Child Abuse Negl. 2017 Aug;70:210-221. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.06.017. Epub 2017 Jul 3.
McKibbin G1, Humphreys C2, Hamilton B2.
Abstract
Harmful sexual behavior carried out by children and young people accounts for about half of all child sexual abuse perpetration. The aim of this study was to draw on the insights of young people who had been sexually abusive to enhance the current prevention agenda. The study involved semi-structured interviews with 14 young people and six treatment-providing workers. Sampling was purposive and the young people had previously completed a treatment program for harmful sexual behaviour in Victoria, Australia. The young people were approached as experts based on their previous experience of engaging in harmful sexual behavior. At the same time, their past abusive behavior was not condoned or minimised. Constructivist Grounded Theory was used to analyse the qualitative data. Opportunities for preventing harmful sexual behavior were the focus of the interviews with young people and workers. The research identified three opportunities for prevention, which involved acting on behalf of children and young people to: reform their sexuality education; redress their victimization experiences; and help their management of pornography. These opportunities could inform the design of initiatives to enhance the prevention agenda.
KEYWORDS: Child sexual abuse; Children and young people with harmful sexual behavior; Constructivist grounded theory; Prevention; Problematic sexual behavior; Public health model; Sexually abusive behavior
PMID: 28628898
DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.06.017
EXCERPTS:
4.3. Prevention through disrupting the impact of pornography
The third opportunity for prevention identified through the interviews with the young people and workers about helping pornography management may have significant prevention potential and there are significant gaps in all three levels of the prevention agenda around the issue.
There is strong evidence that proactive engagement with pornography is associated with children and young people’s harmful sexual behavior (Crabbe & Corlett, 2010; Flood, 2009; Wright et al., 2016). It may be that children and young people are getting more information about sex through pornography than through sexuality education delivered in home or school settings. The consumption of pornography is then triggering sexually abusive behavior for some.
The workers’ reflections supported the insight of some young people that pornography triggered their sexually abusive behavior. The reflection is in-keeping with the broader sociological literature about the impacts of pornography on children and young people (Albury, 2014; Crabbe & Corlett, 2010; Papadopoulos, 2010; Walker, Temple-Smith, Higgs, & Sanci, 2015). This evidence indicates that viewing violent pornographic material, which has become increasingly accessible and mainstream, generates misogynistic attitudes and patterns of sexual arousal focused on abusing women.
The workers’ suggestion that the negative effects of pornography can be countered by teaching children and young people critical thinking skills about concepts of gender, power, age, and consent is also in-keeping with the emerging evidence base about porn literacy (Albury, 2014; Crabbe & Corlett, 2010). However, consideration should be given to porn literacy appropriate for children and for young people with intellectual disabilities, who are particularly vulnerable to displaying harmful sexual behavior. As illustrated in Fig. 2, the third opportunity for prevention could be used to inform a primary prevention strategy involving collaboration between government and the telecommunications industry, to limit children and young people’s access to pornography.
It appears that the pornography problem for children and young people has exceeded the bounds of what individuals and families can manage and that there is merit in government taking an active role in holding industry to account for the harms of pornography against children and young people. Further, the third opportunity for prevention could be used to inform the introduction of porn literacy to respectful relationships and sexuality education curriculums, as well as to policies to respond to vulnerable children and young people such as those who have been sexually abused or lived with intimate partner violence. Treatment responses to harmful sexual behaviour also need to take account of the role that pornography is playing in triggering the behaviour.
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