Teachers' Education in the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse

Child sexual abuse (CSA) has increased dramatically in recent years with long term consequences in the psychosocial development of children. Teachers have great responsibility to involve themselves in the process of child... [ view full abstract ]

Child sexual abuse (CSA) has increased dramatically in recent years with long term consequences in the psychosocial development of children. Teachers have great responsibility to involve themselves in the process of child sexual abuse prevention, detection and reporting. This study investigated the knowledge and understanding of child abuse related concepts of elementary school teachers (N=87) during a one-day training seminar. Concepts covered in the training were physical and behavior indicators of CSA, risk factors, mandatory reporting processes, the role of education in CSA, as well as the psychological, medical and legal aspects of CSA. The effectiveness of the one-day seminar was evaluated through a questionnaire that measured knowledge levels (Goldman, 2007), administered before and immediately after the seminar. Teachers showed an increase in their knowledge about CSA related concepts, as well as knowledge of mandatory reporting. Considering the significant role that teachers play in CSA prevention efforts, abuse-related education is highly recommended for them. Future research can be directed in the long-term knowledge gains of teachers following training, or even to behavioral changes as measured by increase rates of reporting of incidents.