Young People who have Sexually Abused: What do they (and their parents) want from Professionals?

Abstract

This article presents the findings of a small scale qualitative study of user perspectives in the adolescent sexual aggression field. Twenty four service users who had received intervention from nine different specialist providers completed a structured questionnaire about their experiences of professional involvement. Both young people who had sexually abused and parents identified the kinds of professional intervention which they found useful, as well as practices that they experienced as unhelpful. Young people and their families alike were found to value supportive interventions which gave them an opportunity to gain insight into the nature of sexual abuse as well to address their own feelings about their problems. Copyright # 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. IntroductionUser perspectives are currently seen as a central feature of service planning and evaluation across a whole range of health and social care systems (Molyneux and Irvine, 2004; NIMHE, 2003; Barnes and others, 2000;Kemshall and Littlechild, 2000;Manthorpe, 2000). User movements have developed in response to diverse groups, for example, looked after children, survivors of the mental health system and disabled people (see, for example, the 'Shaping Our Lives User Network' at http://www.shapingourlives.org.uk/). Such user movements have been influential in bringing about changes to professional systems and have forced the issue of user rights directly onto the agenda of policy makers and government.However, in contrast to the general momentum being generated on this issue in many areas, user perspectives in the sex offender field are under-developed and there is little published research which has offered the views of service users in any systematic way. Moreover, despite a burgeoning international literature base relating to adolescent sexual aggression, in our search for relevant literature we could find no published study focusing on young people's views about the professional responses they have received in the wake of their sexually abusive behaviours. There are a number of factors that might have contributed to this glaring deficit in the literature. Giving users a voice in a meaningful way requires professionals to hand back some of their power to users (Braye and Preston Shoot, 2001). It involves listening to users' accounts of their experiences, valuing their opinions and being open to challenge and criticism. It also demands that professionals take responsibility for changing practices which are seen by users as stigmatising and oppressive. By contrast, the sexual aggression field has traditionally been built on an assumption that sexual offenders are at best unreliable in relation to their self report and are often manipulative, devious and oppressive in their dealings with others. From this professional standpoint, the empowerment of users is scarcely considered, rather the professional task is to take back power from abusers and to introduce controls upon them in order to reduce the risk that they will go on to perpetrate further abuse. ...

Family victim advocates: the importance of critical job duties

“…Parents wanted a clear account of the actual events of the abuse in order to understand the risk and put protective measures into place. The overwhelming majority of parents expressed concerns that professionals did not understand what parents experienced (Hackett & Masson, 2005). The study results emphasized the need to keep parents informed and recognized how the parents' responses to the abuse evolved during the investigative process.…”

“…In a study conducted by Hackett and Masson (2005), parents of child abuse victims valued most the professionals who helped them understand the child protection and criminal justice processes. Parents wanted a clear account of the actual events of the abuse in order to understand the risk and put protective measures into place.…”

“…Overall, the online surveys included a total of fourteen job duties that the National Children's Alliance (2012) identified in their standards for victim advocacy and support. Using these victim advocacy standards and support from current published research (Hackett & Masson, 2005;Schewe, 2005;Haig, Perry, & Hansen, 2005;Heger et al, 2002), we identified nine critical job duties for family victim advocacy:…”

Intrafamilial Adolescent Sex Offenders' Response to Psychological Treatment

“…Although there are an increasing number of studies focussed on the outcomes of treatment programs, there are only a handful of studies which address adolescent offenders' or their parents' perceptions of treatment (Hackett & Masson, 2006;Lawson, 2003). However, participants' perceptions of the impact of treatment programs are an important source of information about the benefits and responsiveness of adolescents to specific aspects of treatment.…”

“…Focusing on the participants' strengths was a key aspect of helping these young offenders to move forward. Hackett and Masson (2006) surveyed 24 ASOs and their parents to determine their attitudes towards treatment. Both parents and adolescents valued the opportunity to explore their feelings about, and gain insight into, the offending behaviours.…”