Sage Publications, Inc. Description: This 342-page book, written by two psychologists and a social worker, presents three different perspectives on intervention strategies for victims or perpetrators of male sexual abuse. The first section, by John Gonsiorek, is on assessment and treatment for sexually abused adolescent males. Gonsiorek summarizes and critiques the feminist, psychoanalytic, profamily, and propedophile models of sexual abuse and notes that the feminist model, which views sexual abuse as a way men control and oppress women, is dominant today. He then discusses current understandings of male sexual abuse victims, including definitions of abuse, prevalence estimates, barriers to identifying male victims, myths about male victims, types of female perpetrators, and the effects of sexual abuse on males. He ends his section with a chapter on assessment, diagnosis, and treatment planning, which includes descriptions of cognitive-behavioral therapy techniques and relapse prevention. The second major section of the book, by Walter Bera, describes his approach towards treating adolescent male sexual offenders. Bera discusses adolescent sex offender etiology and presents a typology that includes individual, victim, and family factors. He then provides a detailed description of his treatment methods. He ends his section with a chapter on "victim-sensitive offender therapy" in which treatment of the victim and the offender is coordinated. The final section, by the social worker, Donald LeTourneau, addresses adolescent male prostitution. LeTourneau describes the historical and current research literature and discusses different views of male prostitution. He then deals with prevention and intervention. The list of references for all three sections is at the end and there
is a subject index. Discussion: This is a helpful and well-written book on male victims of sexual abuse, who have often been ignored by both researchers and clinicians. The book contains many case examples which make it readable and interesting. Gonsiorek's section is the best in the book. Gonsiorek is critical of all of the current models — feminist psychoanalytic, profamily, and propedophile — and his analysis of these provides a valuable perspective. His section contains an excellent discussion of assessment, including psychological testing and interviewing, the formulation of a treatment plan, and his model of individual therapy which derives from cognitive-behavioral perspectives along with adaptations of Heinz Kohut's self-psychology. His discussion of psychological testing and interviewing is particularly good. There has been little research and attention given to male adolescent prostitution and the last section, by LeTourneau, provides much useful information. LeTourneau notes that the gender-polarized view of adolescents makes it difficult to understand male prostitution and he discusses the dynamics and behaviors of this problem. He notes that treatment failures occur in mental health agencies and believes that volunteer walk-in agencies and detached youth programs may be most successful. This book shows us how little we really know and how much more we need sound research on male victims. It is recommended. Reviewed by LeRoy G. Schultz, Emeritus Professor of Social Work, West Virginia University.
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