingly, the study was immediately embraced by pedophile organizations. The North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA), a political and educational organization that advocates for the decriminalization of âconsensualâ pedophilic relationships, stated that the study confirmed that âthe current war on boy-lovers has no basis in science.â NAMBLA also publicly thanked the American Psychological Association (APA) for having the courage to publish the paper (Saunders, 1999).
The study did not come to the general publicâs attention until almost nine months after its publication. Alerted by a listener, popular radio talk-show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger discussed the studyâs findings on her show. On March 22, 1999, she told her 18 million listeners that she feared that the study âcould be used to normalize pedophilia, to change the legal systemâ (Duin, 1999). Soon after Schlessinger aired her concerns, a number of other public commentators severely criticized the study and the APAâs role in printing it. For example, in an article titled âLolita Nation,â newspaper columnist Debra Saunders (1999) stated that âthe APA showed appalling judgment in printing this pedophilia propaganda.â
Political leaders were also disturbed by the studyâs conclusions. Dr. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) stated:
As a practicing physician trained in science, I am shocked that the Psychological Association would publish a study that is clearly pedophilia propaganda masquerading as science. ⊠The APA has brought itself and the entire psychological profession in disrepute by failing to filter junk science from a scientific journal. (Myers, 1999, p. 11)
In Alaska, Rep. Fred Dyson introduced a resolution (HJR 36)1 calling on the APA to repudiate the study. The resolution was unanimously passed on April 30, 1999 and became a model for similar efforts in California, Delaware, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and the U.S. Congress.
Negative publicity resulted in a number of press releases and statements by APA leaders. On March 23, 1999, APA released a statement that reaffirmed its strong historical stand against CSA and stated that âpublication of the findings of a research project within an APA journal is in no way an endorsement of a finding by the Associationâ (American Psychological Association, 1999). However, on May 14, 1999, APA Chief Executive Officer Raymond D. Fowler, PhD, defended the study on national television (MSNBC), stating: âIt isnât a bad study, itâs been peer-reviewed ⊠itâs a good study.â On May 25, 1999, Fowler defended the study again in a letter emailed to APA division officers. Fowler said that the study passed a rigorous peer review process âand has, since the controversy, been reviewed again by an expert in statistical analysis who affirmed that it meets current standards and that the methodology, which is widely used by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop guidelines, is sound.â Suggesting that politicians and members of the media were misrepresenting the studyâs findings to further their political agenda, Fowler assured the officers that the APA was âworking hard to try to correct the record with those politicians and members of the media who care about the facts.â
The study was also criticized by several scientific organizations. On May 24, 1999, the Leadership Council on Mental Health, Justice and the Media, whose mission includes ensuring that the âthe public receives accurate information about mental health issuesâ (Leadership Council, March 1999) issued a press release noting that Rind et al. improperly generalized from studies of predominantly noncontact experiences during adolescence in formulating some of their conclusions about the relative harmlessness of sex between adults and children. A few days later (May 27, 1999), Steven M. Mirin, MD, Medical Director of the American Psychiatric Association, expressed the Psychiatric Associationâs disagreement âwith the implications of the authorsâ conclusions.â Mirin stated, âFrom a psychological perspective, sex between adult and child is always abusive and exploitative because the adult always holds the power in the relationship. ⊠Academic hair-splitting over whether the act should be considered adult-child sex or child sexual abuse ⊠is not in the public interest and obfuscates the moral issues involvedâ (âPsychiatric Association Criticizes,â 1999).
Apparently, the continued negative public reaction led Fowler to reconsider his support of the study. On June 9, 1999, Fowler hand-carried a letter to Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex) in which he admitted that the APA failed to âevaluate the article based on its potential for misinforming the public policy process.â Fowler also acknowledged that âsome of the language in the article when examined from a public policy perspective is inflammatoryâ and includes opinions âinconsistentâ with APAâs policy on child protection issues. Fowler pledged that in the future his organization would be more cognizant of the potential for publications to misinform the public on important issues. Fowler also announced that for the first time in its 107-year history of publishing it has sought independent expert evaluation of the scientific quality of an article. The next day, Fowler (June 10, 1999) announced that the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) had been asked to do the review, âbecause its credibility is unquestioned.â
In July 1999, the meta-analysis by Rind et al. became the first scientific study to be formally denounced by the United States Congress. The House of Representatives and Senate both unanimously passed a resolution which rejected âthe conclusions of a recent article published in the Psychological Bulletin, a journal of the American Psychological Association, that suggests that sexual relationships between adults and children might be positive for children.â The resolution explained that âelected officials have a duty to inform and counter actions they consider damaging to children, parents, families, and societyâ (House Con. Res. 107).2
In response to criticism of their study, Rind, Tromovitch and Bauserman released a number of statements vigorously defending their results and conclusions. They claimed that their research âbrought methodological rigor into an area that needed thisâ (Rind, Tromovitch, & Bauserman, November 6, 1999), and suggested that they had âan ethical dutyâ to report their findings (Rind, Tromovitch, & Bauserman, May 12, 1999). Claiming to be victims of political persecution, the authors characterized their critics as âreligious and moralistic zealotsâ (e.g., Rind et al., November 6, 1999). A flyer for a continuing education workshop about the controversy offered by Rind and Carol Tavris stated:
The enemies of Galileo and Darwin, the enemies of the natural science model are alive and well. ⊠Not only are the âoffendingâ data dismissed or trivialized, but the messengers can themselves be pressured into silence, recantation, or more simply be vilified by organs of academe and government alike. (âWhen Politics Clashes with Science,â 2000)3
Concerned that the denouncement by Congress posed a threat to scientific freedom, a number of psychologists rushed to the studyâs defense (e.g., Berry, 2000; Tavris, 1999; Woll, 1999). For example, Stanley Woll (July 26, 1999), Professor of Psychology at California State-Fullerton, suggested that Rind et al. were victims of a âMcCarthyesque witch huntâ which represented âa dangerous assault on the process of scientific research in general.â
The AAASâs Committee of Scientific Freedom and Responsibility ultimately declined APAâs request for a review of the study, saying they saw âno reason to second-guess the process of peer review used by the APA journal in its decision to publish the article in questionâ (McCarty, 1999, p. 2). AAAS also reported that they âsaw no clear evidence of improper application of methodology or other questionable practices on the part of the articleâs authorsâ (p. 3). However, they added that, âif there were such problems, uncovering them would be the task of those reviewing it prior to publication or to readers of the published articleâ (p. 3). AAAS further noted, âThe fact that the Committee has chosen not to proceed with an evaluation of the article in the Psychological Bulletin should not be seen either as endorsement or criticism of itâ (p. 3). Despite the disclaimer, Rind and Tromovitch viewed the AAASâs decision as a vindication of their work. Tromovitch stated: âTheir comments indicate to me that they consider our work to be up to parâ (Burling, 1999).
The APA indicated that it had no plans to ask any other organization to review the study. In early December 1999, Ray Fowler went on a protracted sick leave citing stress. The debate over the studyâs merit remained unresolved. The purpose of the present article is to examine whether Rind et al. (1998) is best characterized as unpopular science or pedophile propaganda.