NCJ Number
102291
Journal
New Designs for Youth Development Volume: 7 Issue: 1 Dated: (January-February 1986) Pages: 1-5
Date Published
1986
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This paper illustrates the misdirection of current sexual abuse prevention programs through a review of concepts common to most programs, their target populations, and intervention methods.
Abstract
Six concepts are commonly found in child sexual abuse prevention programs: body ownership, saying 'no,' touching continuum, intuition, secrets, and support systems. While children are encouraged to take ownership of their bodies and say no, they usually are not in a position to enforce their wishes. Moreover, these concepts often call for sophisticated judgments beyond the ability of most children and leave the difficult decision regarding whom to tell to the child. These programs also implicitly make the child responsible for preventing sexual abuse rather than the adult abuser. Other problems in current approaches include targeting the grade school children in a one-time presentation and ignoring preschool children and parents, portraying abusers as adults when many cases involve a juvenile, and depicting the perpetrator as male and the victim as female. Ways to redirect prevention efforts through education and treatment are proposed. 12 references.