The Effect of Psycho-Education Program Developed for Sexual Abuse on Counseling Teachers’ Reporting Sexual Abuse and Information and Risk Recognition Attitudes

Adem Peker, Serkan Cengiz, Aynur Karabacak Çelik

Abstract


This study aimed to analyze the effect of the psycho-education program for sexual abuse on counseling teachers’ attitudes towards reporting sexual abuse and their knowledge and risk recognition levels. The research was by using the embedded design, one of the mixed method approaches. In the quantitative dimension of the studyquasiexperimental designwith pretest-posttest groups was performed, while in the qualitative dimension, the opinions of counselors were included. The study group of the research consisted of eight counselors in the experimental group and eight counselors in the control group, working in schools affiliated to the Ministry of National Education. A two-Factor ANOVA model for mixed measurements was utilized to analyze the experimental study. Paired t-test for dependent samples was used to analyze the pretest and posttest scores of the participants. Content analysis was used in the analysis of qualitative data. The quantitative findings of the study showed that the psycho-education program applied to the experimental group displayed a significant difference between the counseling teachers’ attitudes towards reporting sexual abuse and their knowledge and risk recognition levels compared to the control group. In the qualitative results of the study, it was observed that the counselors classified the characteristics of children at risk in terms of exposure to sexual abuse under the two themes of family factors and lack of social skills. In another result, it was discovered that children exposed to sexual abuse displayed behavioral and emotional symptoms. It is thought that the training that counselors will receive in schools on sexual abuse will be beneficial for the protection of the mental health of children and young people.

Keywords


Child, Abuse, Counselors, Psycho-Education Program, Sexual abuse

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References


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijels.v.8n.4p.74

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