Research, Consultation & Training
Dr. Kaufman is a Clinical/Community Psychologist and a Professor of Psychology at Portland State University (Portland, Oregon). His research, consultation, and training focuses on the prevention of sexual violence in organizational settings such as college campuses and youth serving organizations (e.g., Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, children’s hospitals). His research has investigated sexual violence etiological factors (e.g., sexual fantasies, sexual history), the modus operandi (i.e., patterns of perpetration) of adult and adolescent sex offenders, and strategies for preventing sexual violence in organizations (with a particular emphasis on situational prevention approaches).
Dr. Kaufman has served on a broad range of state and national committees and task forces. He has chaired state prevention committees in Ohio and Oregon and co-chaired the committee that created Oregon’s first statewide sexual violence prevention plan. Dr. Kaufman is a member of the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s advisory board, the National Coalition to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse & Exploitation, Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s National Safety Task Force, and Big Brothers Big Sisters Nation Safety Committee. He is also a member of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abuser’s national Prevention Committee.
Dr. Kaufman has provided assessment and treatment to both child sexual abuse victims and juvenile sexual offenders, as well as their families. He provides regular trainings and consultation focused on prevention, safety enhancement, program development, and program evaluation in organizational settings. His consultation and training has included, but is not limited to work with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, the U.S. Olympic Committee, Boy Scouts of America, Committee for Children, college/university campuses, and major metropolitan children’s hospitals.
Dr. Kaufman has authored three books, a variety of book chapters, and numerous research articles addressing sexual violence and sexual violence prevention. His most recent edited book is Preventing Sexual Violence: A Practitioner's Sourcebook (NEARI Press, 2010). Dr. Kaufman also co-authored the first prevention chapter to be included in Interpol's operational manual (for its 194 member countries) and conducted their first prevention training. In 2016 he completed (with Marcus Erooga) a comprehensive review of the international literature on risk and protective factors related to child sexual abuse in youth serving organizations for the Australian Royal Commission on Institutional Responses To Child Sexual Abuse. Dr. Kaufman is currently completing a project funded by a $1 million U.S. Department of Justice grant to develop a Campus Situational Prevention to address campus sexual violence and other potential student harms (e.g., physical violence, health/mental health, accidental injury). Finally, Dr. Kaufman is beginning work with the U.S. Olympic Committee’s SafeSport program on the development of a situational prevention-based approach tailored for use by U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
Select Publications In Progress, Book Chapters & Publications
Kaufman, K., McConnell, E., Zatkin, J., Stewart, K., Arrington, M., and Colon, J. (under
review). Experts’ recommendations for preventing child abuse in community based youth
sports: The role of parents and athletes. Journal of Sport & Social Issues. (Note:
resubmitted after very positive review).
Sitney, M. & Kaufman, K. (under review). The impact of disrupted caregiving for juvenile sexual
offenders. Journal of Sexual Aggression. (Note: resubmitted after very positive review).
Glace, A. & Kaufman, K. (under review). Affirmative Consent Endorsement and Peer Norms
Supporting Sexual Violence Among Vulnerable Students on College Campuses" Archives of Sexual Behavior.
Erooga, M., Kaufman, K., Stewart, K., & Zatkin, J. (under review). Who guards the guardians?:
An analysis of international case reviews pertaining to child sexual abuse in organizations
by “powerful” perpetrators. Sexual Abuse: Research and Practice.
Kaufman, K., Erooga, M., Higgins, D., & Zatkin, J. (2018). Youth serving organization safety
risks and the situational prevention approach. In B. Lonne, D. Scott, T. Herrenkohl, & D.
Higgins (Eds.) Re-Visioning Public health Approaches for Protecting Children. New
York, New York: Springer Publishing, Inc.
Kaufman, K., Sitney, M., & Glace, A. (2018). Applying a situational prevention lens to the
Savile case: Enhancing understanding and providing a template for strengthening
organizational prevention of child sexual abuse. In M. Erooga (Ed.) Protecting Children
From Abuse After Savile. London, England: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Kaufman, K., & Erooga, M., (2016). Risk Profiles For Institutional Child Sexual Abuse: A
Literature Review. Sydney, Australia: Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses
To Child Sexual Abuse. (with Zatkin, J., Stewart, K., Tews, H., & McConnell, E.)
Stewart, K., Sitney, M., Kaufman, K., (in press). Preventing juvenile sexual offending
through parental monitoring : A comparison study of youth’s experiences of supervision.
Journal of Sexual Aggression.
Higgins, D. J., Kaufman, K., & Erooga, M. (2016). How can child welfare and youth
-serving organisations keep children safe? Developing practice: the child youth
and family work journal, 44, 48-64.
Honors & Awards
Dr. Kaufman recently received the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abuser’s (ATA) Significant Lifetime Achievement Award.
His involvement with ATSA spans more than 26 years and includes two terms on the organization’s executive board and serving as ATSA’s President.
Dr. Kaufman is also a past recipient of the U.S. Office Of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention’s Gould-Wysinger award for research excellence.
He was named to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention’s (CDC) Standing Grant Review Panel and in this capacity chaired grant reviews for Injury Prevention Centers for five years.
Dr. Kaufman received the Research Excellence Award from the National Adolescent Perpetrator Network and the Civic Engagement Research Award from Portland State University.
Grant History
Multnomah County, Department of Criminal Justice “Program Evaluation of MI/MR/DD Adult Sexual Offenders” - Principal Investigator (10/99 – 6/01)
Program evaluation of federally funded project through the Center for Sexual Offender Management to examine innovative approaches to the treatment and management of adult sexual offenders who experience difficulties related to Mental Illness/Mental Retardation/Developmental Disabilities.
Centers for Disease Control “Child Sexual Abuse Risk Factors: Modus Operandi & Supervision” – Principal Investigator (9/98 – 8/04)
This project was designed to identify risk factors related to child sexual abuse with particular attention to sexual offenders’ “modus operandi” and the role of caregiver supervision. These dimensions will be compared across three ethnic groups: White American; Black American; and Hispanic/Latino. Risk factors are intended to inform a public health approach to prevention.
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention “Feasibility Study for Sex Offender Typology” - Co-Principal Investigator (11/97 - 10/98)
Feasibility study to demonstrate ability to collect critical data to develop an adolescent sexual offender typology.
National Institute of Mental Health "Preventing Child Sexual Abuse: Offenders' Modus Operandi" - Principal Investigator(4/93 - 3/98)
Investigation of child sexual abuse perpetrators' (adult) modus operandi from the perspective of vic
Funded a statewide child abuse prevention conference. This two-day conference included 19 nationally known speakers presenting topics related to the prevention of physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect.
Governor's Office of Criminal Justice Services "Assessing Adolescent Sexual Offenders II" Principal Investigator (3/92 -2/94)
Year 1 - Intended to determine the best means of assessing adolescent sexual offenders’ modus operandi. Designed to examine: (1) Do adolescent offenders under‑ report their use of threats/coercion?; (2) Is better information obtained utilizing an interview or a questionnaire format?; (3) The modus operandi patterns exhibited by adolescent sexual offenders.
Year 2 - Examined the relationship between adolescent offenders' "modus operandi," sexual history, and discipline history.