Primary and secondary prevention of child sexual abuse

Abstract:Child sexual abuse is a global problem with significant emotional, psychological, and financial implications to victims, perpetrators, and society. Most child sexual abuse prevention programs target young children or those who have already engaged in abusive behavior, in order to prevent further offending. There are numerous secondary prevention programs targeting individuals at-risk of various health conditions in an effort to reduce the likelihood they will go on to experience a particular illness or disease. Considerable research exists regarding the risk factors for engaging in child sexual abuse and more specifically the factors contributing to reoffense. We argue that engaging in secondary prevention programs for people with pedophilia, in order to prevent child sexual abuse, is an ethically responsible and necessary practice. Secondary prevention programs with this focus are reviewed, along with the implications of mandatory reporting in doing this work.

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Ethics and Issues of Secondary Prevention Efforts in Child Sexual Abuse

International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology ◽

10.1177/0306624x17723951 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 62 (9) ◽

pp. 2548-2566 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Kieran F. McCartan ◽

Hannah L. Merdian ◽

Derek E. Perkins ◽

Danielle Kettleborough

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Child Sexual Abuse ◽

Secondary Prevention ◽

Qualitative Analysis ◽

Moral Issues ◽

Critical Areas ◽

Mitigating Factors ◽

International Experts ◽

Participant Perspectives ◽

Public Politics

This article discusses the ethical, practical, and moral issues surrounding secondary prevention efforts of child sexual abuse from a professional and practice-based perspective. Transcripts of a semistructured consultation event with n = 15 international experts on the secondary prevention of child sexual abuse were analysed using thematic qualitative analysis. The research identified four main critical areas linked to secondary prevention efforts, including, the psychology of self-reporting and disclosure; the interaction with and within existing legal, social, and professional frameworks; the scale and type of an appropriate response; and potential hurdles (i.e., within media, public, politics). The article outlines these areas, highlighting participant perspectives on risk-enhancing and mitigating factors for each domain.

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Introducing a contextual lens to assessment and intervention for young people who engage in harmful sexual behaviour: an Australian case study

Journal of Children s Services ◽

10.1108/jcs-06-2021-0024 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Susan Rayment-McHugh ◽

Dimity Adams ◽

Nadine McKillop

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Clinical Practice ◽

Young People ◽

Secondary Prevention ◽

Sexual Behaviour ◽

Primary And Secondary Prevention ◽

Content Type ◽

Australian Case ◽

The Individual

Purpose Intervention for young people engaging in harmful sexual behaviour has been largely based on individual-level conceptualisations and assessment. Prevention efforts reflect this individual-focus, relying primarily on offender management and justice responses. Risk of sexual abuse, however, is often situated outside the individual, within the broader social and physical systems in which young people are embedded. Lack of recognition for how contextual factors contribute to sexual abuse narrows the focus of prevention and intervention, overlooking the very contexts and circumstances in which this behaviour occurs. This paper aims to demonstrate the utility of contextual practice with young people who sexually harm, and implications for prevention. Design/methodology/approach An Australian case study is used to showcase the “why”, “what” and “how” of a contextual approach to assessment and treatment of young people who sexually harm. Findings Contextual approaches extend the focus of clinical practice beyond the individual to include the physical and social contexts that may contribute to risk. Adding a contextual lens broadens the approach to assessment, affording new opportunities to tailor the intervention to local contextual dynamics, and identifying new targets for primary and secondary prevention. Originality/value This is the first known attempt to extend understanding of contextual approaches to clinical assessment and intervention for young people who sexually harm, using a case study method. The case study showcases contextual assessment and intervention processes that challenge traditional thinking and practice in this field. Importantly, the case study also reveals new opportunities for primary and secondary prevention that emerge through this contextual clinical practice.

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Malpractice & Negligence: State Supreme Courts Limit Therapists’ Duties to Third Parties

The Journal of Law Medicine & Ethics ◽

10.1017/s1073110500012985 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 27 (2) ◽

pp. 204-205

Author(s):

Megan Cleary

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Child Sexual Abuse ◽

Supreme Court ◽

New Hampshire ◽

Third Parties ◽

State Supreme Courts ◽

Recovered Memories ◽

Supreme Courts ◽

Repressed Memory ◽

University Of Colorado

In recent years, the law in the area of recovered memories in child sexual abuse cases has developed rapidly. See J.K. Murray, “Repression, Memory & Suggestibility: A Call for Limitations on the Admissibility of Repressed Memory Testimony in Abuse Trials,” University of Colorado Law Review, 66 (1995): 477-522, at 479. Three cases have defined the scope of liability to third parties. The cases, decided within six months of each other, all involved lawsuits by third parties against therapists, based on treatment in which the patients recovered memories of sexual abuse. The New Hampshire Supreme Court, in Hungerford v. Jones, 722 A.2d 478 (N.H. 1998), allowed such a claim to survive, while the supreme courts in Iowa, in J.A.H. v. Wadle & Associates, 589 N.W.2d 256 (Iowa 1999), and California, in Eear v. Sills, 82 Cal. Rptr. 281 (1991), rejected lawsuits brought by nonpatients for professional liability.

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