CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE PREVENTION - EVALUATION OF A TEACHER-TRAINING PROGRAM

The present study evaluated a teacher training program on child sexual abuse prevention developed by Hazzard, Kleemeier, Pohl, and Webb (1988b) entitled Child Sexual Abuse Prevention: Teacher Training Workshop Curriculum. Minor modifications were made from the original program. A total of 42 teachers participated in the research project: 21 teachers were included in the training condition; 21 were control subjects. Teachers in the inservice group received 6 hours of training in three 2-hour sessions. The training sessions were conducted by individuals considered experts in the area of child sexual abuse. Responses of 21 teachers who participated in the training program were compared to those of 21 control teachers on pretest, posttest, and follow-up measures. Relative to control subjects, trained teachers demonstrated significant increases in knowledge about child sexual abuse, attitudes regarding prevention, identifying behavioral indicators of abuse, and appropriate intervention in potential abuse cases. A 3-month follow-up survey indicated that trained teachers were more likely to have engaged in certain behaviors related to the training (e.g., talking with children and reporting suspected cases of abuse). Suggestions are included regarding future research in this area and use of the current training program with school personnel, particularly for the school psychologist.