Michael Salamon, PhD, is recognized with this APA Citizen Psychologist Presidential citation for his transformative work in raising awareness of the prevention and treatment of child sexual abuse in the Orthodox Jewish community and aiding victims to obtain the help and support they needed.
Salamon has spoken, written and lectured for many years at conferences and in synagogues explaining how abusers groom their victims; how to recognize behavioral change indicating that a child may have been abused and on the prevention, management and treatment of sexual abuse of children within the Jewish community. Salamon also served for 12 years as co-chair of the Educational Board of the non-profit, Parents For Torah For All Children (PTACH), a non-profit dedicated to yeshiva students with special learning needs and as former chair of the Board of Education at Hebrew Academy of Five Towns and Rockaways.
Salamon helped formulate a model of procedures for congregations to guide rabbis and staff in responding to accusations within synagogues including accusations against the rabbi or other employees and situations where members are suspected of abuse. He continues to work with PTACH and to have these guidelines adopted by the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations which represents the large majority of Orthodox synagogues.
One of Salamon’s endorsers stated, “(Dr. Salamon) is instrumental in changing historical perspectives on child sexual abuse [CSA] within the Orthodox Jewish community For generations, ideas on CSA and its impact within the community were myopic, at best, and extremely abusive at its worst. As a result, many individuals and families were… harmed over many years. Dr. Salamon was one of a few very brave individuals that stood up to historical community perspectives. He assisted countless of victims and their families in obtaining some validation and ultimately a semblance of justice.”