I have a proposal for a research paper due today and, after reading this article last night, I feel like I should write it about child molestation.
It’s a short paper (3,000 words I think) of the problem/solution type. I think most people are writing about sports and music and things like that (though what problems they are going to propose to solve in this industries is beyond me.)
So, do you guys have any ideas or suggestions for me? Where should I be looking for sources? I would be absolutely terrified if I googled “child molestation” and came up with kiddie porn sites, and, to be completely honest…
[tinfoil hat on]
…the Patriot Act doesn’t really make me feel very comfortable about this…
Without meaning to pry, how much do you know about the subject already? Also, from your OP it sounds as if you’re still in school, and I’m not sure that such a subject is meet for one of tender years.
Relative, that is, to other more hysterical and less informative sites. Colin Wilson also touches on it in The Serial Killers: Study in the Psychology of Violence, and I believe so does Roy Hazlewood in The Evil That Men Do. Unfortunately, I don’t remember either title or author of the one that dealt with female criminals…because women do molest as well, and I am not talking about the 17-year-old babysitter “initiating” the 14-year-old male, either.
Well, I know some from reading (some on this messageboard), some from a few limited personal accounts that have been confided in me, I’ve seen the documentary Stevie…I guess I don’t know a whole hell of a lot.
I’m 23, by the way. “Non-traditional” college student.
Go to your school’s library or their website. If you have problems, call the reference desk - many schools now let you access databases remotely, so you can do your research at home. Depending on the access levels, you may be able to get to the full text of articles electronically.
There should be some databases that you can search for articles about molestation. Which one you use will depend on what aspect you’re focusing on. If you’re looking at the molestors, then a criminal justice or psychology database may be best - if psychology, I’d go with PsychInfo if you have access to it.
If you’re looking at the victims, go with either psychology (again, PsychInfo if possible) or even education (ERIC may be a good place to start for an education database) or social work.
If you want even more general articles, go with something like Academic Search Premier - that’s a broad generalized database that covers a variety of topics. If your school has access to something like this (even if it’s not the exact same thing), I’d use it as your starting point, then go into the more specific databases once you focus your topic a little more.
You can also check your library’s catalog to see what print sources they have. IIRC, the last school I was at had something like an Encyclopedia of Child Abuse (or something like that) that provided a very broad overview of the topic - your school may have something similar.
Have you defined the problem part of your paper yet?
You may want to narrow the focus of your paper to a specific type of molestation before you delve too far into research. Do you plan to focus on “stranger” molestation where the molestor trolls the streets for a victim? Or where someone more trusted grooms a child for molestation? People who get their victims from the internet? And there is a difference between those who only want prepubescent children and those who carry the molestation on as the child gets older. There’s unfortunately too much of this kind of stuff around.
Once you do that I suggest a good old fashioned trip to the library. While internet citations are allowed in most school papers the professors generally prefer to see some printed sources as well. What is your major? If it isn’t English you will get a little more leeway on that part.
I agree with tanookie that you might want to narrow the subject
You might consider which side of the issue you’d like to research, victims and their families and the aftermath of the trauma or the perptrators and the possible motives for their behavior.
Good luck and thanks for sharing. That was a particularly moving article.