The Prevention of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Autor/in	Finkelhor, David
Titel	The Prevention of Childhood Sexual Abuse
Quelle	In: Future of Children, 19 (2009) 2, S.169-194 (26 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1054-8289
Schlagwörter	Sexual Abuse; Child Abuse; Correctional Institutions; Prevention; Law Enforcement; Criminals; Comprehensive School Health Education; Crime Prevention; Institutionalized Persons; Stereotypes; Delinquency; Recidivism; At Risk Persons; Skill Development; Child Safety; Self Disclosure (Individuals); Program Effectiveness; Counseling Techniques; Mental Health; Health Promotion + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Sexueller Missbrauch; Abuse of children; Abuse; Child; Children; Kindesmissbrauch; Missbrauch; Kind; Kinder; Jugendstrafvollzug; Prävention; Vorbeugung; Gesetzesvollzug; Straftäter; Klischee; Kriminalität; Rückfall; Risikogruppe; Kompetenzentwicklung; Qualifikationsentwicklung; Counseling technique; Counselling technique; Counselling techniques; Beratungsmethode; Psychohygiene; Gesundheitsfürsorge; Gesundheitshilfe; Reihenuntersuchung
Abstract	David Finkelhor examines initiatives to prevent child sexual abuse, which have focused on two primary strategies--offender management and school-based educational programs. Recent major offender management initiatives have included registering sex offenders, notifying communities about their presence, conducting background employment checks, controlling where offenders can live, and imposing longer prison sentences. Although these initiatives win approval from both the public and policy makers, little evidence exists that they are effective in preventing sexual abuse. Moreover, these initiatives, cautions Finkelhor, are based on an overly stereotyped characterization of sexual abusers as pedophiles, guileful strangers who prey on children in public and other easy-access environments and who are at high risk to re-offend once caught. In reality the population is much more diverse. Most sexual abusers are not strangers or pedophiles; many (about a third) are themselves juveniles. Many have relatively low risks for re-offending once caught. Perhaps the most serious shortcoming to offender management as a prevention strategy, Finkelhor argues, is that only a small percentage of new offenders have a prior sex offense record that would have involved them in the management system. He recommends using law enforcement resources to catch more undetected offenders and concentrating intensive management efforts on those at highest risk to re-offend. Finkelhor explains that school-based educational programs teach children such skills as how to identify dangerous situations, refuse an abuser's approach, break off an interaction, and summon help. The programs also aim to promote disclosure, reduce self-blame, and mobilize bystanders. Considerable evaluation research exists about these programs, suggesting that they achieve certain of their goals. Research shows, for example, that young people can and do acquire the concepts. The programs may promote disclosure and help children not to blame themselves. But studies are inconclusive about whether education programs reduce victimization. Finkelhor urges further research and development of this approach, in particular efforts to integrate it into comprehensive health and safety promotion curricula. Finkelhor also points to evidence that supports counseling strategies both for offenders, particularly juveniles, to reduce re-offending, and for victims, to prevent negative mental health and life course outcomes associated with abuse. (Contains 98 endnotes.) (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and The Brookings Institution. 267 Wallace Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544. Tel: 609-258-6979; e-mail: FOC@princeton.edu; Web site: http://www.brookings.org/index/publications.htm
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10