Stop It!: How to Intervene in Public Child Abuse (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781491707616)

Have you ever witnessed an adult abusing a child in a public place and silently stood by because you didn't know what to say or how to intervene? Stop It! will help the reader know how, when and whether to speak up when coming upon such a situation. It will guide you into developing non-confrontive intervention skills. Real stories supply you with anecdotes and strategies for shifting the tension, refocusing potentially violent situations. Reports of actual situations come from people who attempted to intervene, and from people experienced at intervening who provide innovative methods for stepping in.

A five-step plan of action is introduced to take the witness from first awareness of the abuse scene to determining if and when to intervene in a compassionate manner. Encompassed in the plan is how to overcome fear, which often causes people to freeze during such an event, triggering inaction. Steps I and II, "Awareness" and "Self Appraisal" instruct the reader how to move through the fear. Step III "Situation Appraisal" will help you know when speaking up will be helpful or when staying silent is more appropriate. Steps IV and V, "Rehearsal" and "Intervention," the final two steps, encourage the reader to take action with confidence and boldness.