Abstract
Children and young people are served by a wide range of organisations. Internally, attention has turned to the harms that have occurred in these organisations that should have prioritised the safety and wellbeing the children and young people it serves. In this chapter, we identify some of the risk factors associated with sexual abuse of children in youth-serving organizations, focusing on faith-based settings, early childhood education and schools, health care, out-of-home care, and youth sports. We outline key tenets of a situational prevention approach that identifies and safety risks to minimise or interrupt grooming behaviour, and help organizations focus their attention on ways of improving the safety of the organizational environment they provide for the young people they serve.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2009). Children’s participation in cultural and leisure activities. Catalogue no. 4901.0. Canberra: ABS.
Bennett, R. S. (2004). Report on the crisis in the Catholic Church in the United States. Available from https://www.ncjrs.gov/app/publications/abstract.aspx?id=207962
Black, D. A., Heyman, R. E., & Smith Slep, A. M. (2001a). Risk factors for child physical abuse. Aggression and Violent Behaviour, 6(2), 121–188.
Black, D. A., Heyman, R. E., & Smith Slep, A. M. (2001b). Risk factors for child sexual abuse. Aggression and Violent Behaviour, 6(2), 203–229.
Black, D. A., Smith Slep, A. M., & Heyman, R. E. (2001c). Risk factors for child psychological abuse. Aggression and Violent Behaviour, 6(2), 189–201.
Blatt, E., & Brown, S. (1986). Environmental influences on incidents of alleged child abuse and neglect in New York State psychiatric facilities: Toward an ecology of institutional child maltreatment. Child Abuse & Neglect, 10(2), 171–180.
Bolton, F. G., Laner, R. H., & Gai, D. S. (1981). For better or worse? Foster parents and foster children in an officially reported child maltreatment population. Children and Youth Services Review, 3(1), 37–53.
Brackenridge, C. (2004). Burden or benefit? An evaluation of SportScotland’s Child Protection Programme with governing bodies of sport. Edinburgh: SportScotland.
Brackenridge, C. (2002). ‘… so what?’ Attitudes of the voluntary sector towards child protection in sports clubs. Managing Leisure, 7(2), 103–123.
Brannan, C., Jones, J., & Murch, J. (1993). Lessons from a residential special school enquiry: reflections on the Castle Hill Report. Child Abuse Review, 2, 271–275.
Brierley, P. (2009). Safeguarding the church’s children: The results of the 2009 survey. Swanley: The Churches’ Child Protection Advisory Service, Birmingham: Birmingham Safeguarding Children Board, UK.
Caldas, S. J., & Bensy, M. L. (2014). The sexual maltreatment of students with disabilities in American school settings. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 23, 345–366.
Carmi, E. (2014). Case: CO1: Case review. Chichester: Diocese of Chichester (UK).
Centers for Disease Control. (2017). The public health approach to violence prevention. Atlanta: CDC. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/overview/publichealthapproach.html
Clarke, R. V. (1995). Situational crime prevention. In M. Tonry & D. Farrington (Eds.), Building a safer society: Strategic approaches to crime prevention. Crime and justice: An annual review of research (Vol. 19, pp. 91–150). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Clarke, R., & Homel, R. (1997). A revised classification of situational crime prevention techniques. In S. P. Lab (Ed.), Crime prevention at a crossroads (pp. 17–30). Cincinnati: Anderson Publishing Co. and Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.
Cohen, L., & Felson, M. (1979). Social change and crime rate trends: A routine activity approach. American Sociological Review, 44(4), 588–608. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2094589
Colton, M., Roberts, S., & Vanstone, M. (2010). Sexual abuse by men who work with children. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 19(3), 345–364. https://doi.org/10.1080/10538711003775824.
Cornish, D. B., & Clarke, R. V. (2002). Analyzing organized crimes. In A. R. Piquero & S. G. Tibbetts (Eds.), Rational choice and criminal behaviour: Recent research and future challenges (pp. 41–63). New York: Routledge.
Dale, K., & Alpert, J. L. (2007). Hiding behind the cloth: Child sexual abuse and the Catholic Church. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 16(3), 59–73. https://doi.org/10.1300/J070v16n03.
Department of Education. (2016). Schools, pupils, and their characteristics: January 2016. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/552342/SFR20_2016_Main_Text.pdf
Doyle, T., Sipe, A. W., & Wall, P. (2006). Sex, priests, and secret codes: The Catholic Church’s 2000-year paper trail of sexual abuse. Los Angeles: Volt Press.
Durlak, J. A., Weissbuerg, R. P., & Pachan, M. (2010). A meta-analysis of after-school programs that seek to promote personal and social skills in children and adolescents. Community Psychology, 45(3–4), 294–309.
Durlak, J. A., & Weissberg, R. P. (2007). The impact of after-school programs that promote personal and social skills. Chicago: Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. Retrieved from https://casel.org/the-impact-of-after-school-programs-that-promote-personal-and-social-skills-2007/
Erooga, M. (2018). Savile’s sexual offending – what do we know? In M. Erooga (Ed.), Protecting children and adults from abuse after Savile: What institutions and organizations need to do. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Erooga, M., Allnock, D., & Telford, P. (2012). Towards safer organisations II: Using the perspectives of convicted sex offenders to inform organisational safeguarding of children. London: National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
Erooga, M. (2009). Towards safer organisations: A study of the literature about staff and volunteers who may present a risk to children in the workplace and implications for recruitment and selection to organisations where children may be vulnerable. London: National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
Euser, S., Alink, L. R., Tharner, A., Van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J. (2013). The prevalence of child sexual abuse in out-of-home care: A comparison between abuse in residential and in foster care. Child Maltreatment, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077559513489848.
Fater, K., & Mullaney, J. A. (2000). The lived experience of adult male survivors who allege childhood sexual abuse by clergy. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 21, 281–295.
Feldman, K. W., Mason, C., & Shugerman, R. P. (2001). Accusations that hospital staff have abused pediatric patients. Child Abuse & Neglect, 25, 1555–1569.
Finkelhor, D., & Baron, L. (1986). Risk factors for child sexual abuse. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 1(1), 43–71. https://doi.org/10.1177/088626086001001004.
Fogler, J. M., Shipherd, J. C., Rowe, E., Jensen, J., & Clarke, S. (2008). A theoretical foundation for understanding clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 17(3–4), 301–328.
Freeh, L. (2012). Report of the Special Investigative Council regarding the actions of the Pennsylvania State University related to child sexual abuse committed by Gerald A. Sandusky. Washington, DC: Freeh Sporkin & Sullivan, LLP. Retrieved from: https://www.nsvrc.org/publications/reports/freeh-report-penn-state-university
Friedrich, B. (2006). Correlates of sexual behavior in young children. In K. Kuehnle & L. Drozd (Eds.), Child custody litigation: Allegations of child sexual abuse. New York: Haworth Press.
Gallagher, B. (2000). The extent and nature of known cases of institutional child sexual abuse. British Journal of Social Work, 30(6), 795–817.
Goldman, J., Salus, M., Wolcott, D., & Kennedy, K. (2003). What factors contribute to child abuse and neglect? A coordinated response to child abuse and neglect: The foundation for practice. Washington, DC: Office on Child Abuse and Neglect.
Green, L. (2001). Analysing the sexual abuse of children by workers in residential care homes: Characteristics, dynamics and contributory factors. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 7(2), 5–24.
Green, L. (2005). Theorising sexuality, sexual abuse and residential children’s homes: Adding gender to the equation. The British Journal of Social Work, 35(4), 453–481. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bch191.
Guido, J. J. (2008). A unique betrayal: Clergy sexual abuse in the context of the Catholic religious tradition. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 17(3–4), 255–269.
Harper, C., & Perkins, C. (2017). Reporting child sexual abuse within religious settings: Challenges and future directions. Child Abuse Review. https://doi.org/10.1002/car.2484.
Herrera, C., Baldwin Grossman, J., Kauh, T., & McMaken, J. (2011). Mentoring in schools: An impact study of Big Brothers Big Sisters school-based mentoring. Child Development, 82(1), 346–361.
Higgins, D. J. (2010). Sexuality, human rights and safety for people with disabilities: The challenge of intersecting identities. Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 25(3), 245–257. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681994.2010.489545.
Higgins, D. J. (2001). A case study of child sexual abuse within a church community. Journal of Religion & Abuse, 3(1–2), 5–19. https://doi.org/10.1300/J154v03n01_02.
Hunter, J. A., Figueredo, A. J., Malamuth, N. M., & Becker, J. V. (2003). Juvenile sex offenders: Toward the development of a typology. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 15, 27–48.
John Jay College of Criminal Justice. (2004). The nature and scope of the problem of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests and deacons in the United States 1950–2002. Washington, DC: City University of New York.
Johnson, S. (2015). Executive director, National Council of Youth Sports, Stuart, Florida. Personal communication, 18 October 2015.
Kaufman, K., Sitney, M., Glace, A., Stewart, K., Zatkin, J., & McConnell, E. (2018). Applying a situational prevention lens to the Savile case: Enhancing understanding and providing a template for strengthening organisational prevention of child sexual abuse. In M. Erooga (Ed.), Protecting children and adults from abuse after Savile: What institutions and organizations need to do. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Kaufman, K. (2017). Enhancing students’ safety: The campus situational prevention approach. 36th annual research and treatment conference. Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers. Kansas City, Missouri.
Kaufman K. (2015). Applying the situational prevention approach: Enhancing safety in youth serving organizations. Safer childhood symposium. October, Atlanta, GA.
Kaufman, K., Erooga, M., Stewart, K., Zatkin, J., McConnell, E., Tews, H., & Higgins, D. (2016). Risk profiles for institutional child sexual abuse: A literature review, Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse [online]. Retrieved from http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/policy-and-research/our-research/published-research/risk-profiles-for-institutional-child-sexual-abuse
Kaufman, K., Hayes, A., & Knox, L. A. (2010). The situational prevention model: Creating safer environments for children and adolescents. In K. L. Kaufman (Ed.), The prevention of sexual violence: A practitioner’s sourcebook. Holyoke: NEARI Press.
Kaufman, K., Mosher, H., Carter, M., & Estes, L. (2006). An empirically based situational prevention model for child sexual abuse. In R. Wortley & S. Smallbone (Eds.), Situational prevention of child sexual abuse: Crime Prevention Studies (Vol. 19, pp. 101–144). Monsey: Criminal Justice Press.
Kaufman, K., Tews, H., Schuett, J., & Kaufman, B. (2012). Prevention is better than cure: The value of situational prevention in organizations. In M. Erooga (Ed.), Towards safer organisations – Practical steps to prevent the abuse of children by those working with them. London: Wiley Press.
Kirby, S. L., Greaves, L., & Hankivsky, O. (2002). Women under the dome of silence: Sexual harassment and abuse of female athletes. Canadian Woman Studies, 21(3), 132.
Lepper, J. (2013). Safeguarding in residential care. Children and Young People Now. [Online] https://www.cypnow.co.uk
Lev-Wiesel, R., Gottfried, R., Eisikovits, Z., & First, M. (2014). Factors affecting disclosure among Israeli children in residential care due to domestic violence. Child Abuse & Neglect, 38(4), 618–626.
Love, M. J. (2016). Sexual abuse of male children in sports: Factors impacting disclosure. Doctoral dissertation. Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 3682472.
Marshall, W. L. (1996). The sexual offender: Monster, victim, or everyman? Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 8, 317–335.
McLoone-Richards, C. (2012). Say nothing! How pathology within Catholicism created and sustained the institutional abuse of children in 20th century Ireland. Child Abuse Review, 21(6), 394–404.
Mountjoy, M., Rhind, D. J. A., Tiivas, A., & Leglise, M. (2015). Safeguarding the child athlete in sport: A review, a framework and recommendations for the IOC youth athlete development model. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 49(13), 883–886.
National Center for Education Statistics. (2017). Back to school statistics. Washington, DC: US Department of Education. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=372
Noble, J., & Vermillion, M. (2014). Youth sport administrators’ perceptions and knowledge of organizational policies on child maltreatment. Children and Youth Services Review, 38, 52–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.01.011.
Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. (2009). Report of the commission to inquire into child abuse in Ireland. Dublin: Stationery Office.
Parent, S., & Bannon, J. (2012). Sexual abuse in sport: What about boys? Children and Youth Services Review, 34, 354–359.
Parent, S., & Demers, G. (2011). Sexual abuse in sport: A model to prevent and protect athletes. Child Abuse Review, 20, 120–133.
Parkinson, P. (2000). The problem of child sexual abuse in church communities. In Project Axis: Child sexual abuse in Queensland: Selected research papers. Brisbane, Queensland: Queensland Crime Commission and Queensland Police Service, 59–72. Available from http://www.cmc.qld.gov.au/data/portal/00000005/content/38414001131403346713.pdf.
Parkinson, P. (2014). Child sexual abuse and the churches: A story of moral failure. Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 26, 119–138.
Peter, T. (2009). Exploring taboos: Comparing male-and female-perpetrated child sexual abuse. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 24, 1111–1128.
Price, S., Hanson, R. K., & Tagliani, L. (2013). Screening procedures in the United Kingdom for positions of trust with children. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 19(1), 17–31.
Quayle, E. (2012). Organisational issues and new technologies. In M. Erooga (Ed.), Creating safer organisations: Practical steps to prevent the abuse of children by those working with them (pp. 99–121). London: Wiley.
Ratliff, L., & Watson, J. (2014). A descriptive analysis of public school educators arrested for sex offenses. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 23, 217–228.
Rhind, D., McDermott, J., Lambert, E., & Koleva, I. (2015). A review of safeguarding cases in sport. Child Abuse Review, 24, 418–426. https://doi.org/10.1002/car.2306.
Rogers, D., Green, J., & Kaufman, K. (2010). Using theory to strengthen prevention practice. In K. Kaufman (Ed.), The prevention of sexual violence: A practitioner’s sourcebook (pp. 55–84). Holyoke: NEARI Press Inc.
Scheper-Hughes, N., & Devine, J. (2003). Priestly celibacy and child sexual abuse. Sexualities, 6(1), 15–40. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460703006001519.
Scott-Moncrieff, L., & Morris, B. (2015). Independent investigation into governance arrangements in the paediatric haematology and oncology service at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust following the Myles Bradbury case. Cambridge: Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Shakeshaft, C. (2004). Educator sexual misconduct: A synthesis of existing literature. PPSS 2004–09. Washington: US Department of Education.
Shakeshaft, C., & Cohan, A. (1995). Sexual abuse of students by school personnel. Phi Delta Kappan, 76(7), 513–520.
Shakeshaft, C., Barber, E., Hergenrother, M. A., Johnson, Y., Mandel, L., & Sawyer, J. (1994). Conceptions of community: Peer harassment and the culture of caring in the schools. Paper presented at the annual convention of the University Council of Educational Administration, Philadelphia, PA.
Shattuck, A., Finkelhor, D., Turner, H., & Hamby, S. (2016). Children exposed to abuse in youth-serving organizations: Results from national sample surveys. JAMA Pediatrics, 170(2), 1–4.
Smallbone, S., Marshall, W. L., & Wortley, R. (2008). Preventing child sexual abuse: Evidence, policy and practice. Devon: Willan Publishing.
Smith, M. K. (2004). The case for youth work: Presentation to the Prime Minister’s Strategy Group – September 2004. Retrieved from http://www.infed.org/archives/jeffs_and_smith/the_case_for_youth_work.html
Spencer, J., & Knudsen, D. (1992). Out-of-home maltreatment: An analysis of risk in various settings for children. Child Youth Services Review, 14(6), 485–492.
Staley, C., Ranck, E. R., Perreault, J., & Newgebauer, R. (1986). Guidelines for effective staff selection. Child Care Information Exchange, 47, 22–26.
Statista. (2018). Share of children (aged 5–15) participating in any sport in the last 4 weeks in England from 2008/09 to 2017/18. Retrieved December 24, 2018 from https://www.statista.com/statistics/421116/childrenssports-involvment-england-uk/.
Stirling, A., & Kerr, G. (2009). Abused athletes’ perceptions of the coach-athlete relationship. Sport in Society, 12(2), 227–239.
Stein, M. (2006). Missing years of abuse in children’s homes. Child & Family Social Work, 11(1), 11–21.
Taylor, B., Mumford, E., Liu, W., & Stein, N. (2016). Assessing different levels and dosages of the shifting boundaries intervention to prevent youth dating violence in New York City middle schools: A randomized control trial, 2011–2014. ICPSR36355-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2016-05-31. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR36355.v1
Terry, K., & Ackerman, A. (2008). Child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church: How situational crime prevention strategies can help create safe environments. Criminal Justice & Behavior, 35(5), 643–657.
Timmerman, M. C., & Schreuder, P. R. (2014). Sexual abuse of children and youth in residential care: An international review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 19(6), 715–720.
Toftegaard Nielsen, J. (2001). The forbidden zone: Intimacy, sexual relations and misconduct in the relationship between coaches and athletes. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 36(2), 165–182.
United States Census Bureau. (2009). Participation in selected sports activities. Washington, DC.
Wolfe, D., Jaffe, P., Jette, J., & Poisson, S. (2003). The impact of child abuse in community institutions and organizations: Advancing professional and scientific understanding. Clinical Psychology-Science and Practice, 10, 179–191.
Wonnacott, J., & Carmi, E. (2016). Southbank International School Serious Case Review. Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster Local Safeguarding Children Board. Accessed on 26 July 2017 at 222.rbke.gov.uk/pdf/Southbank%20SCR%20REPORT%2012%201%2016.pdf.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kaufman, K., Erooga, M., Higgins, D., Zatkin, J. (2019). Youth-Serving Organization Safety Risks and the Situational Prevention Approach. In: Lonne, B., Scott, D., Higgins, D., Herrenkohl, T.I. (eds) Re-Visioning Public Health Approaches for Protecting Children. Child Maltreatment, vol 9. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05858-6_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05858-6_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-05857-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-05858-6
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)