THE WILEY HANDBOOK OF WHAT WORKS WITH SEXUAL OFFENDERS: CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES IN THEORY, ASSESSMENT, TREATMENT, AND PREVENTION | https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119439325.ch27
Ryan T. Shields, Daniel B. Rothman, Elizabeth J. Letourneau
SUMMARY
Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a common, severe, and preventable problem that contributes to the national and global burden of disease. Effective CSA prevention efforts are needed to avert harm to victim and their families, and reduce monetary and nonmonetary costs borne by victims, their families, and society. This chapter reviews criminal-justice interventions, therapeutic interventions, and target-hardening efforts. Therapeutic interventions for sexually abused children and for people who previously engaged in harmful sexual behavior could, theoretically, prevent the onset of sexual-abuse behaviors in the case of victims or the recurrence of these behaviors in the case of people who have already offended. The chapter emphasizes the importance of ensuring that neither children nor their parents ever feel blamed for CSA victimization, especially in the context of interventions that seek to reduce the risk of future harmful behaviors. It reviews school-based victim-focused prevention efforts.
