Making Sense of Child Sexual Exploitation: Exchange, Abuse and Young People, Sophie Hallett

2017 ◽  
Vol 48 (6) ◽  
pp. 1822-1824
Author(s):  
Jane Dodsworth
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Child Sexual Exploitation

Conclusion: child sexual exploitation – agency, abuse and exchange

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Hallett
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Young People ◽  
Unmet Needs ◽  
Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Child Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Care Relationships ◽  
The Individual

In this chapter, the three key arguments made throughout the book are drawn together. First, CSE is wider than the individual instances of sexual exploitation or sexually exploitative relationships, and ‘care’ (relationships, systems and acts) sits at the crux of the problem of CSE. Second, conceptions of CSE may be problematic for young people, particularly with regards to understanding and framing young people’s agency, and the chapter considers the implications that this has for responses to the problem. Third, intrinsic to CSE is the element of exchange, and underpinning this is the meeting (and exploitation) of unmet needs. This concluding chapter suggests how this approach provides a way of making sense of both young people’s agency, and the abuse they experience, through exchanging sex. It concludes by arguing that the language and concept of ‘CSE’ is both narrow and narrowing, misdirecting the focus of the problem, serving to exclude some young people while also having serious implications for responses to and interventions for CSE and other forms of sexual abuse.

Making Sense of Child Sexual Exploitation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Hallett
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Critical Perspective ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Child Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Childhood Care ◽  
The Social ◽  
Experienced Child ◽  
The Individual

This important book puts forward the rarely heard voices of children and young people who have experienced child sexual exploitation (CSE) and the professionals who have worked with them. CSE is now high on the social care agenda, but what is child sexual exploitation? How is it different from other forms of child sexual abuse? Hallett takes a critical perspective and argues that we need to use the exchange model - lost in the current focus on grooming - to answer these questions. She considers the problems that arise with conflating ‘child sexual exploitation’ with ‘grooming’ and the implications for the ways in which we respond to CSE and for the individual children and young people caught up in it. Central to the discussion are themes such as youth, childhood, care and power, making for an important sociological contribution to this under-researched field, whilst also providing new and valuable practice and policy relevant insights into this issue. The book challenges the dominant way of thinking about CSE and is essential reading for those working or training to work with children and young people.

scholarly journals Vulnerability and child sexual exploitation: Towards an approach grounded in life experiences

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 622-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Brown
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Life Stories ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
Social Divisions ◽  
Structural Forces ◽  
Child Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Social Marginality ◽  
Northern City

As child sexual exploitation (CSE) has risen towards the top of the UK’s political agenda, the concept of vulnerability has become a central frame through which to understand and address the issue. This article analyses problems with the concept of vulnerability as it is commonly understood in relation to CSE, taking first steps towards developing an empirically-grounded account of the notion which is more sensitive to the lived realities of victimhood for sexually exploited young people. Drawing on data from participatory qualitative research into life stories of ‘moving on’ from CSE in a large Northern city in England, the article illustrates how vulnerability is shaped through individual factors, situational dynamics and structural forces, connected by human agency through time. It argues that to respond effectively to vulnerability within the field of CSE, we need to move beyond discussion of ‘risk factors’ and denial of agency, towards an understanding of intersectional social divisions, social marginality, ‘critical moments’ and how these shape the investments and actions of vulnerable young people.

Understanding trauma and its relevance to child sexual exploitation

2019 ◽  
pp. 151-172
Author(s):  
Kristine Hickle
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Complex Trauma ◽  
Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Extreme Stress ◽  
Child Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Trauma Informed ◽  
Trauma Informed Practice ◽  
Trauma Responses ◽  
The Impact

This chapter provides a brief overview of the research on trauma, specifically in relation to the impact of developmental and complex trauma and sexual abuse. An overview of the growing body of research on trauma-informed approaches to practice is also given. It considers how trauma responses are developed while enduring extreme stress, and how these responses may be evident among children and young people with child sexual exploitation (CSE) experiences. The chapter also considers how systems designed to protect and support traumatised children and young people often contribute to their re-traumatisation. It explores principles of trauma-informed practice that are useful in meeting the needs of young people victimised by CSE, discusses how trauma-informed approaches align with strengths-based and relationship-based approaches to CSE practice, and how such approaches can help practitioners understand and promote resilience.

Strengthening (Re)integration from Child Sexual Exploitation: Children and Young People’s Recommendations

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-190
Author(s):  
Lopa Bhattacharjee ◽  
Helen J. Veitch
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Urban Community ◽  
Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Financial Independence ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Psychosocial Wellbeing ◽  
Child Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Care Leavers ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
New Community

This article explores care leavers’ views and recommendations for practitioners and policymakers on the transition from leaving care to living independently in the community. Seven young adults fully reintegrated through programmes in Kathmandu, Nepal, co-produced action research with 21 of their peers (aged 16–26 years). This article outlines how children and young people affected by child sexual exploitation experience community reintegration, and their views on the key issues, reintegration services need to consider. Findings explored boys’ and girls’ experiences of stigma and discrimination by community members and revolved around social and cultural norms and narratives on masculinity and femininity that denied their victimhood. This article focuses on the theme of independence as it appears to reflect a changing context for reintegration practitioners in South Asia. Children and young people had not been reintegrated in their family; instead, they were living independently—a situation that can be described as ‘integration’ (with an urban community) rather than ‘reintegration’ (with their family of origin). Research participants’ exploration of ‘independence’ reflected this context and was defined as emotional or financial independence. The research appears to identify an adaptation to reintegration services to enable a smoother transition for care leavers. Most models of reintegration assume that children will ‘reintegrate’ with their families of origin. This research found that children sexually exploited in Kathmandu chose to ‘integrate’ into a new community to overcome isolation, exclusion and non-acceptance by their families and communities of origin and, in so doing, experienced emotional and financial independence. In this context, successful integration requires the provision of activities for parents that explain indicators of trauma so that they can appropriately support their children. In addition, support for care leavers targeted on psychosocial wellbeing, life-skills and income generation enables young people to live independently from their families and be ‘integrated’ into an urban community.

scholarly journals Working with and Negotiating ‘Risk’: Examining the Effects of Awareness Raising Interventions Designed to Prevent Child Sexual Exploitation

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha Weston ◽  
Gabe Mythen
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Educational Intervention ◽  
Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Context Sensitivity ◽  
Individual Behaviour ◽  
Behaviour Management ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Child Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Awareness Raising

Abstract This article considers the effects of an educational intervention with young people designed to reduce the risk of child sexual exploitation (CSE). Drawing on findings from a qualitative study, we consider processes of engagement with the initiative, the relevance of the strategy adopted by the delivery team and the impacts on the perspectives of young people targeted. Focusing on mutually constitutive problems of context sensitivity, recognition of ambiguity and the silencing of alternative narratives, we raise several critical caveats that should be considered in the design and implementation of future CSE awareness raising initiatives. Overall, we aver that an unstinting focus on individual behaviour management unduly responsibilizes young people and draws inflexible demarcation lines between appropriate and inappropriate sexual conduct.

Child Sexual Exploitation: Why Theory Matters

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Related Services ◽  
Therapeutic Work ◽  
The Public ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Child Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Improve Practice

The issue of child sexual exploitation (CSE) is firmly in the public spotlight internationally and in the UK, but just how well is it understood? To date, many CSE-related services have been developed in reaction to high profile cases rather than being designed more strategically. This book breaks new ground by considering how psychosocial, feminist and geo-environmental theories, amongst others, can improve practice understanding and interventions. It makes the case for a more thoughtful approach to CSE prevention and a greater use of different theoretical perspectives in the development and delivery of strategies and interventions. The book is an essential text for students and those planning strategic interventions and practice activities in social, youth and therapeutic work with young people, as it supports understanding of how CSE arises and how to challenge the nature of the abuse.

Utilising the arts to tackle child sexual exploitation

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-55
Author(s):  
Claire Cody
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Community Safety ◽  
Creative Arts ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Child Sexual Exploitation ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Potential Use

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider the potential use of creative, arts-based methods to address child sexual exploitation (CSE) through connecting with and supporting young people affected by CSE; and engaging the wider community through awareness-raising and education to help keep young people safe. The use of the arts in building understanding, promoting agency, educating and countering negative portrayals of those affected by CSE are also explored. Design/methodology/approach – A literature review identified that there is currently a limited evidence-base surrounding the use of arts in addressing the negative outcomes for young people affected by CSE and promoting the inclusion and safety of young people in the community. To explore the potential use of the arts in engaging young people and the communities they inhabit, this paper draws from research with other “hard to engage” and stigmatised groups, and learning from efforts to tackle other sensitive and challenging issues that impact on communities. Findings – The paper suggests that despite the relatively young evidence base concerning the role of creative, arts-based methods to tackle CSE, there is relevant transferable learning that suggests that there is potential in utilising the arts to help prevent CSE and promote community safety. Research limitations/implications – There is a clear need to consider the ethical implications of this work and to further examine how the arts may be utilised to tackle CSE and bring about positive outcomes for both individuals and for the wider community. Originality/value – The paper brings together bodies of literature from other fields to explore the potential use of creative arts-based methods to tackle a significant contemporary issue of community safety.

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