Social problem solving in unsafe situations: Implications for sexual abuse education programs

Abstract

Examined the impact of two subject variables (age and gender) and two contextual factors (antagonist age and nature of the social dilemma) on children's social problem solving (SPS). Preschoolers (N = 62) were individually presented with four stories that varied the antagonist age (peer vs. adult) and social dilemma (nonsexual vs. sexual). Responses were coded for three SPS variables: number of alternative solutions, solution content, and planfulness. Younger preschoolers were less competent problem solvers in all types of unsafe situations, and, compared to girls, some aspects of boys' problem solving were compromised in sexual encounters. Results also suggest that the nature of the social dilemma, but not the age of the antagonist, affects preschoolers' SPS. Children generated fewer alternative solutions and fewer effective strategies to the sexual encounters compared to the nonsexual dilemmas. Findings are discussed in relation to research on children's SPS and child sexual abuse prevention efforts.

Effective Components of School-Based Prevention Programs for Child Abuse: A Meta-Analytic Review

“…Better social-emotional skills enable children to empathize with others who are in abusive situations, which may increase their knowledge on abuse concepts, such as the difference between appropriate and inappropriate touch, or between safe and unsafe situations. Research also indicates that children with better social problem-solving skills are more adept at resolving child abuse-related dilemmas, because they offer more thoughtful solutions to different situations (Grober & Bogat, 1994;Sanderson, 2004). Therefore, children might benefit more from prevention education focusing on social problem-solving.…”

”Oh Yes I Can.”“Oh No You Can't”: Children and Parents' Understandings of Kids' Competence to Negotiate Public Space Safely

“…The evidence of this research however is that parents are equally concerned for their sons' and daughters' safety but whereas daughters (and girls in general) were commonly described as sensible, logical and therefore responsible enough to manage their own safety, boys were commonly represented as easily led, irrational, slow to mature and consequently as less capable of negotiating their own safety than girls (Valentine, 1997). These gendered representations of competence appear to be borne out by research in psychology which suggests that boys have less sophisticated social problem-solving skills than girls (Cohen, 1991, Grober & Bogat, 1994. Indeed, parents justified their claims about differences in their children's competence to deal with strangers by recounting anecdotes which illustrated gender differences in their offsprings' ability to handle responsibility in other contexts, for example, in relation to racial abuse, domestic safety, saving money and so on.…”

Boys and CSA Prevention: Issues Surrounding Gender and Approaches for Prevention

“…Key messages that focus on perpetrator resistance techniques are problematic as they emphasise controllability of a potential situation. They also reinforce boys' preference for more 'superhero' responses, or more confrontational, less planned strategies that focus on physical aggression (Asidigian & Finkelhor, 1995;Grober & Bogat, 1994;Sanderson, 2004;Sang, 1994). Prevention programs therefore need to guide boys to consider more appropriate strategies with an emphasis on the recognition and reporting of suspected instances (Sanderson, 2004).…”

“…These feelings can include butterflies in the stomach and sweaty palms. However many CSA prevention programs do not acknowledge 'bad' touch may actually feel good (Whetsell-Mitchell, 1995 Identified problem for boys: Boys need extensive practice problem solving sexual dilemmas and the development of alternative skills that move beyond 'superhero' responses (Asidigin & Finkelhor, 1995;Grober & Bogat, 1994;Sanderson, 2004;Sang, 1994).…”