| Background to the study |
| In Britain since the late 1980s there has been a growing significance given to the prosecution and treatment of men who sexually abuse children. The Cleveland Inquiry of 1988 and more recently the Orkney Inquiry of 1992 raised major questions about the extent of sexual abuse in the lives of individual families. With the growing number of reported cases, professionals - police, social workers, psychologists, prison staff - are developing more dedicated and intensive responses to abusers as part of a long term strategy to protect children. |
| The study |
| The study aimed to provide a comprehensive description of the circumstances of child sexual abusers and the nature and context of child sexual abuse; to investigate the motivations and rationales of perpetrators; and to investigate the policies, ideals and practices of professionals involved in the management of abusers. |
| Information on child sexual abusers in Scotland was gathered from 500 case files and interviews were conducted with 53 convicted child sexual offenders, most of whom were in prison. 66 professionals dealing with sexual offenders on a daily basis were also interviewed. |
| Who are the abusers andtheir victims? |
| Men were the abusers in 99% of the recorded cases in the study. The majority were known to the children, and most were in positions of trust or authority over the child. Fathers, step-fathers and family friends were often the abusers and only one in 10 were strangers. |
| The majority of the children were female: and most were under 12 when they complained of sexual abuse to the professionals. Half of the children were living with their natural mother and father; another quarter were living with their mother and step-father at the time of abuse. |
| What is the nature of abuse? |
| Abuse is frequently intrusive - over half of incest abusers admitted sexual intercourse with the child, and physical violence and coercion featured in almost one half of the cases in the study. Abusive acts committed within the family are often preceded by a period of coercive indoctrination wherein the child is made to participate in sexual behaviour. Sexual abuse is almost always planned and is not usually related to a specific crisis in the backgrounds of the abusers. Most abusers minimise and deny the nature and extent of abuse. |
| Are there different types of abusers? |
| Whilst the offenders share similarities, it was analysis of the differences between them that led the researchers to suggest that four types of abusers can be identified - Random Abusers, Paedophiles, Incest and Deniers- the RAPID system of classifying abusers. |
| Men defined as incest offenders tended to abuse one or more of their own children or step-children within the home, whereas other types of offenders commonly abuse outside their own residence and are either familiar with or strangers to the child. The backgrounds of the men varied. Incest abusers were often first offenders who came from generally stable backgrounds, whereas men in the other categories were likely to have had disrupted backgrounds and fairly extensive criminal careers involving convictions for sexual and other offences. Many abusers, particularly those men identified as paedophiles, appear indifferent to their offence and its consequences. |
| What are the initial reactions of the professionals? |
| Most professionals - social workers, police, and health workers - thought new procedures had improved co-operation and enhanced services to the victim. Work with abusers themselves was not thought to have advanced at the same pace and professionals agreed that more needed to be done to challenge child sexual abusers about their offending behaviour. Controlling and monitoring risk of further abuse was an important objective for professionals. However, tension arose between professionals working with abusers and those working with the child victim. |
| Social workers are the key-workers in most cases and the goal of child protection was well to the fore when they worked with abusers. Social workers stressed the need to adopt a robust and challenging style in working with abusers, an approach at odds with traditional social work methods. |
| How do professionals work with sexual offenders? |
| Social workers emphasised the need for establishing clear and firm parameters when working with this type of offender, with positive change to be based on a detailed contract with the abuser. Professionals endorsed a structured approach involving group work focused on enhancing awareness of the victim and challenging offending behaviour. They identified a number of problems to be overcome in work with abusers, for example, denial, and a reluctance to consider the abuse and its impact on children. |
| What is the response of the Scottish Prison Service? |
| The Scottish Prison Service confines the vast majority of sexual offenders in a single institution and most offenders and prison staff agreed with this policy. Whilst in prison child sexual offenders are defined as 'vulnerable' or 'in need of protection and are usually segregated from other prisoners: prisoners and staff thought this sometimes created problems but on balance it was considered the best approach. |
| Prison social workers were the professionals most involved in directly challenging offenders. Most prison officers thought sexual offenders should be offered direct services while in prison and many were keen to become involved in this work. There was sometimes a degree of conflict between professional groups about the appropriate aims and methods of working with abusers. |
| Which way forward? |
| ProfessionaI roles are changing - prison officers will be expected to work directly with sexual offenders. Those responsible for working with abusers stressed the need for better training and the need to address inter-professional conflicts. The development of this work will require a co-ordinated and inter-disciplinary approach. |
| Professionals endorse the need for more programmes to focus on work with offenders and the study suggests that different types of offenders will present distinct challenges. |
| The study revealed new and emerging methods of working with offenders, focusing on their behaviour, conduct and attitudes. The research suggests that good management of offenders requires attention to assessment; service provision; and evaluation of outcomes of programmes for offenders. |
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| Lorraine Waterhouse, Russell Dobash and James Carnie |
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| 'Child Sexual Abusers' the research report summarised in this Research Findings, may be purchased (priced £6.00 per copy). |
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