ABSTRACT

Introduction .......................................................................................................... 92 Types of Sexual Violence Prevention ................................................................. 93 Understanding the Basis for CSA ....................................................................... 93 Child-Focused Primary Prevention of CSA ..................................................... 95 Family-Focused Primary Prevention of CSA ................................................... 99 Primary Prevention of CSA in Youth-Oriented Organizations ................... 100 Perpetrator-Focused Primary Prevention of CSA ......................................... 102

General Deterrence Strategies ...................................................................... 102 Developmental Prevention ........................................................................... 103

Innovations in Primary Prevention of CSA .................................................... 104 Conclusions and Future Issues Concerning Primary Prevention of CSA ... 105 Glossary of Key Terms ....................................................................................... 106 Discussion Questions ........................................................................................ 107 Suggested Reading ............................................................................................. 107 Recommended Web Links ................................................................................ 108 References ............................................................................................................ 108

• Discuss strengths and limitations of different primary prevention strategies for child sexual abuse

• Identify avenues for future research in evaluating primary prevention strategies for child sexual abuse

One of the key debates in the sex offending literature involves the notion that incarcerated sex offenders/those in treatment for sexual offenses possibly represent only a minority of actual sex offenders. The basis for this argument is the fact that the vast majority of sex crimes go undetected for various reasons. The dark figure for sex crimes is possibly quite more substantial than for certain other types of violent crimes. For example, it is fairly well established that many sex offenders commit a single sex offense in their criminal career and never reoffend sexually. Others, however, commit offenses against different victims over the course of their criminal career, some of which may not come to the attention of authorities. Similarly, some sex offenders may abuse the same victim repeatedly, over the course of months or years without the crimes ever being reported and the offender being caught (e.g., see Lussier and Cale 2013, for a review of the criminal careers of sex offenders).