NCJ Number
145422
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 17 Issue: 5 Dated: (September-October 1993) Pages: 651-662
Date Published
1993
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This study investigated preschoolers' perceptions of adult authority in sexual and benign situations and how these might influence their acquisition of concepts presented in a child sexual abuse prevention program.
Abstract
The participants were 117 preschoolers, ages 36-84 months, at four child day care centers. Three of the centers were attended by children from low-middle to middle-class backgrounds; the fourth consisted solely of low income and welfare families. The children were randomly assigned to either an experimental or a delayed treatment control group. measures of authority and prevention skills were administered before and after the first presentation of the curriculum. The curriculum presented five hypothetical situations, four involving sexual abuse and one involving benign touch. Perceptions of adult authority were measured using two stories. One involved a child being asked to clean the room; the other concerned an adult male offering a child a gift if the child agrees to let the man touch the child's private parts. Findings provided preliminary indications that children ages 3-6 are able to recognize limits to adult requests to engage in sexual behavior and that their sophistication about these limits increases as a result of program participation. Further theoretically based evaluations of child sexual abuse prevention programs are recommended. Tables and 34 references