Abstract
At intake, counselors judged 343 sexually abused juveniles' reactions toward the abusive and nonabusive parent figures, and toward other kin collectively. Generally, at all ages, reactions were predominantly negative toward the abuser but were far more positive toward the nonabusive parent and relatives. This pattern held for the entire victim sample and for the subset (n = 212) codable for all three target persons (all ps < .0001). There were no tendencies for victims to “identify with the aggressor” via positive reactions. However, victims more often liked an abuser if a member of the nuclear family than if more remote from the victim (p < .002). Thus, closeness of victim to abuser on a five-step social distance scale (from nuclear family member to nonkin living outside the victim's home) correlated with degree of positive reaction to abusers (ρ = 0.32, r = 0.36; all ps < .0001).