Cultural Diversity and Sexual Abuse Prevention

This study addresses the question, How do lessons about touching and privacy frequently taught to children in sexual abuse prevention programs correspond to acceptable patterns of intimacy among families from different ethnic groups? Data on patterns of family intimacy dealing with bathing practices, sleeping arrangements, and physical contact were gathered from a survey of 364 mothers representing six ethnic groups: African Americans, Cambodians, Caucasians, Hispanics, Koreans, and Vietnamese. The findings reveal that (a) there are a number of significant differences among the groups studied in regard to acceptable patterns of intimacy in family life, and (b) the lessons of child sexual abuse prevention training set normative boundaries for parent-child relations that do not take into account the diverse patterns of acceptable behavior in American family life. These findings raise the issue of how to balance the collective obligation to protect children with the wish to respect diversity in family life.