Sexually abused and nonabused children's conceptions of personal body safety

Abstract

This study compared characteristics of abused and nonabused children's conceptions about personal body safety. A projective type vignette describing a personal body safety violation was read to 25 abused children entering a treatment program in eastern Washington and 25 nonabused children matched on sex, age, and grade in school. The children were asked questions about the vignette incident, and responses were compared between the abused and nonabused children. Significant differences were obtained between abused and nonabused children's conceptions of personal body safety with regard to their definitions of sexual abuse, descriptions of violators, and perceptions of consequences for the violator. Few significant differences were observed regarding conceptions of the victim, and no differences were observed on responses to two control vignettes depicting violations of traffic and school safety rules. Comparisons are made between both abused and nonabused children's understandings of the phenomenon. In addition, suggestions are offered for incorporating this information into sexual abuse prevention and treatment programs as well as future research.