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Clinical Perspectives About Male Sexual Victimization: The Cultural and Historical Context of Gender

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Handbook of Interpersonal Violence and Abuse Across the Lifespan

Abstract

Male victims and survivors of sexual violence are underrepresented in the literature. Research reveals that approximately 1 in 6 males will encounter at least one incident of sexual violence in his lifetime. However, gender bias continues to affect literature, clinical training, and social justice advocacy by focusing predominantly on females as victims and survivors of sexual violence. When males are included, the diversity and spectrum of male experiences are ignored or overlooked. This chapter will focus on a range of contemporary clinical issues that are impacted by considerations of gender and social justice, including: (1) integrating greater awareness about the range of diversity within the overall population of male survivors; (2) revealing the historical evolution and progress of identifying and working with male survivors; (3) illuminating the disguised realities of male survivors; (4) challenging how the prevailing mental health paradigms pathologize coping and survival strategies; (5) exploring the prevalence with which critical clinical issues – such as dissociation – are minimized in traditional assessment for male survivors; (6) expanding perspectives about sexuality and gender to be inclusive of nonbinary paradigms for male survivors; (7) incorporating emerging research that exposes the range of sexual and gender fluidity and how this impacts clinical interventions for healing; (8) examining the evolving knowledge base of clinical approaches for effective engagement with male survivors; and (9) advocating that effective healing from sexual violence for male survivors is only possible by addressing the realities of toxic masculinity, by overcoming gender bias, and by integrating considerations of social justice.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Jim Struve

  2. Atlanta, GA, USA

    Joanna Colrain

Authors
  1. Jim Struve
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  2. Joanna Colrain
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jim Struve or Joanna Colrain .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma, Alliant International University, San Diego, CA, USA

    Robert Geffner

  2. School of Health and Human Sciences, University of North Carolina at Greensbo, Greensboro, NC, USA

    Jacquelyn W. White

  3. Dept of Family and Community Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    L. Kevin Hamberger

  4. Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA

    Alan Rosenbaum

  5. Ethelyn R. Strong School of Social Work, Norfolk State University, Norfolk, VA, USA

    Viola Vaughan-Eden

  6. Education and Research, Zero Abuse Project, St. Paul, MN, USA

    Victor I. Vieth

Section Editor information

  1. Consultant and Trainer, Trauma Psychology and Treatment, Bethany Beach, Delaware, USA

    Christine A. Courtois

  2. Department of Counseling and Human Development, George Washington University, Washington, DC, United States

    Sylvia A Marotta-Walters

  3. School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

    Carlos A. Cuevas

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Struve, J., Colrain, J. (2020). Clinical Perspectives About Male Sexual Victimization: The Cultural and Historical Context of Gender. In: Geffner, R., White, J.W., Hamberger, L.K., Rosenbaum, A., Vaughan-Eden, V., Vieth, V.I. (eds) Handbook of Interpersonal Violence and Abuse Across the Lifespan. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62122-7_309-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62122-7_309-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-62122-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-62122-7

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