NCJ Number
120884
Date Published
1989
Length
30 pages
Annotation
Data from 965 high school students in Minneapolis and two rural Minnesota communities were used to examine the preventive information children receive from parents regarding child sexual assault, the impact of socioeconomic and gender socialization on the receipt of information, its explicitness, and its impact on children's ability to report victimization.
Abstract
The survey questions focused on demographics, specific knowledge of sexual abuse, and detailed reports of incidence. Answers to specific survey questions comprised the composite sexual victimization variable, defined as all incidents in which respondents were felt, grabbed, or kissed against their will, forced to touch the perpetrator's sexual organs, or force to submit to sexual activities. Remarried, Black, non-Catholic, white-collar, and better educated families provided more sexual assault information that was also more explicit than nuclear, white, Catholic, blue-collar, and less educated parents. Information receipt and explicitness were not associated with victimization with the exception of boys who were told before reported victimization. Sexual abuse prevention programs must account for these factors and should emphasize increased parental involvement and continual education. Research techniques for evaluating prevention program effectiveness are recommended. 4 tables, 2 footnotes, 25 references, 1 appendix. (Author abstract modified)