Publications

Dr. Wurtele has authored over 100 articles and chapters

Publications focused on prevention of childhood sexual abuse

Included below are recent publications, along with the ‘What If’ Situations Test (WIST) for use in evaluating children’s body-safety knowledge and skills. Contact Dr. Wurtele for pdfs of these articles.

Wurtele, S. K. (2009). Preventing sexual abuse of children in the 21st century: Preparing for challenges and opportunities. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 18, 1-18.

Wurtele, S. K., Mathews, B., & Kenny, M. C. (2019). Keeping students out of harm's way: Reducing risks of educator sexual misconduct. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 28(2), 160-186.

Simons, D., Wurtele, S. K., & Durham, R. D. (2008). Developmental experiences of child sexual abusers and rapists. Child Abuse & Neglect, 32, 549-560.

Wurtele, S. K., Simons, D., & Moreno, T. (2014). Sexual interest in children among an online sample of men and women: Prevalence and correlates. Sexual Abuse, 26(6), 546-568.

Wurtele, S. K., Simons, D., & Parker, L. J. (2018). Understanding men's self-reported sexual interest in children. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 47(8), 2255-2264.

Wurtele, S. K. (2021). "They're not monsters!" Changing university students' perceptions of child sex offenders through education and contact. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 1-15.

Wurtele, S. K. (2009). WIST ('What If' Situations Test). The WIST contains six scales designed to assess children's abilities to recognize, resist, and report inappropriate touching. It has been administered to children as young as three years and can be used up to mental age of eight. It is designed to be read to the child participant during an individual interview. Internal and test-retest reliabilities of the six scales met research standards (Cronbach's alphas ranged from .75 to .90; Pearson r's ranged from .60 to .84) supporting the internal consistency and temporal stability of the WIST.