The Role of Theory in the Prevention of Sexual Violence in Sport.

Sexual violence (SV) remains at epidemic proportions in the U.S. and growing evidence demonstrates that youth and adults engaged in sport are at increased risk of victimization and perpetration of SV. Unfortunately, sport SV prevention strategies are rarely built on theory or theoretically grounded evidence, despite demonstrated effectiveness of such approaches. This study aimed to answer to questions: 1) Which theories are relevant to the development of effective SV prevention strategies in sport?; and 2) How has theory been incorporated into existing SV prevention literature on sport safety? A scoping review of the literature plus expert input identified 29 theories pertinent to SV prevention in sport. A systemized review of the literature regarding SV prevention in sport resulted in the identification and characterization of 41 published articles. Authors then examined theory's role in prevention literature. This study identified 29 theories pertinent to SV prevention in sports and applicable across the behavioral spectrum. Most theories were rooted in the Behavioral (41%), Situational (24%) or Social/Attitudinal (21%) areas. Less common were theories grounded in Feminist (14%) domains. Theories were predominantly focused at the individual (42%), organizational (29%), and interpersonal (18%) ecological levels. Of the 41 sport prevention articles, 33 (83%) referred to a theory either explicitly or implicitly. Though most theories have been incorporated into prevention efforts, closer examination indicates that the majority were descriptive, unlikely to use a sophisticated methodology (10%; e.g., experimental, quasi-experimental), and rarely intended to assess a specific prevention program/strategy or policy (21%). Strong theoretical foundations are available for SV prevention research focused on sports, and their application appears to show value across the developmental spectrum of athletes. There remains a need for greater focus on theory-driven research intended to develop prevention strategies and policies designed to enhance athlete safety.

Introduction - The Prevention of Sexual Violence in Sport: A Real Game Changer.

This Special Issue focuses on the prevention of sexual violence in sport. It begins with an examination of the role of theory in the prevention of sport related sexual violence, identifies critical gaps in the literature, features a number of cutting-edge sexual violence prevention studies, and provides a practically oriented investigation that demonstrates the importance of incorporating a socioecological framework and policy structures in the prevention of sexual violence in sport. This Special Issue was designed to encourage greater development and study of empirically based approaches to prevent sexual violence in sport in response to the paucity of available strategies to enhance athlete safety and well-being.

Prevention of Sexual Violence in sport: A Socioecological Review.

Sexual violence in sport is prevalent and represents a serious public health concern. The social-ecological model for health promotion has been used successfully as a framework to identify individual-to-policy level factors aimed at health promotion or disease prevention. The purpose of this review was to examine both published and non-published (publicly available) SVP efforts conducted within the context of sport and make recommendations for future practice. Grey literature search methods were utilized to conduct a review of publicly available documents. This included (a) a comprehensive Google search using unique search terms that would identify SVP efforts within sport settings and (b) a review of the publicly accessible websites identified in the previous step. Following the grey literature search, and using the SVP practices identified in step one, we conducted a supplementary literature search using scientific publication search engines to identify whether the SVP practices identified in step one had associated peer-reviewed publications. Finally, we assessed various characteristics of each SVP practice including the target population, age range of intended participants, and whether the SVP had associated peer review publications. This led to the identification of 35 unique SVP practices: 25 (71%) SVP practices were assigned to the Intrapersonal level, 6 (17%) were assigned to the Interpersonal level, 9 (26%) were assigned to the Organizational level, 3 (9%) were assigned to the Community, and 2 (6%) were assigned to the Policy level. This review uncovered several important findings including a lack of multi-level SVP practices within sport, a lack of SVP practices that target children, minimal programming aimed at specifically preventing perpetration, the need to elevate policy level action, and a lack of peer-reviewed literature. Ultimately findings suggest that sport organizations ought to prioritize sexual violence prevention using national organizations for guidance.

Preventing and responding to child sexual abuse: Organizational efforts.

BACKGROUND: Child sexual abuse (CSA) remains an ongoing threat to the wellbeing of children who might be victimized, to the liberty of individuals who might engage in abusive behavior, and to the reputations and livelihood of organizations in which abuse might occur. In the U.S., millions of children participate in youth-serving organizations (YSOs), and it is known that a proportion of CSA occurs in these settings. Despite the severity of these threats, there is little knowledge of the steps that organizations take to prevent and respond to CSA. OBJECTIVE: Our study aimed to index current measures to prevent and respond to CSA in organizational settings, using four of the largest U.S.-based YSOs as exemplars. METHODS: In partnership with our partner YSOs, we completed a qualitative analysis of 74 organizational documents including written policies, codes of conduct, trainings, and other documents that formalize these four organizations' current CSA prevention and intervention efforts. RESULTS: These organizations collectively implement hundreds of distinct measures aimed at preventing, detecting, and responding to CSA. These measures were categorized under eight overarching themes, including: overall commitment to child safety, code of conduct, training and education, assessment, implementation and monitoring, screening and hiring, reporting and responding to child sexual abuse, youth problem sexual behavior, and boundaries for teen leaders and young adult staff. CONCLUSION: Findings from the current study, outlining key prevention and policy areas undertaken by participating YSOs, offer a starting point for discussion about core elements needed to keep children safe from sexual abuse in YSO settings.

A Chip Off the Old Block: The Impact of Fathers on Sexual Offending Behavior.

While parenting factors are commonly included as early risk markers for sexual aggression, data specific to paternal impacts on sexual offending are scattered. This review provides a thorough and systematic account of what is known regarding the fathers of sexual offenders. Thirty-four studies were categorized according to four distinct research questions, each addressing theoretical mechanisms by which fathers may influence the violent sexual behavior of their sons. The results suggest that the strongest impacts occur when sons are witness to their fathers engaging in acts of sexual abuse or domestic violence, in accordance with social learning theory. Father-son attachment or relationship quality also appears to have a measurable impact on the son's engagement in sexual violence. However, paternal demographics and characteristics were generally ineffective at predicting sons' sexual offenses. Finally, the differences between fathers of adult and juvenile sexual offenders are explored. Implications of those findings for research and applied interventions are included as they may be informative for prevention programming.

Moving Toward a New Model of Sexual Consent: The Development of the Process-Based Consent Scale.

Measuring attitudes and behaviors associated with sexual consent is crucial to research addressing sexual violence, as lack of consent is a defining feature thereof. This research developed and validated the Process-Based Consent Scale to address concerns associated with missing components of existing consent scales. The factor structure was supported by an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and subsequent confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The scale contains three subscales: ongoing consent, communicative sexuality, and subtle coercion. Results indicated good convergent and concurrent validity. Future research should consider using this tool to measure attitudes and behaviors related to sexual consent and coercion.

Recommendations for Preventing Child Sexual Abuse in Youth-Serving Organizations: Implications From an Australian Royal Commission Review of the Literature.

Evidence suggests that tens of millions of children and adolescents are involved in youth-serving organizations (YSOs) outside of their homes on a daily basis. Children's involvement with YSOs clearly offers a broad array of emotional, social, and personal development benefits. This involvement can, however, also be associated with a variety of safety risks, including the potential for child sexual abuse (CSA) victimization and the myriad short- and long-term consequences to its victims and their families. Recognizing the significance of CSA within YSOs, the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse funded a comprehensive review of the literature on risk and protective factors related to CSA in institutions. This yielded more than 400 primarily research articles from the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, examining institutional CSA victims, perpetrators, and settings. Findings were provided regarding six specific types of institutional settings, including faith-based, early childhood education, childcare and schools, health care, out-of-home/foster care, and sport. This article is based on the findings of Kaufman and Erooga's comprehensive literature review and Royal Commission findings. It provides a brief review of critical risks associated with CSA victims, perpetrators, and organizational settings, as well as highlights risks particular to specific types of YSOs and risks that are present across these organizations. Optimal prevention directions and strategies are outlined in response to identified patterns of organizational risk. Recommendations for YSO policy enhancements are also provided to complement the article's prevention focus. Finally, suggestions are offered for future research directions to foster the development of an evidence-based foundation for work in this area.