Mohammad Tahan
Islamic Azad University, Iran
Title: Designing and evaluating a questionnaire (knowledge and awareness of children about sexual abuse)
Biography
Biography: Mohammad Tahan
Abstract
Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a public health problem of epidemic proportions worldwide (Barth, 2013). In the United States, approximately 1 in 10 children reports having experienced sexual victimization,2 and approximately 15% to 32% of women and 5% to 16% of men report being sexually abused as children.3–5 Among US children, the incidence rate of sexual abuse was 24% in 2009,6 and in 2012, 62 936 cases of CSA were substantiated nationwide. In addition, authorities suspect that large numbers go unreported (Pulido, 2015). Despite the large number of prevention programs that have been developed in the past ten years to teach children ways in which they might deal with sexual abuse should they be approached or molested, there is only a beginning body of research on their efficacy. Reviews of the available published research (Tutty, 1990; Wurtele, 1987) cite approximately 26-30 studies that have investigated whether children from a wide age-range of three to 13 years can learn and utilize the knowledge and skills taught in prevention programs. This research has been interpreted as providing beginning support for child abuse prevention programs on the part of the reviewers previously cited, but others remain sceptical about their utility (Reppucci & Haugaard, 1989). Continuing investigation of how children respond to such programs is necessary, especially given the complexity of the developmental changes experienced by children (Tutty, in press), and the influence of cultural and family beliefs that may contradict the messages given in prevention programs (Tutty, 1991; Tutty, 1993). However, a recent nationwide survey of American school-based prevention programs (Bolden, 1992), found that, while most programs expressed an interest in evaluation, one of the major constraints was finding appropriate research instruments. This study will examine the main concepts that will be taught in schools for the prevention of child sexual abuse. These concepts, the Children's Abuse Awareness Questionnaire, will be made to measure changes in knowledge and attitudes toward abusive prevention concepts in children aged 6 to 13 years.