Perpetration-Focused Prevention: The Perceptions of Victim-Survivors

Area of Science:

• Social Sciences
• Psychology
• Public Health

Background:

• Policymakers increasingly seek input from child sexual abuse victim-survivors on prevention initiatives.
• Perpetration-focused prevention, such as the Stop it Now! program, is a key area of interest.
• Limited understanding exists regarding victim-survivors' views on these prevention strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore how victim-survivors of child sexual abuse perceive perpetration-focused prevention efforts.
• To understand victim-survivors' support for initiatives like the Stop it Now! program.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative study involving 16 Australian victim-survivors of child sexual abuse.
• Data collected through individual, one-hour semi-structured interviews.
• Thematic analysis employed to identify key patterns in participant experiences.

Main Results:

• Four emergent themes: Core of repulsion, Doubt and dismissal, Conditions for congruence, and Arriving at acceptability.
• Themes illustrate a spiral process of rationalization from initial revulsion to conditional support.
• Victim-survivors' perspectives evolve, moving from negative initial reactions to eventual conditional acceptance.

Conclusions:

• Victim-survivors' initial revulsion towards perpetration-focused prevention can evolve into conditional support.
• Understanding this process is vital for developing effective and acceptable child sexual abuse prevention initiatives.
• Incorporating victim-survivor perspectives enhances the legitimacy and potential success of prevention programs.