Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice pp 5434–5442Cite as

Victim-Focused Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:

  • 139 Accesses

Overview

Reppucci and Haugaard (1989) have argued that before designing prevention programs to prevent sexual victimizations, we should first know what actually happens in sexual offenses. In other words, prevention should be based on empirical studies focusing on a detailed analysis of the actual offense not anecdotal accounts. To our knowledge, a very limited number of studies have been completed on victim resistance and its impact on the offender-victim interchange and related outcomes in child sexual abuse. A clearer understanding of the patterns in offender-victim interchanges may assist in informing and improving prevention programs. This entry begins with an overview of child sexual abuse, leading to current knowledge regarding offender-victim interchange and victim resistance. Second, it reviews victim-focused prevention programs and its effectiveness in reducing the number of sexual abuse incidents. Lastly, it makes a number of recommendations as to potential future...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   4,350.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD   4,999.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Recommended Reading and References

  • Asdigian N, Finkelhor D (1995) What works for children in resisting assaults? J Interpers Violence 10:402–418

    Google Scholar 

  • Block R (1981) Victim-offender dynamics in violent crime. J Crim Law Criminol 72:743–761

    Google Scholar 

  • Briggs F (1991) Child protection programs: can they protect young children? Early Child Dev Care 67:61–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Cornish DB (1994) The procedural analysis of offending and its relevance for situational prevention. In: Clarke RV (ed) Crime prevention studies, vol 3. Criminal Justice Press, Monsey

    Google Scholar 

  • Elliot M, Browne K, Kilcoyne J (1995) Child sexual abuse prevention: what offenders tell us. Child Abuse Negl 19:579–594

    Google Scholar 

  • Finkelhor D, Dziuba-Leatherman J (1994) Children as victims of violence: a national survey. Pediatrics 94:413–420

    Google Scholar 

  • Finkelhor D, Ormrod RK (2001) Factors in the underreporting of crimes against juveniles. Child Maltreat 6:219–229

    Google Scholar 

  • Finkelhor D, Strapko N (1992) Sexual abuse prevention education: a review of evaluation studies. In: Willis DJ, Hoder EW, Rosenberg M (eds) Child abuse prevention. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Finkelhor D, Asdigian NL, Dziuba-Leatherman J (1995a) The effectiveness of victimization prevention instruction: an evaluation of children’s responses to actual threats and assaults. Child Abuse Negl 19:141–153

    Google Scholar 

  • Finkelhor D, Asdigian NL, Dziuba-Leatherman J (1995b) The effectiveness of victimization prevention programs for children: a follow-up. Am J Public Health 85:1684–1689

    Google Scholar 

  • Geeraert L, Noortgate WVD, Grietens H, Onghena P (2004) The effects of early prevention programs for families with young children at risk for physical child abuse and neglect: a meta-analysis. Child Maltreat 9:277–291

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibson LE, Leitenberg H (2000) Child sexual abuse prevention programs: do they decrease the occurrence of child sexual abuse? Child Abuse Negl 24:1115–1125

    Google Scholar 

  • Gold SN, Elhai JD, Lucenko BA, Swingle JM, Hughes DM (1998) Abuse characteristics among childhood sexual abuse survivors in therapy: a gender comparison. Child Abuse Negl 22:1005–1012

    Google Scholar 

  • Holzer PJ, Bromfield LM, Richardson N, Higgins DJ (2006) Child abuse prevention: what works? The effectiveness of parent education programs for preventing child maltreatment. Research brief no. 1, from http://www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/researchbrief/rbl.html

  • Ketring SA, Feinaur LL (1999) Perpetrator-victim relationship: long-term effects of sexual abuse for men and women. Am J Fam Ther 27:109–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Kleck G, Sayles S (1990) Rape and resistance. Soc Probl 37:149–162

    Google Scholar 

  • Leclerc B, Tremblay P (2007) Strategic behavior in adolescent sexual offenses against children: linking modus operandi to sexual behaviors. Sex Abuse J Res Treat 19:23–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Leclerc B, Proulx J, Lussier P, Allaire J-F (2009) Offender-victim interaction and crime event outcomes: modus operandi and victim effects on the risk of intrusive sexual offenses against children. Criminology 47:595–618

    Google Scholar 

  • Leclerc B, Wortley R, Smallbone S (2010) An exploratory study of victim resistance in child sexual abuse: offender modus operandi and victim characteristics. Sex Abuse J Res Treat 22:25–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Leclerc B, Wortley R, Smallbone S (2011a) Getting into the script of child sex offenders and mapping out situational prevention measures. J Res Crime Delinq 48:209–237

    Google Scholar 

  • Leclerc B, Wortley R, Smallbone S (2011b) Victim resistance in child sexual abuse: a look into the efficacy of self-protection strategies based on the offender’s experience. J Interpers Violence 26:1868–1883

    Google Scholar 

  • Luckenbill DF (1977) Criminal homicide as a situated transaction. Soc Probl 25:176–186

    Google Scholar 

  • MacIntyre D, Carr A (2000) Prevention of child sexual abuse: implications of programme evaluation research. Child Abuse Rev 9:183–199

    Google Scholar 

  • Reppucci ND, Haugaard JJ (1989) Prevention of child sexual abuse: myth or reality. Am Psychol 44:1266–1275

    Google Scholar 

  • Richardson N, Tomison AM (2004) Evaluating child abuse prevention programs. Child Abuse Prevention Resource Sheet 5, from http://wwww.aifs.gov.au/nch/sheets/rs5.html

  • Smallbone S, Wortley R (2000) Child sexual abuse in Queensland: offender characteristics and modus operandi (full report). Queensland Crime Commission, Brisbane

    Google Scholar 

  • Smallbone SW, Marshall W, Wortley R (2008) Preventing child sexual abuse: evidence, policy and practice. Willan, Cullompton

    Google Scholar 

  • Tark J, Kleck G (2004) Resisting crime: the effects of victim action on the outcomes of crimes. Criminology 42:861–909

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomison AM, Poole L (2000) Preventing child sexual abuse and neglect. Findings from an Australian audit of prevention programs. http://www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/auditreport.html

  • Ullman SE, Knight RA (1991) A multivariate model for predicting rape and physical injury outcomes during sexual assaults. J Consult Clin Psychol 59:724–731

    Google Scholar 

  • Ullman SE, Knight RA (1992) Fighting back: women’s resistance to rape. J Interpers Violence 7:31–43

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Yi-Ning Chiu & Benoit Leclerc

Authors
  1. Yi-Ning Chiu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Benoit Leclerc
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yi-Ning Chiu .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR), Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Gerben Bruinsma

  2. VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Gerben Bruinsma

  3. Department of Criminology, Law and Society, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA

    David Weisburd

  4. Faculty of Law, The Hebrew University, Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel

    David Weisburd

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Chiu, YN., Leclerc, B. (2014). Victim-Focused Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse. In: Bruinsma, G., Weisburd, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5690-2_103

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5690-2_103

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-5689-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-5690-2

  • eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation