Males at Risk

Males at Risk: The Other Side of Child Sexual Abuse.
F.G. Bolton Jr., L.A. Morris & A.E. MacEachron.
Sage Publications. 1989.
ISBN: 9780803932371.
 
Males at Risk is an early, practice‑oriented monograph on sexual abuse of boys that does three main things. It documents the incidence and patterns of sexual abuse of boys, synthesising then‑available studies to show that abuse of males is more common than previously acknowledged and often underreported. The Book profiles victims and offenders, noting typical age, family and social vulnerabilities of boys, and describing how (usually known) adult males gain access, groom, control, and exploit them, often outside the home and on a repeated basis. It also offers concrete assessment and treatment guidelines for clinicians, including attention to safety planning, helping boys speak candidly about the abuse, working with their emotions and emerging sexuality, and using individual, group, and family therapy; it also discusses abuse‑reactive sexualised behaviours and how to evaluate and manage them. Overall, the book’s other side language signals a shift from focusing mainly on girls to recognising boys as significant, often overlooked victims, and it presses for better professional awareness, research, and intervention with male survivors.
 
F. G. Bolton Jr. was a U.S. researcher and practitioner in the child welfare / child protection field, active mainly in the 1970s–1980s.  He worked with the Arizona Department of Economic Security and published on child maltreatment, adolescent parenthood, foster care, and sexual abuse as a factor in child maltreatment.  
 
L. A. Morris have been involved in clinical or social‑service work with abused children, contributing to practice‑oriented material on assessment and treatment.
 
A. E. MacEachron has a background in social work or allied human services, with an emphasis on child maltreatment and clinical practice models.