Family Responses to Young People Who have Sexually Abused: Anger, Ambivalence and Acceptance

Abstract

Data on 117 British young people who had sexually abused others were examined in order to investigate the nature and impact of family responses on the management of young sexual abusers. Parental responses were varied, ranging from being entirely supportive of the child, through to ambivalence and uncertainty and, at the other end of the continuum, to outright rejection. Parents were more likely to be supportive when their child's victims were extra‐familial and condemnatory when the victims were intra‐familial. Sibling responses were complex and strongly influenced by whether that sibling was the victim of the young person's abuse or not. Policy and practice implications are discussed.

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

“…Sexual offending by youth is a serious societal concern because of its frequency and often significant impact on the well‐being of multiple individuals, including not only the victim and perpetrator but also caregivers, siblings, and extended relatives (Hackett and others, ). Police‐reported Canadian data show that 12‐ to 17‐year‐olds accounted for 26 per cent of sexual offences involving a victim under 18 years (Allen and Superle, ).…”

“…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. anger with shunning and blaming of the youth) involved a sibling victim.…”

“…To this extent, most research has focused on parent, perpetrator and/or victim impacts. There is virtually no research on sibling impacts, with the exception of Hackett and others () and Bass and others ().…”

“…In the UK, Hackett and others () reviewed 117 case files of sexual offending youth and concluded that ‘siblings' voices appeared simply to have been overlooked in any of the discussions between parents and professionals about the impact of the abuse on the whole family or about the management of risk’ (p. 135). In many cases, it was unclear whether siblings understood their family's circumstances and whether they felt a sense of safety within their family.…”

“…The case file data also indicated that siblings’ reaction to the sexual offending youth was a function of whether they were victims, with more supportive reactions on the part of non‐victims and more complex reactions on the part of victims that spanned from severed relationships to reconciliation (the latter often occurring after intervention with siblings and the offending youth). Hackett and others () concluded that there is little consideration of siblings’ needs in instances of youth sexual offending, even though their well‐being (whether direct victims or not) is often seriously compromised following disclosure. In a later study based on the same case file data, Hackett and others () found several references to the impact of youth sexual offending on siblings where the latter experienced stigma and discrimination at school in the form of physical aggression by peers and loss of friendships.…”