Abstract
High school-level child abuse prevention programs are described and critically examined. Programs are typically less than two hours, focused on date rape and sexual abuse prevention and reporting, and not integrated into existing family life education programs. Little attention is given to neglect or emotional abuse. Instructional methods are typically limited to demonstration and lecture with less use of more powerful techniques such as peer instruction and student-to-student role plays. The four goals of high school child maltreatment prevention programs are articulated and appraised. Implications for decision making about the emphasis, form, and sequencing of child abuse prevention content are forwarded.
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Additional information
Richard P. Barth is Associate Professor and Principal Investigator; David Derezotes was Project Director and is now Assistant Professor, University of Utah; and Holly Danforth is a Doctoral Student and Research Assistant, Family Welfare Research Group, School of Social Welfare, University of California at Berkeley. The authors thank Susan Katzenellenbogen, Wendy Goss, Jack Light, Lin Wan I, Marcia Meyers, and Jeanne Pietrzak. The authors made equal contributions to this article. Funding was provided by the State of California Department of Social Services, Office of Child Abuse Prevention Grant #C7101. Address reprint requests to Rick Barth, Family Welfare Research Group, 1950 Addison St., Suite 104, Berkeley, CA 94704
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Barth, R.P., Derezotes, D.S. & Danforth, H.E. Preventing adolescent abuse. J Primary Prevent 11, 193–205 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01326503
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01326503