Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/16892
Record ID: c29f08b1-9a7b-49ae-a620-3f7857d8be1b
Web resource: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1079063217712217
Type: Journal Article
Title: Sexual violation of patients by physicians : a mixed-methods, exploratory analysis of 101 cases
Authors: Ziobrowski, Hannah
DuBois, James M
Walsh, Heidi A
Chibnall, John T
Anderson, Emily E
Eggers, Michelle R
Fowose, Mobolaji
Keywords: Sexual abuse;Doctors;Practitioners;Perpetrators;Sexual violence
Year: 2017
Citation: Advance online publication
Notes:  Abstract
A mixed-method, exploratory design was used to examine 101 cases of sexual
violations in medicine. The study involved content analysis of cases to characterize
the physicians, patient-victims, the practice setting, kinds of sexual violations, and
consequences to the perpetrator. In each case, a criminal law framework was used
to examine how motives, means, and opportunity combined to generate sexual
misconduct. Finally, cross-case analysis was performed to identify clusters of causal
factors that explain specific kinds of sexual misconduct. Most cases involved a
combination of five factors: male physicians (100%), older than the age of 39 (92%),
who were not board certified (70%), practicing in nonacademic settings (94%) where
they always examined patients alone (85%). Only three factors (suspected antisocial
personality, physician board certification, and vulnerable patients) differed significantly
across the different kinds of sexual abuse: personality disorders were suspected most
frequently in cases of rape, physicians were more frequently board certified in cases
of consensual sex with patients, and patients were more commonly vulnerable in
cases of child molestation. Drawing on study findings and past research, we offer a
series of recommendations to medical schools, medical boards, chaperones, patients,
and the national practitioners database.
1Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
2Saint Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
3Loyola University Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
Corresponding Author:
James M. DuBois, General Medical Sciences, Washington University in Saint

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URI: https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/16892
Appears in Collections:Journal Articles

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