By David Russell, PG Cert, Sophie King-Hill, Ph.D., & Kieran McCartan, Ph.D. Before we begin it is important to set out the language we are using in this piece as it has been part of an important discussion of late. In our work over the past four years focussing on this issue we have seen many instances and examples of the behaviour between siblings being clearly sexual abuse and sexually abusive. However, there are also key examples where this is not the case and that the issues present as sexually inappropriate and/or sexually problematic. This is an important distinction, and with this ..read more

 By David S. Prescott, LICSW A recent conversation among ATSA members on risk assessment with adolescents sparked both new ideas and old memories. It all seemed so simple a few decades ago. Science was marching forward in developing methods to assess dangerousness among people who had been violent toward others. There were even references to “hitting the forensic sound barrier,” with the development of high-quality measures. Understandably, the most pressing issue was how we could best classify people according to risk. Entire books were written on the topic; many of the older writings ar ..read more

By Kasia Uzieblo, Ph.D. Many professionals working with individuals who have committed sexual offenses often find it challenging to discuss their work with those around them due to fear of misunderstanding or trying to avoid any awkward silences. However, we should be extremely grateful to all these professionals for their daily dedication to preventing sexual violence and their willingness working with these clients. This type of work is far from easy and significantly affects the well-being of these professionals. They may experience emotional and psychological stress from repeated exposure ..read more

 By Kieran McCartan, PhD & Sophie King-Hill, PhD Over recent years there has been a rise in conversations about sexual abuse in the online environment. These conversations encompass a wide range of online behaviours such as catfishing and its impacts, sexual and relationship education in UK schools, the production of Child Sexual Exploitation material internationally, as well as the nature of pornography on legal sites (i.e., Pornhub). The main premise that all these conversations have in common is how the relationship between sexual abuse and exploitation is understood in the online ..read more

By David S. Prescott, LICSW Reviewing the blog posts and ATSA communications for the membership (The Wire, the Catalyst newsletter) of the past few weeks provides a wonderful snapshot of the work we all do. From risk assessment to protective factors, and empirically sound treatment, it’s all in there. As we’ve said before, the people in this field can be real superheroes. Of course, there are topics that can be difficult to talk about. A recent survey found many of us experiencing the signs and symptoms of burnout despite having good overall self-care practices. Likewise, last week’s blog, abo ..read more

By David S. Prescott, LICSW, and Kasia Uzieblo, PhD  At last year’s ATSA conference, David had the good fortune to facilitate two discussion groups for people who, due to their circumstances, don’t have many colleagues with whom they can speak openly. By far the two biggest topics that came up were working in isolation and imposter syndrome, also known more recently as “imposterism.” During these sessions, newcomers to the field heard from us old-timers, who all agreed that we still feel it often. It all reminded me of the time — years ago — when a world-famous researcher openly discussed ..read more

By Kieran McCartan, PhD.,  & David S. Prescott, LICSW Last week’s blog post focused on an unfortunate reality: We can’t always discuss things publicly lest we be labelled as political partisans. Although no one is without some degree of biases and leanings, it is simply too easy to attack and be attacked for statements taken out of context. We recall the sad fate of someone who commented in social media that balancing the human rights of the client and the community can be a challenge. His statement was sent to a local politician, who went to the media and scored significant political ..read more

By David S. Prescott, LICSW, ATSA-F I’ve long felt sympathy for our colleagues working in the area of family and interpersonal violence. These issues are widespread but receive little attention. It is well known that violence against women has only gotten worse in recent years, and yet many governments have considered abandoning the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, known as the Istanbul Convention. Too often, the reasons have been political, with governments claiming that while they are against family violence, they want to ..read more

 By Kieran McCartan, PhD, David S. Prescott, LICSW, ATSA-F, & Kasia Uzieblo, PhD This week Kieran has been involved in several different conversations about research outcomes, Key Performance Indictors (KPI) and how we measure them. This has been equally engaging and frustrating. This week has really enforced in Kieran the need to emphasis the role, purpose, and use of research, which is often an afterthought or a bolt on for many organisations and programmes. This is a shame, as research should be seen as core business and essential to the development, roll out, and maintenance of an ..read more

By David S. Prescott, LICSW, ATSA-F In our December 13, 2023 blog post, Dr. Sophie King-Hill asks: In many harmful sexual behaviour (HSB) services for children and young people (CYP) how resources are funded, developed, and delivered is coming under increasing scrutiny as frontline and third sectors organisations are having budgets cut and services reduced. Given this context, is it ever ethical to charge for these resources? . . . At face value the ethical principles of HSB work may appear clear-cut (i.e., work in a trauma informed way, do no harm, protect the patient/service user ..read more