Quote of the Day

Residential practitioners stated that sexually abused young people in residential settings exhibited a number of behaviours which had a negative effect on their relationships with staff and other young people. This fits closely with the findings from research into the effects of sexual abuse on functioning and behaviour.

Practitioners described how sexually abused young people often experience difficulty maintaining appropriate personal boundaries, and that this manifests itself in a variety of ways. They described some young people as being `too compliant' with the wishes or commands of others. Other young people could be very intrusive in their interactions with others; often described by staff and other young people as `creepy' or `over the top'. Equally, they felt sexually abused young people could be very guarded and closed, making it difficult for them to form new attachments and develop positive relationships. Practitioners found that sometimes an individual young person could exhibit all these behaviours, making it a challenge to develop a relationship with them or to predict their responses.

Sexualised behaviour and sexually promiscuous behaviour was a problem area practitioners linked to issues of personal boundaries and risk taking. Practitioners identified this as a particularly challenging issue that can create a very difficult group dynamic in a residential unit. One said that:

Young people can have difficulty relating to their peer group when they see themselves as a sex object because of their experiences. This can lead to an explosive and sexually charged atmosphere in the unit which is unsafe for everyone.

Another said:

Many of the sexually abused young people I have worked with have behaved in a very sexually promiscuous way. It is easy for many of these kids to slip into inappropriate sexual behaviour.

One of the specialist practitioners suggested that this was because:

The inner worlds of these young people have been very corrupted. . . they have had very different norms:

Linked to this, specialist practitioners identified that most sexually abused young people lack accurate information about sex and sexual health. One said:

... we cannot assume, that sexually abused young people have accurate information about sex; in fact the opposite is often the case. Workers should feel able to answer questions from young people about sex and sexuality, and units should ensure that structured sex education is provided by practitioners outside the unit.

The specialist practitioners highlighted the issue of young people and their attachments to abusive figures. One had found in her work that this was a particularly difficult issue for carers to come to terms with: .

... many sexually abused young people have had few positive attachment experiences and sometimes their most positive attachment was to an abusive figure... Its hard for young people to give up these attachments and carers find it hard to understand why young people might go back to the abuser... there can be a lure back to that sort of life, they may love their abuser.

Another specialist practitioner suggested that transference and countertransference was a much overlooked area relating to residential practice with sexually abused young people:

We need to be aware of how these young people affect us and interact with the existing team dynamic. Many of these young people, because of their difficulties With boundaries, have an acute sensitivity to staff feelings. .. these kids get inside you... Counter transference is going to happen; its about noticing it and trying to draw the young person's attention towards what is going on in their behaviour or response.

Anger and destructive `acting out' behaviours were also raised by all the respondents as a major response to abuse experiences; this often manifests in a rejection of adult authority figures. One respondent said:

Many of these children don't know what it means to be a child because they have been sexualised and included in an adult world from such a young age. For this reason they often reject the caring and nurturing that is offered to them.

AUTUMN ROESCH-MARSH

Roesch-Marsh, A. (2005). Good enough Care? Looking after sexually abused young people in residential settings. Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care, 4(1), pp 46-58