title: Exploitation, Offense, or Private Issue? Guardians' Perceptions and Self-Efficacy in Handling Girl Compensated Dating in Hong Kong.
abstract: Compensated dating (CD) has emerged as a global concern since the 1990s. Although considerable empirical research has been conducted to assess the patterns of and factors influencing CD, limited information is currently available on the attitudes of guardians (e.g., social workers, police officers, parents of students, and community representatives) in a Chinese community toward this issue. Using survey data collected from 962 guardians, the current study analyzes the guardians' perceptions of CD and their self-efficacy in handling this issue. Results show that these guardians perceive CD to be exploitative or harmful and that their self-efficacy in handling this issue was low. In particular, social workers appeared to be considerably tolerant for this phenomenon. Perceptions of CD were partly predictable by age, gender, and educational attainment, whereas self-efficacy was partly predictable by experience working with cases involving CD. This study represents the first attempt to analyze the guardians' views on a new form of child abuse. Moreover, this research has implications for social intervention, policy, and future research.
authors: 1 City University of Hong Kong, China.
authors: Jessica C M
authors: JCM
authors: Li
authors: 1 City University of Hong Kong, China.
authors: Chau-Kiu
authors: CK
authors: Cheung
authors: 1 City University of Hong Kong, China.
authors: Cindy X S
authors: CXS
authors: Jia
authors: 1 City University of Hong Kong, China.
authors: Budeba P
authors: BP
authors: Mlyakado
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007872:Legal Guardians / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D020377:Self Efficacy; D060386:Sex Workers / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Chinese girls; compensated dating; guardians; sexual exploitation; teen prostitution