Experiences of Parents Attending a Programme for Families of Adolescent Child Sexual Abuse Perpetrators in Ireland

Parental Perspectives on the Emotional, Relational and Logistical Impacts on Siblings of Youth Who Sexually Offend

“…Our findings show that parents are aware that not only is the emotional well‐being of siblings compromised, but their need to be supported and informed of all the formal and informal implications affecting their offending relative, their family and themselves, especially through a child rights–centred approach, is also often overlooked (Gervais and others, in press; Hackett and others, ). As such, our study extends the literature that underscores the importance of parents’ views, contributions and commitments towards addressing the needs of sexual abuse‐affected children and in improving service provision (Duane and others, ; Hackett, ; Hackett and Masson, ; Jones, ; Pierce, ; Thornton and others, ).…”

“…At the family level, given the ways in which siblings’ mobility and care were sometimes limited by their parent's reduced psychological functioning and/or by restrictions set against their offending brother, services should adequately support parents in their efforts to address the needs of all abuse‐affected children along with those of the youth perpetrator (Duane and others, ; Hackett, ; Latzman and others, ). To this extent, parents’ own mental well‐being is a critical component to ensuring the well‐being of children within the family (Hackett and Masson, ).…”

“…Furthermore, in light of how some siblings’ relations with their extended family were negatively impacted due to the exclusion of their offending brother, practitioners should support offenders’ immediate relatives as they mitigate the effects of the deprivation of reconciliation and other offending‐related impacts on their emotional and relational well‐being (Duane and others, ; Hackett and Masson, ).…”

“…Given parents’ relational proximity, they evidently play a pivotal role in both recognising and safeguarding the best interests of all sexual abuse‐affected children as well as in accessing the required family‐oriented services (Hackett, ). Thus, our study is also aimed at demonstrating how the views of parents as child advocates and service users cannot be underestimated by researchers and practitioners (Duane and others, ; Hackett and Masson, ).…”

“…Given the impact that youth sexual offending has on families’ well‐being and relationships (Duane and others, ; Gervais and Romano, ; Hackett and others, ; Jones, ; Pierce, ; Romano and Gervais, ; Thornton and others, ; Worley and others, ), additional hardships are inevitably intertwined in instances of sibling sexual offending. A UK study (Hackett and others, ) found that caregivers’ responses to their sexual offending youth were varied, but the most supportive caregivers had youth who committed a sexual offence against a child outside the family whereas the most negative reactions (i.e.…”