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ABSTRACT
The Victim to Victimizer paradigm purports to explain theconnection between beinga victimof sexual abuse and becoming a perpetrator, attributing sexually abusive behavior to a predictable cycle of cognitive distortions and self-destructive and/or abusive behaviors. Integration of two ecological models, Trauma Outcome Process Assessment and Family Lovemap provides a more comprehensive explanation of salient contributors to sexually abusive behavior in youth (i.e., trauma). A case example illustrates the parallel Trauma Outcome Process m a victim, and the victim's perpetrator, identifying protective factors beneficial for trauma recovery.
Two decades ago a paradigm was proposed purporting to explain why juveniles offend sexually: "Victim to Victimizer" (1). Its premise: both offenders and victims have "issues of power and control" that for the victim may be "the outcome of abuse" and for the offender "triggers for offending." Traumatic situations post victimization trigger "a progression of thoughts and feelings" which for some victims involves "a dysfunctional response cycle" (e.g., drug/alcohol abuse, eating disorders and suicide attempts). Others (those who become offenders) enact a "sexual assault cycle" (i.e., "a predictable pattern of negative feelings, cognitive distortions, and control seeking behaviors" leading to a sexual offense) (1, pp. 328-329). "Victim to Victimizer" became a popular term describing this purported link between prior sexual abuse and youthful sexual offending. Although "there is widespread belief in a cycle' of child sexual abuse, there is little empirical evidence for this belief" (2, p. 482).
A more encompassing paradigm is the Trauma Outcome Process Assessment (TOPA) model (3-7). In TOPA, outcomes of sexual abuse and other abusive trauma and subsequent behavioral responses (i.e., selfvictimization and/or abuse) are viewed as a multidimensional process, intrinsically influenced by a priori risk and protective factors in key ecological domains (i.e., neuropsychological elements, family history and dynamics, community and cultural context). TOPA goes beyond the Victim to Victimizer paradigm by including a "recovery" response involving salient predisposing variables present prior to trauma (i.e., self-awareness, protective factors mitigating negative outcomes). It is congruent with another ecological model, Family Lovemap (8, 9), and both models are consistent with validation findings on the MEGA risk assessment tool for youth ages 4-19 years (10-12).
CHALLENGING THE VICTIM TO VICTIMIZER PARADIGM
Examining the hypothesized connection between prior sexual abuse and current sexual offending is...