Can Nonoffending Pedophiles Be Reached for the Primary Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse by Addressing Nonoffending Individuals Who Are Attracted to Minors in the United States? New Strategies With The Global Prevention Project

Identifying and working with appropriate treatment targets with people who are sexually attracted to children

Research has shown that people within society experience sexual attractions to children, and a substantial number of these seek support related to this. However, professional practices around working with minor-attracted persons (MAPs) are variable. Clinicians possess low levels of knowledge about this population and are unclear about the correct treatment goals. In this work we explored the prioritization of different treatment goals by MAPs (n = 150), before investigating the demographic, sexuality-related, and psychological predictors of treatment target prioritization. Self-compassion drove many treatment targets among MAPs. We offer recommendations about how professionals might work collaboratively and effectively with this population.

Challenges and Solutions to Implementing a Community-Based Wellness Program for Non-Offending Minor Attracted Persons

Child sexual abuse is a significant public health concern that has long-lasting consequences for victims and their families and poses a significant financial cost to the public. Prevention efforts, including sex offender treatment programs, are intended to prevent further instances of sexual abuse. Most sexual offenses, however, are committed by individuals who are not yet known as sexual offenders, and therefore traditional sex offender treatment programs fall short of this goal. It is crucial to provide services to people who may be at risk for committing a sexual offense and those who have not offended, including those individuals who are attracted to children. While primary prevention programs such as Prevention Project Dunkelfeld and Talking for Change have begun to address this issue internationally, there are significant barriers to providing preventive services of this nature to non-offending minor attracted persons (NOMAPs) in the United States. Barriers include concerns about mandated reporting laws, stigmatization, and lack of knowledge by therapists about MAPs. This paper explores these barriers and provides solutions for practitioners to offer services to this population. This paper includes the development of specific programming for non-offenders and specialized training for clinicians who work with non-offenders as used by The Global Prevention Project.