Crenças de Professores sobre Violência Sexual contra Crianças e Adolescentes.

The objective was to investigate school teachers' beliefs on sexual violence against children and adolescents. A sample of 164 elementary and high school teachers from public and private schools responded to a sociodemographic questionnaire and the Brazilian version of the Sexual Abuse Beliefs Scale (SABS). The samples' general mean in the SABS was 25.74 (SD = 6.83), indicating a tendency towards disagreement and neutrality to tolerance/legitimization. When comparing groups, gender, age group, and having children of their own showed influence on beliefs. Experience in suspected cases, participation in courses or lectures, and knowledge of the Children and Adolescents Statute did not present statistically significant differences in beliefs. These results were discussed from considerations about gender, sexuality, professional capacitation, and characteristics of beliefs. Investment in continuing education is needed, which must be sensitive to the participants' characteristics and beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]