Total Awareness beyond the News, by Christie Weeks, The Tidings [United States], January 12, 2007

Total Awareness beyond the News

By Christie Weeks
The Tidings [United States]
January 12, 2007

http://www.the-tidings.com/2007/011207/awareness.htm

With increasing frequency, we see and hear news reports about children and young people who have been the targets of molestation. People are initially shocked or outraged; some even express disbelief. Because, as humans, we want to know why something this atrocious happens, a natural tendency may be to assign blame and look for a particular cause surrounding an abuse incident.

For example, we might think the behavior occurred because the perpetrator is a member of the clergy; the perpetrator is homosexual, or another "type." When we believe we can explain why such a dreadful event occurs and blame someone who is different from us, we can then distance ourselves from the category of persons we perceive to be the perpetrators.

There is no small danger in soothing our anxieties by convincing ourselves that "we just have to watch out for the particular kinds of people who are committing these acts." Such beliefs allow watchfulness to slip away as long as "those types" are not around. We cease being full-time protectors of children.

As caring adults, we can most effectively interfere with attempts to engage in inappropriate behavior with children and young people by eliminating the opportunity to molest. That means being constantly attuned to the behaviors of adults.

Child molesters belong to every profession, gender, ethnic group, and they live in rural, urban and suburban areas. There is no "look" about them that indicates that they are a danger to the physical and emotional health of our children. It is imperative that we look beyond demographic characteristics and focus on the behaviors of adults when they are around children. We must regularly refresh the basic knowledge and actions required to keep children safe.

Dr. David Finkelhor, a well-recognized expert in the study of child sexual abuse, identifies the four conditions necessary for abuse to occur:

---The offender has the desire for sexual contact with a child.

---The offender does not inhibit the desire.

---There is an opportunity to offend without being stopped by others.

---The offender is able to overcome the resistance of the victim.

As caring adults, we can most effectively interfere with attempts to engage in inappropriate behavior with children and young people by eliminating the opportunity to molest. That means being constantly attuned to the behaviors of adults.

The leaders and managers of organizations, educational institutions and businesses who are serious about ensuring the safety of the children and young people in their care require that everyone serving as an employee or volunteer is thoroughly screened. Moreover, effective leaders insist that everyone receives education and training about the protection of children, including how to and to whom concerns should be expressed.

It is no longer acceptable to solely learn how to recognize the signs that a child has been abused. Although we must, whenever possible, reinforce a child's ability to resist improper attention and advances, as adults we cannot abandon our responsibility to protect the safety of children. It is time for conscientious, caring adults to be alert to those seeking opportunities to offend --- no matter the offender's profession, gender, perceived sexual orientation, ethnicity, or position in society.

When we look beyond the stereotypes we may encounter, we make great strides in becoming key protectors of children. And we become, as Dr. Barbara Bonner says, "part of the solution to make a child's world a safer place."

This article is the copyrighted property of National Catholic Services, LLC (National Catholic), all rights reserved, and is reprinted here with National Catholic's permission. It originally appeared on the VIRTUS Online™ risk management website at www.virtus.org. For more information about VIRTUS Online™ or other VIRTUS products and services, call 1-888-847-8870. This article is forty-eighth in a series of feature stories, commentary and analysis is compiled and edited by an advisory group to the Media Relations Office of the Archdiocese, through which the articles are distributed. Dr. David Finkelhor is Director of Crimes Against Children Research Center, Co-Director of the Family Research Laboratory, and Professor of Sociology at the University of New Hampshire. 2 Dr. Barbara Bonner is Professor and Associate Director of the Child Study Center in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.