UK Report on Children and Young People with Harmful Sexual Behavior

RESEARCH REVIEW Children and young people with harmful sexual behaviours Simon Hackett Chapter headings to be done when pagination agreed RESEARCH REVIEW Introduction Quality Mark: Foreword This review has been peer-reviewed by a range of academics, practitioners and staff working in this field who are committed to the development of evidence-informed This review deals with an issue that presents significant challenge to the sector, and practice. Research in Practice is extremely grateful to Stephen Barry, Jon Brown, Nick yet has not received commensurate national attention or leadership. Official statistics Hindley, Helen Masson, Kate Mulley, Bobbie Print, Rowena Rossiter, Connie Smith, highlight the scale of the problem of children and young people with sexually Eileen Vizard and Mette Whittaker for their help and assistance. harmful behaviour. Children and young people account for approximately a quarter of all convictions against victims of all ages (Vizard, 2004) and a third of all sexual Author’s dedication: abuse coming to the attention of the professional system in the UK (Erooga and Masson, 2006). The need for a coordinated service response to engage with children and young people as perpetrators as well as victims is clearly illuminated. The stigma and shame surrounding this issue can inhibit how children, young people and families engage with services. Studies show frequently harmful sexual behaviours are one factor in a range of predisposing experiences and vulnerabilities facing these children and young people - such as domestic violence, neglect and poor mental health. Professional consciousness on this issue has steadily grown over the past twenty years. However, the picture across England remains patchy. Since the early 1990s in the UK, a range of specialist assessment and intervention services have developed piecemeal, whilst significant gaps in services remain. Knowledge and awareness amongst professionals also varies widely, with a lack of confidence evident across many disciplines. Pockets of excellent practice do exist - with a number detailed in this review, offering a solid base upon which to develop effective local practice. Currently, though, at a national level no overarching strategy or service delivery framework exists. However, positive movements are being made in this direction, led by key players within the voluntary sector. We are pleased to be providing a timely review of the research to inform these discussions. The findings of this review provide much needed evidence on what we know about effective interventions and the core elements of a good service response. This review highlights the need for holistic assessment approaches and tiered interventions that focus on broad-based behavioural and developmental goals. Services need to engage parents and carers to address the wider circumstances within which abuse develops. LSCBs have a key role in ensuring adequate local assessment and intervention services, and supporting the training and development of professionals. Editor: Steve Flood © Research in Practice 2014 We hope this review will be of real value to those involved in commissioning and designing services; to colleagues working in social care, health, education and A CIP catalogue record is Research in Practice criminal justice; and those involved in professional training and development. We The Granary Dartington Hall available from the British Library are confident that if the determination and commitment of the sector can be Totnes Devon TQ9 6EE matched by clear national leadership, significant progress can be made in identifying 01803 867 692 ISBN tel and supporting children, young people and families affected by harmful sexual [email protected] email Hackett S (2014) Children and young behaviour. The full text of this review people with harmful sexual behaviours: Research Review. is available on our website Dez Holmes Dartington: www.rip.org.uk Research in Practice Director, Research in Practice 3 Chapter headings to be done when pagination agreed Research in Practice Children and young people with harmful sexual behaviours RESEARCH REVIEW Introduction Contents XX Chapter One XX Chapter Three Introduction: The problem of children and young Young people with harmful sexual behaviours people with harmful sexual behaviours X Characteristics of young people X The focus of the review X Gender X How the review was developed X Age and onset X The structure of the review X Ethnicity X Indicators of the scale of the problem X Background and attachment histories X Terminology X Abuse histories X Disentangling normal, problematic and harmful sexual behaviours in children X The nature of young people’s harmful sexual behaviours and young people X Categories and sub-types of young people with harmful sexual behaviours X Summary X Young women with harmful sexual behaviours X Young people with intellectual disabilities who present with harmful sexual XX Chapter Two behaviours Children with problematic sexual behaviours X Young people who commit internet-related and technology-facilitated sexual offences X Normal sexual behaviour in pre-adolescence X Young people who sexually abuse others in the context of groups and gangs X Problematic sexual behaviour X Families of young people with harmful sexual behaviours X Causes of problematic sexual behaviour in children X Summary points X Typologies of children with sexual behaviour problems X Families of children with problematic sexual behaviours XX Chapter Four X Summary points Assessment X Assessment of pre-adolescent children with problematic sexual behaviours X Assessment of young people with harmful sexual behaviours X Assessment frameworks and models X Summary points 4 5 Chapter headings to be done when pagination agreed Research in Practice Children and young people with harmful sexual behaviours RESEARCH REVIEW Introduction XX Chapter Five XX Chapter Seven Interventions Conclusions and recommendations X Interventions for children who have experienced sexual abuse X Key findings on children, young people and families X Interventions for children with sexual behaviour problems X Key findings on interventions X Interventions for young people with harmful sexual behaviours X Key findings on policy and commissioning X Abuse specific approaches X Developmental and holistic approaches XX References X Multisystemic Therapy X Rehabilitative approaches XX Index X Resilience and desistance models X The Good Lives Model (GLM) X Restorative justice X Family-support approaches X Safe care and working with young people in residential settings X Summary points XX Chapter Six Policy, service delivery and inter-agency working X The current state of service delivery across the UK X Inter-agency policy and national guidance X Risk, recidivism and the need for early interventions X A tiered approach X Managing children and young people in the child protection and youth justice systems X Assessment and interventions X Summary points 6 7 Chapter headings to be done when pagination agreed Research in Practice Children and young people with harmful sexual behaviours RESEARCH REVIEW Introduction Index of tables and figures Index of promising practice examples Figures X Sharron Wareham (Taith): Developing assessment tools and intervention resources for girls who display harmful sexual behaviour X One: A continuum of children and young people’s sexual behaviours (Hackett, X Lisa Saint (Lucy Faithfull Foundation): The ‘Inform Young People’ Programme 2010) X Bobbie Print (G-map): Developing the AIM2 Initial Assessment Model X Two: Offences committed by adults (n=4632) who had previously committedsexual X Stephen Barry and Mel Turpin (Be Safe): An evidence-based Cognitive offences as juveniles, England and Wales, April 2010 to March 2011 Behavioural Therapy Psycho-Educational Programme for Children with Problematic Sexual Behaviours and their Parents/Carers X Peter Fonagy and Jessie Greisbach (University College London): Multisystemic Tables Therapy for Problem Sexual Behaviour (MST-PSB) and the Services for Teens Engaging in Problem Sexual Behaviour (STEPS-B) Research Trial X One: Brook Sexual Behaviours Traffic Light Tool X Laura Wylie (G-map): Using the Good Lives Model with young people who display harmful sexual behaviours X Two: Developmentally problematic sexual acts performed by 127 6 to 9-year-old X Vincent Mercer (AIM): A restorative approach to young people with harmful children (Gray et al, 1999) sexual behaviours X Three: X John Harrison (NSPCC): Working with parents and carers of children and Hall et al (2002) outline typology of sexually abused children with sexualised young people with harmful sexual behaviour behaviour X Karen Parish and Peter Clarke (Glebe House): Providing safe care in X Four: residential settings for young people with harmful sexual behaviours Summary of offender and victim characteristics comparing adolescent ‘rapists’ with ‘adolescent child abusers’ (Beckett and Gerhold, 2003) X Sarah Morris and Alice Hunt (Lucy Faithfull Foundation): Strengths-based assessment and intervention with young people in a X Five: custodial setting Resilience-based versus deficit models (adapted from Hackett, 2006) X Stuart Allardyce (Barnardo’s) and David Orr (Edinburgh Youth Offending Team): Developing care and risk management guidelines to inform best practice in work with young people who present a risk of serious harm to others. 8 9 Chapter headings to be done when pagination agreed Research in Practice Children and young people with harmful sexual behaviours

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