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Sexual assault has come to the forefront in terms of prevention and education for many social institutions such as college campuses. However, with a growing body of research highlighting the importance and effectiveness of interventions, research examining the impact of rape-related education on altering rape myth acceptance (RMA) among non-student populations is severely lacking. This is a problematic gap given the issue of sexual assault in the United States extends well beyond academia. The current study aimed to fill this gap by employing an experimental design with repeated measures. To detect changes in RMA after a short rape myth education intervention, pretest and posttest RMA scores were generated for all participants by using an altered version of the Updated Illinois Rape Myth Adherence scale. A sample of 137 non-students were surveyed via Amazon's Mechanical Turk and randomly assigned to a treatment (educational intervention) or control (unrelated video content). The treatment video was roughly ten minutes in length and constructed by the author for the purpose of the current research, after a search for a similar informal and accessible, but still research-based, video was not successful. Participants were presented with common rape myths and then provided with information (e.g., accessible research/statistics) with the aim to "debunk" these myths, and ultimately decrease acceptance of myths. Analyses indicate support for a significant change in RMA scores from pretest to posttest in the treatment group, finding support for the use of informal rape myth education in altering immediate RMA scores of a non-student sample. RMA scores were also examined by demographics to determine if within-group differences were present in the sample. No consistent results emerged in both the treatment and control group. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed

The approach behaviors of 107 incarcerated child molesters at Atascadero State Hospital in California were examined through the use of an interview protocol and a 49-question questionnaire developed from the interview findings. The goal was to develop a data base for a molestation prevention program directed toward children. Results suggest that the sampled molesters were oriented to behaviors that commonly occur in friendship formation, including focusing attention on the child and his/her interests and attributes. These findings suggest that an effective prevention program could be very difficult to develop.

The research study described and explored families’ protection of children from sexual abuse as perceived and experienced by families and community leaders in KwaNzimakwe, KwaZulu-Natal. A social construction and ecosystems perspective was utilised in order to understand the effects of perceptions and socio-cultural factors. The tribal area of KwaNzimakwe provided a context for the study to investigate socio-cultural factors that increase vulnerability among children in post apartheid South Africa. Limited empirical data was however found in relation to locally relevant factors pertinent to families’ protection of children from sexual abuse. The perspective of families and the community was ascertained through the use of qualitative methods of data collection. Ten individual interviews were conducted with family members who had past experiences of child sexual abuse and five focus group discussions were carried out with parents and community leaders. The research revealed misconceptions in relation to child sexual abuse with regards to (1) the definition (2) detection (3) awareness of potential risks. Child sexual abuse was found to be a hidden issue as families protect their name and the community perceive it to be a private matter. The study also showed that families do not report cases of child sexual abuse due to mistrust in the child protection system. Other main findings were that insufficiencies in the child protection system and stigma in the community have detrimental effects on families and victims. The absence of men in families and the absence of adults in the lives of children were found to significantly weaken families’ protection of children from sexual abuse. The study attributed this to factors such as poverty, gender roles and perceptions of men. The study recommends further research on the topic and prevention programmes in South Africa with particular reference to strengthening families and community based approaches. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

by Yvonne Lee Kit Shan. / Questionnarie in Chinese. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 71-78). / ABSTRACT --- p.ii / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.iii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iv / LIST OF TABLES --- p.vi / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.vii / LIST OF APPENDICES --- p.viii / Chapter CHAPTER ONE - --- INTRODUCTION / Rationale for prevention programs for people with mental retardation --- p.1 / Conception of prevention --- p.10 / Program description and evaluation --- p.12 / Critique of prevention programs --- p.15 / Side effect of prevention program --- p.18 / Purpose of the present study --- p.19 / Chapter CHAPTER TWO - --- METHOD / Subjects --- p.23 / Instructor and interviewers --- p.25 / Measures --- p.25 / Procedures --- p.28 / Analyses --- p.31 / Chapter CHAPTER THREE - --- RESULTS / Attrition analysis --- p.33 / Pretreatment analysis --- p.35 / Reliability of measures --- p.35 / Outcome evaluation --- p.38 / Side effect of the program --- p.55 / Chapter CHAPTER FOUR - --- DISCUSSION / The need for sexual abuse prevention program --- p.57 / Outcome evaluation of the Behavioral Skill Training (BST) program --- p.58 / Side effect of sexual abuse prevention program --- p.62 / Transfer of knowledge from child sexual abuse research --- p.63 / Limitations --- p.66 / Clinical implication --- p.68 / Conclusions --- p.69 / REFERENCES --- p.71 / APPENDICES --- p.79