Misrepresenting the "MAP" Literature Does Little to Advance Child Abuse Prevention: A Critical Commentary and Response to Farmer, Salter, and Woodlock

Craig A Harper; Rebecca Lievesley; Nadine McKillop; Stephanie Price; Rachel  Murphy; Ellie Woodward; Harriot Dymond; Christian  Götzl

doi:10.1177/15248380251332197

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Misrepresenting the "MAP" Literature Does Little to Advance Child Abuse Prevention: A Critical Commentary and Response to Farmer, Salter, and Woodlock

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Misrepresenting the "MAP" Literature Does Little to Advance Child Abuse Prevention: A Critical Commentary and Response to Farmer, Salter, and Woodlock

Craig A Harper, Rebecca Lievesley, Nadine McKillop, Stephanie Price, Rachel Murphy, Ellie Woodward, Harriot Dymond and Christian Götzl

Trauma, Violence & Abuse, Vol.27(3), pp.1000-1008

2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380251332197

PMCID: PMC13287381

PMID: 40215393

Appears in UniSC Diversity and Inclusion Research Collection

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Abstract

Crime and social justice

Crime prevention

sexuality

attractions to children

minor attraction

prevention

UniSC Diversity Area - Life Stages

In a recent paper published in Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, Farmer et al. purport to have critically examined the academic use of the term “Minor Attracted Persons” (MAPs) in published social science research. In the paper, their stated aims are to “understand how this body of scholarship defines and uses the terminology of MAP, conceptualizes sexual interest in minors, and its relationship with child sex offending, and the implications for child protection and safeguarding” (p. 4079). However, we believe that there are significant problems in their handling of this topic, their depth of analysis, and the selective reporting of research in the review that may demonstrate an inherent confirmation bias.

Details

Title: Misrepresenting the "MAP" Literature Does Little to Advance Child Abuse Prevention: A Critical Commentary and Response to Farmer, Salter, and Woodlock
Authors: Craig A Harper (Corresponding Author) - Nottingham Trent University
Rebecca Lievesley (Author) - Nottingham Trent University
Nadine McKillop (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Sexual Violence Research and Prevention Unit
Stephanie Price (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Law and Society
Rachel Murphy (Author) - University of Lancashire
Ellie Woodward (Author) - Nottingham Trent University
Harriot Dymond (Author) - Safer Living Foundation (United Kingdom)
Christian Götzl (Author) - Universität Ulm
Publication details: Trauma, Violence & Abuse, Vol.27(3), pp.1000-1008
Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc.
Date published: 2026
DOI: 10.1177/15248380251332197
ISSN: 1552-8324
PMID: 40215393; PMC13287381
Copyright note: © The Author(s) 2025. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
Organisation Unit: School of Law and Society; Sexual Violence Research and Prevention Unit
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991121849002621
Output Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Web Of Science research areas: Criminology & Penology; Family Studies; Social Work

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