This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. ‘Better Together’: A grounded theory study of social worker decision making in cases involving sexual behaviour between siblings Peter Yates PhD in Social Work – The University of Edinburgh - 2015 Declaration This is to certify that the work contained within has been composed by me and is entirely my own work. No part of this thesis has been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification. Peter Yates 31st May 2015 ‘Better Together’: A grounded theory study of social worker decision making in cases involving sexual behaviour between siblings Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................... vii Abstract .................................................................................................................... viii Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................ 1 1.1 Background to the study ............................................................................... 1 1.2 Terminology ................................................................................................. 5 1.2.1 Siblings ..................................................................................................... 5 1.2.2 Children’s harmful sexual behaviour ....................................................... 6 1.2.3 ‘Perpetrator’ and ‘Victim’ ........................................................................ 7 1.2.4 Separation, contact and reunification ....................................................... 7 1.3 The value of the study .................................................................................. 8 1.4 The structure of the thesis .......................................................................... 10 Chapter 2: A review of the literatures ................................................................... 13 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 13 2.2 The historical context: Sexual behaviour between siblings as a subject of public concern ........................................................................................................ 13 2.3 Changing definitions: Sibling incest and sibling sexual abuse .................. 15 2.3.1 Differentiating harmful from harmless sibling sexual behaviour .......... 16 2.3.2 The impact of sibling sexual abuse ........................................................ 20 2.4 Prevalence .................................................................................................. 23 2.5 Theories of sibling sexual abuse ................................................................ 25 2.6 The legal context ........................................................................................ 29 2.7 Social worker decision making regarding the removal of children from their families, and subsequent contact and reunification ....................................... 35 2.8 The sibling incest literature on separation, reunification and contact ........ 41 2.9 Conclusions ................................................................................................ 43 Chapter 3: Methodology .......................................................................................... 45 3.1 Introduction and research questions ........................................................... 45 3.1.1 The research aims ................................................................................... 46 3.1.2 Research questions ................................................................................. 46 3.2 Research design: Research questions 1 and 2 ............................................ 47 3.2.1 Research assumptions ............................................................................ 47 i ‘Better Together’: A grounded theory study of social worker decision making in cases involving sexual behaviour between siblings 3.2.2 Reflexivity .............................................................................................. 48 3.2.3 Research strategy ................................................................................... 50 3.2.4 Grounded theory .................................................................................... 51 3.2.5 Data generation ...................................................................................... 52 3.2.6 Recruitment and Theoretical Sampling .................................................. 61 3.2.7 A description of the final sample ........................................................... 64 3.2.8 Data analysis .......................................................................................... 67 3.2.9 Archiving ............................................................................................... 73 3.2.10 Ethics .................................................................................................. 74 3.3 Research design: Research question 3 ....................................................... 76 3.3.1 Recruitment ............................................................................................ 76 3.3.2 Data generation ...................................................................................... 77 3.3.3 Data Analysis ......................................................................................... 77 3.3.4 Ethics ...................................................................................................... 78 3.4 Research design: Research questions 1, 2 and 3 ........................................ 78 3.4.1 Validity and reliability ........................................................................... 78 3.4.2 Knowledge dissemination ...................................................................... 80 3.5 Conclusions and Reflections ...................................................................... 81 Chapter 4: The context of policy and uncertainty ................................................ 85 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 85 4.2 Policy and Guidance .................................................................................. 86 4.2.1 Incidence of cases involving concerns about sibling sexual behaviour . 86 4.2.2 Policy and guidance findings ................................................................. 87 4.2.3 Summary ................................................................................................ 98 4.2.4 Comments by policy informants .......................................................... 100 4.2.5 Conclusions to policy and guidance findings ...................................... 102 4.3 “It was just questions marks” (Jenny) ...................................................... 103 4.3.1 Not knowing what happened between the siblings .............................. 103 4.3.2 Not knowing the impact of the behaviour ............................................ 107 4.3.3 Not knowing the risks of future sibling sexual behaviour ................... 110 4.4 Conclusions .............................................................................................. 113 ii ‘Better Together’: A grounded theory study of social worker decision making in cases involving sexual behaviour between siblings Chapter 5: Maintaining an underlying perspective of children as vulnerable and intending no sexual harm to others ...................................................................... 119 5.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 119 5.2 Differentiating normal from concerning sibling sexual behaviour .......... 120 5.3 Cases with no identifiable perpetrator and victim .................................... 125 5.4 The perpetrator is a child but the victim is the child ................................ 127 5.4.1 Looking for reasons ............................................................................. 132 5.4.2 Resisting labelling the behaviour as abuse .......................................... 141 5.4.3 Labelling the behaviour as abuse ......................................................... 151 5.5 Conclusion................................................................................................ 156 Chapter 6: Maintaining an underlying perspective of sibling relationships as non-abusive and of intrinsic value ........................................................................ 159 6.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 159 6.2 Requiring a second incident