認識、評估與回應幼兒人際性行為

Recognizing, Assessing, and Responding to Children's Interpersonal Sexual Behavior

專業工作者知悉疑似性侵害犯罪情事應依法通報相關單位，再加上其身負教育者及保護幼兒與早期預防幼兒發展性虐待模式的責任，因此，在其觀察到幼兒人際性行為時的評估與回應具有重要且深遠的影響。本文第一個部分是有關幼兒人際性行為的定義與普遍情形；第二個部分回顧了實證研究中專業工作者對於幼兒人際性行為的評估與回應；第三個部分則是有關如何評估幼兒人際性行為，並針對幼兒正常人際性行為，如身體接觸與觸摸身體、暴露或窺視、性語言及性遊戲提出回應的建議，以幫助幼兒擁有健康的性發展，預防受到性虐待。在幼兒非正常人際性行為的回應上，則依據Gail Ryan所發展出來的三個目標：促進溝通、發展同理心與願意負責任來提出回應建議，以降低幼兒發展性虐待行為模式的風險。本文建議應提供訓練予專業工作者，並進行本土研究以了解臺灣幼兒人際性行為的普遍情形，及專業工作者對該行為之評估與回應情形。本文之貢獻在提供一個架構讓專業工作者認識幼兒人際性行為並了解如何評估與回應，藉著教育與干預的過程，幼兒能夠擁有健康的性發展，也能夠降低現在或未來受他人性剝削或性剝削他人的可能性。

The assessments and responses of early childhood workers (ECWs) to children's interpersonal sexual behaviors (ISBs) are especially crucial in the early childhood stage du to their roles. They are not only educators and protectors but also mandated to report suspected cases of child sexual abuse and are expected to reduce the chances that children develop offender's behaviors. In the first part of this article, normative data about children's ISBs to delineate the boundaries of typical and atypical ISB in young children is presented. In the second part, literature about how ECWs responded to children's ISBs and the factors that influenced their responses are reviewed. Assessment and suggestions for ECW regarding how to respond to children's ISBs are discussed in the third part of the article. The three dimensions developed by Gail Ryan - lack of consent, lack of equality, or coercion in the interaction -were proposed to explain to children why their behaviors would be perceived as problematic. In the last part of this article, implications of this overview for ECW's training and future research were proposed. This article benefits ECWs by providing a comprehensive framework for recognizing, assessing, and responding to children's ISBs. Informed by this article, ECWs will be able to protect young children and promote their healthy sexuality development.