Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Opportunities: Parenting, Programs, and the Reduction of Risk

To date, child sexual abuse (CSA) prevention has relied largely on child-focused education, teaching children how to identify, avoid, and disclose sexual abuse. The purpose of this article is to explore how prevention opportunities can include parents in new and innovative ways. We propose that pare...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Child maltreatment 2018-02, Vol.23 (1), p.96-106
Main Authors: Rudolph, Julia, Zimmer-Gembeck, Melanie J., Shanley, Dianne C., Hawkins, Russell
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abused children
Adult
Child
Child Abuse
Child abuse & neglect
Child Abuse - prevention & control
Child Abuse, Sexual - prevention & control
Child Abuse, Sexual - psychology
Child Rearing
Child sexual abuse
Childrearing practices
Children
Children & youth
Competence
Education, Nonprofessional - methods
Female
Health Education - methods
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Humans
Male
Parent-Child Relations
Parenting - psychology
Parents
Parents & parenting
Parents - education
Parents - psychology
Pedophilia
Prevention
Prevention programs
Protective factors
Risk reduction
Self Efficacy
Self esteem
Sex crimes
Sexual Abuse
Supervision
Teaching
Well being
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Summary:To date, child sexual abuse (CSA) prevention has relied largely on child-focused education, teaching children how to identify, avoid, and disclose sexual abuse. The purpose of this article is to explore how prevention opportunities can include parents in new and innovative ways. We propose that parents can play a significant role as protectors of their children via two pathways: (i) directly, through the strong external barriers afforded by parent supervision, monitoring, and involvement; and (ii) indirectly, by promoting their children’s self-efficacy, competence, well-being, and self-esteem, which the balance of evidence suggests will help them become less likely targets for abuse and more able to respond appropriately and disclose abuse if it occurs. In this article, we first describe why teaching young children about CSA protective behaviors might not be sufficient for prevention. We then narratively review the existing research on parents and prevention and the parenting and family circumstances that may increase a child’s risk of experiencing sexual abuse. Finally, we make a number of recommendations for future approaches to prevention that may better inform and involve parents and other adult protectors in preventing CSA.
ISSN:1077-5595
1552-6119
DOI:10.1177/1077559517729479