NCJ Number
215301
Date Published
2006
Length
44 pages
Annotation
This chapter proposes a situational prevention model for child sexual abuse (CSA) based on research pertinent to the methods used by child molesters to commit their crimes ("modus operandi").
Abstract
The authors first review the history of efforts to develop strategies for preventing CSA. They note the current focus on the public health approach, which enlists community members, professionals, parents, caregivers, and other family members to monitor the well-being and safety of children in the community. The chapter then turns to its proposal for using research as the basis for guiding such monitoring, specifically research that examines the modus operandi of child molesters. Detailed analyses of their crime patterns can be used to alert the public to common strategies they use in their sexual abuse of children. This research-based, community-oriented approach to child safety implies a situational prevention model that aims to structure children's environments in ways that will prevent child molesters from using their modus operandi identified from research. The authors recognize, however, that the situational prevention model may be effective for only a portion of the risk factors for CSA. They advise that it is best used for nonfamilial abuse threats, such as those posed by neighbors, family friends, strangers, and professionals who may target children for sexual abuse outside the home. The components of the CSA situational prevention model proposed by the authors are described in relation to what research has shown to be the modus operandi of various types of child molesters. The topics addressed in relation to the model are lifestyle and routine activity risk factors; physical environment; crime opportunity structure (target locations, victims, and facilitators); offender-specific factors; individual factors; and the linking of the crime opportunity structure to offender-specific factors. 2 tables and 112 references