Australians Against Child Abuse is a non-profit organisation that focuses exclusively on the prevention of child abuse through a package of programs developed to promote the rights of children to safety and protection.
All Australians Against Child Abuse programs are underpinned by a child centred orientation which reflects a particular set of convictions about the capacities, vulnerabilities and rights of children. It is a belief in the resilience of children and a recognition of the importance of families and the community in supporting children to achieve their developmental potential. Its core is a commitment to children's ways of understanding, describing and doing.
Programs
Australians Against Child Abuse has developed a matrix of programs which aim to reduce the incidence of child abuse and decrease the harm it causes to children, families and the community. These programs include therapeutic services to children and their families, community and professional education, research, advocacy, and prevention.
Services to children and families
Australians Against Child Abuse has established an integrated child abuse
treatment and early intervention service through the provision of two
specialist child-centred programs.
The Child Abuse Therapy (CHAT) Program provides structured individual and family therapy to children who have experienced serious and multiple forms of abuse and their families. More than 80 per cent of children accepted into the CHAT program have had or continue to require statutory child protection services to ensure their physical and psychological safety.
The Children's Sexual Behaviour Program is a unique child sexual abuse
prevention and early intervention program. It offers specialist therapeutic
intervention to children between the ages of five and eleven who have
displayed sexual behaviours which are interfering with their normal
development or are considered inappropriate towards other children or adults.
In 1998, for its efforts to prevent child abuse, Australians Against Child
Abuse won National and State Violence Prevention Awards, sponsored by
the National Council for the Prevention of Child Abuse. The Council has
recently awarded a grant to Australians Against Child Abuse to fund an
independent evaluation of the long-term effectiveness of the Children's
Sexual Behaviour Program. A report is scheduled for completion in
February 2001.
Over the past four years, the number of children referred to the two therapeutic programs of Australians Against Child Abuse has increased by 88 per cent.
Community and professional education and training
Through its education programs, Australians Against Child Abuse aims to:
increase knowledge and awareness in all sections of the community about
child abuse and neglect; increase the use of child-centred practices among
professionals working with children and young people, and among people
in the community at large; and improve the responses to child abuse and
neglect made by professionals and others in the community.
Australians Against Child Abuse offers a range of education and training programs. An advertised Professional Education Program includes in service workshops for professionals run by designated trainers at specified times, advertised in an annual training calendar. Workshops are available on request, and in-service workshops are made available to interested organisations. There is team supervision or secondary consultation - that is, supervision of, or consultation with, staff teams on matters relating to child abuse and neglect, or child-centred practice. Research dissemination involves education activities arranged in conjunction with the Child Abuse and Family Violence Research Unit at Monash University. These are aimed at disseminating the results of the research on child abuse and neglect and child-centred practice conducted at the Research Unit and at the Australians Against Child Abuse Centre for Children.
Australians Against Child Abuse has also developed a user friendly Web site at www.aaca.com.au which provides information to children, parents and professionals.
Research
Australians Against Child Abuse undertakes research which is
complimentary to the services it provides to abused children. It is
particularly concerned with improving practices of protection and therapy
for children who have been abused. The results are used to develop
innovative child abuse prevention campaigns and programs for treating
children and young people who have been the victims of abuse.
In 1995, Australians Against Child Abuse jointly funded the establishment
of the Child Abuse and Family Violence Research Unit with the Department
of Social Work at Monash University. The Unit is headed by Associate
Professor Chris Goddard. Its objectives are to: understand the causes and
consequences of child abuse and family violence in Australia;
provide a critical analysis of child welfare practice and public policy which
affects the lives of children; examine child abuse in the context of other
forms of family and community violence; and increase public awareness
about the costs of child abuse to children and the community generally.
In collaboration with the Child and Family Violence Unit, Australians Against Child Abuse is currently undertaking a number of major research projects in the following areas:
Advocacy
Australians Against Child Abuse has prepared a range of policy positions
emphasising an integrated child protection and child abuse prevention
system within the community. There are a number of fundamental concepts:
In 1998, Australians Against Child Abuse organised the Kids First - Agenda for
Change Conference sponsored by the Australian Rotary Health Research
Foundation. The conference drew together 300 health, legal and welfare
professionals to collaborate in reviewing the significant areas of concern in the
community's response to child abuse, and identify solutions to improve the
system. An agenda for change was developed containing specific recommendations
which were then presented to all state and federal governments.
The Agenda for Change Report is available by contacting Australians Against Child Abuse directly on (03) 9874 3922.
| Kids First Foundation |
|
Australians Against Child Abuse (Victoria), the Abused Child Trust (Queensland), and the Benevolent Society (New South Wales) have formed a strategic partnership to establish the national Kids First Foundation. The Kids First Foundation is the first Australian organisation to raise funds nationally to provide services to abused, neglected and at-risk children, to research this national problem, and to advocate for children's rights. It is uniquely Australian and has developed from the localised knowledge and expertise of the three founding state organisations. Kids First Foundation has established a successful alliance with its corporate patron Telstra as the basis for placing the interests of abused, neglected and at-risk children firmly on the political and community agenda in Australia. In 2000, Telstra has donated $1 million to the First for Kids Campaign. The campaign aims to raise $10 million over the next three years for programs to assist abused and neglected children in Australia. To find out more about the Kids First Foundation, visit the Web site at http://www.kidsfirst.com.au |
Physical punishment: the need for change
In 1999, Australians Against Child Abuse commissioned a report by Bernadette Saunders and Associate Professor Chris Goddard from the Child Abuse and Family Violence Research Unit, Monash University which attracted national media coverage.
Entitled Why do we condone the physical punishment of children?, the report concluded that the physical punishment of children as it is currently sanctioned by the law may expose vulnerable children to a physically threatening environment, and violate children's rights to physical integrity and to protection from harm. Moreover, physical punishment promotes violence as an acceptable means of resolving conflict, and reinforces the misconception that physical punishment is both an effective and an indispensable form of discipline. Finally, the report concludes that physical punishment reflects an inappropriate and unjustifiable community attitude towards children.
Australians Against Child Abuse feels that it may be unrealistic at this point
in time to recommend a complete ban on all forms of physical discipline of
children. However, it calls on all Australian governments immediately to
ban the physical punishment of children with any form of implement.
A similar position has been adopted in Scotland and is viewed by Australians
Against Child Abuse as an interim step to the total banning of physical
punishment - as has occurred in Sweden (in 1989), Finland (in 1984), Norway
(in 1987), Austria (in 1989), Cyprus (in 1994), and Denmark (in 1997).
In addition, Australians Against Child Abuse recommends that the federal
government adequately resources a national public awareness campaign
which aims to: promote the safety and welfare of all children; change
community attitudes about the use of physical discipline for children; and
provide alternative strategies for parents and carers in shaping children's
behaviour and development.
Every child is important
Australians Against Child Abuse has developed an innovative public education and media campaign entitled Every Child is Important, which was launched in mid-May 2000. The aim of the campaign is to affirm the value and significance of children to adults, families, and society as a whole.
The campaign includes information kits for parents and children, parenting education seminars with author and presenter, Michael Grose and a "Celebrating Children's Concert" The television, radio and press campaign features the song Have I told you lately that I love you . . . written by Van Morrison and re-recorded by rock legend Rod Stewart. The evocative music is used to accompany positive images of children and families and is the first time that Van Morrison has allowed the use of his song in any form of advertising anywhere in the world.
The campaign encourages all adults to think and view children as a source of hope, and understand the developmental vulnerabilities of children. It encourages adults to respect the meaning children give to their experiences, to engage positively with the principles of children's rights, and appreciate more fully the capacities and contribution of children to the cultural and emotional life of families and communities. Adults are invited to prioritise children and make every child in their life as important as possible.
The campaign also tackles the commonly held belief that children are a cost to society, and the perceived suspicion that any application of the notion of children's rights will mean an erosion of parent's rights. And the campaign challenges the public's lack of understanding about the extent and nature of child abuse in Australia.
The campaign has been developed in conjunction with advertising company Linchpin HMP and with the support of Leeds Media, Quantum Market Research and Spinifex Communications. The major sponsor of the campaign is the Helen M. Schutt Trust. Public polling research will track the impact of the campaign.
With the launch of the Every Child is Important campaign in May 2000, a new campaign Web site was also launched. It can be accessed at www.kidscount.com.au
A vision of trusting, safe relationships with adults
The vision of Australians Against Child Abuse highlights a strong commitment to ensuring that children and young people develop trusting and safe relationship with adults, feel respected, are prioritised by our community, do not experience the trauma of victimisation and abuse, are protected by an effective system of child protection, and participate in the evaluation and development of services offered to them by the community.
The words of "Josh", an eight-year-old boy who attended counselling at the Centre for Children to heal the hurt left by a parent who had rejected him, recognise the importance of community support in all efforts to prevent child abuse. With remarkable insight for someone so young, Josh explained that "child abuse will only stop when children like me become important to everyone".
Who could disagree?
Joe Tucci is the Executive Director of Australians Against Child Abuse. For
more information, contact him by writing to: PO Box 525, Ringwood,
Victoria 3134. Phone (03) 9874 3922. Fax (03) 9874 7922.
Chairperson Professor Kim Oates outlined the Council's concerns that child abuse and neglect must be brought to the public's attention. The Council stressed that the community must recognise that child abuse is a shared issue for governments, communities and individuals. Early intervention and prevention programs are vitally important, and a wholistic approach must be taken nationally.
Federal and state government departments covering health, education, housing, and family and community services must continue to work together on this problem which crosses every boundary within our community - whether they be state, cultural, educational or financial boundaries.
In his reply, Mr Anthony acknowledged the importance of protecting our children and said that the Government's just announced Stronger Families and Communities Strategy represents a serious investment in prevention and early intervention and will assist families at risk. The Strategy will provide $47.3 million to an early intervention parenting and family relationship support scheme to help families with relationship and parenthood problems, including family counselling. It will also provide $40 million to a stronger Families Fund to help parents nurture and develop skills in their young children through locally developed projects such as playgroups and mothers' groups.
The Minister pointed out that there is no quick fix to this problem - no magic answer. "Governments can do so much - but the community must work to bring child abuse and neglect out from behind the locked doors of suburban homes. We all have a responsibility to our young people."
The Kidz Business Enterprise Project has provided students of Hampstead Primary School with a means of showcasing in a school context the creativity and maturity that they readily demonstrate out of school.The Kidz Business Enterprise Project was a recent winner of a National Child Abuse Prevention Award.
The Kidz Business Enterprise Project at the Hampstead Primary School claims to provide students with an engaging "vehicle" by which they can develop and demonstrate enterprising attributes.
The project currently involves all Year 6 and 7 students, and to a lesser extent R-5 students, in a wide range of activities that contribute to the "adult" work of the school and its community.
"I like learning enterprise skills. Now I know how to look after myself in real life - to be confident and self sufficient." - Janelle: Year 6.
School profile
Hampstead Primary School is located eight kilometres north east of the Adelaide GPO. It is a member of the Disadvantaged Schools Program with 70 per cent of families in receipt of government assistance.
The school works hard to overcome a range of disadvantaging factors and is responsive to changing community needs. Enterprise Education is a major school priority. Its culture is futures oriented and there are innovative curriculum programs in place. There are 205 students of which 25 are Aboriginal. There is a staff of 13.5 teachers.
Program description
"I learned how to stick at something and not give up. Now I like school and especially our enterprise activities." - John: Year 7.
Kidz Business commenced in 1995. In 1998 it amalgamated a number of existing extra-curricular activities to bring the project into the mainstream curriculum.
A 1997 survey revealed that a majority of Year 6/7 students lived in households affected by generational unemployment. Students expressed a need to learn the skills and attitudes necessary to become successful citizens in the twenty-first century.
Before starting with Kidz Business, Year 6/7 students complete an induction process involving worksite visits, enterprise excursions, and basic vocational and safety skills training. Kidz Business emphasises life-long learning. Students are required to work throughout the year in a work team of their choice. The work teams currently operating include:
Most students spend at least one hour of class time per week on their enterprise project, plus an hour of their own time (recess, lunch, before and after school, and sometimes weekends).
The program is ongoing. Students have a Time Book to record the time spent "on the job". Entries in the book are verified by either a student team leader or supervising adult. Students regularly conduct a self-evaluation exercise where they rate their "enterprise" performance. They get feedback from peers and supervising adults. Student Enterprise achievements are included in end-of-term reports.
For their efforts, students receive payment in the form of Kidz Dollars. These are redeemable for special events, opportunities, tours, excursions and performances.
The project is managed by a student/staff Board of Management. The Board meets regularly and reports directly to the Principal and School Council. Its function is to consider team allocation and progress, issues, profits and distribution of earnings.
Curriculum links
Kidz Business is becoming a whole-of-school program and high school priority. The enterprise methodology is now increasingly used to deliver mainstream curriculum. Staff report that the skills and qualities now so evident as students go about their "adult" work are transferring to the classroom. General behaviour, attendance, participation, and academic standards (particularly in literacy and numeracy) are steadily improving.
Resources
Students have access to a wide range of in-school resources including:
photocopier, fax, telephone, computers, gardening tools, art materials,
sewing/washing machines, and musical instruments.
There is also a range of external resources. Community Service clients and
other volunteers mentor students (for example, in music tuition). School
communities and service clubs across Australia have provided the school
with extensive support. The Governor Hindmarsh Hotel (and numerous
other local and national businesses) provide continuing support and
sponsorship.
More than $60,000 in prize money has been won since 1995. This has enabled improved school and community facilities, additional resources, and vastly improved learning opportunities for disadvantaged children. It has facilitated additional training and development opportunities for staff and volunteers, and enabled 350 students (and supporters) to travel to six states of Australia and perform to 10,000 people. Students have donated $6,000 to charities of their choice.
Promotion
Students are heavily involved in the promotion of the program. The Public Relations group coordinates publicity. This includes: feature programs on local, national and Canadian television; widespread local and interstate radio and press coverage; highly acclaimed performances at Parliament House Canberra, and Government House Adelaide, conferences and conventions; and applications for awards and prizes.
Awards
Outcomes
"The students have helped to change the school's culture from one that was
negative, non-productive and non-participatory to one that is enterprising,
cheerful, industrious, optimistic and forward looking." - Christine
Kerslake: Principal.
The teams provide the school and its community with valuable goods and services, which enable the school and community to function in a more effective and cohesive manner.
Kidz Business has provided students with a means of showcasing in a school context the creativity and maturity that they readily demonstrate out of school. The inclusive scope of Kidz Business has engendered solid community support.
Students now show a greater understanding of the importance of making and keeping commitments, and of the realities of work.
"I have learned how to handle a brush and do painting - to stick at a job and not wander off - to be persistent." - Abraham: Year 6.
One of the project's strengths is its emphasis on personal growth and performance improvement. Students learn to define and re-define "personal best" and have become far more resilient. Student self-confidence, self-esteem and optimism is boosted through experiencing regular and tangible success. Students now look forward to new challenges.
"I like to learn new skills like cooking. I can be responsible, and use my initiative. You don't have to tell me to do something any more!" - Michael: Year 7.
Team work has developed; students show a growing ability to respect, like and cooperate with each other and with adults. Frequent public contact has dramatically improved students' communication skills, and parents and volunteers now play an active role in the affairs of the school. Teaching methods better match student learning needs. Learning is experiential and authentic.
Why can the program be described as enterprising?
"The fostering of participation, flexibility, creativity, resourcefulness and
innovation is this project's highest priority." - Christine Kerslake: Principal.
Partnerships
Hampstead Primary School has forged positive partnerships with local service clubs, businesses, corporations and many communities across Australia. These relationships enrich and authenticate learning experiences and outcomes for students.
Worksite visits, enterprise excursions, mentoring and support from volunteers are integral parts of the teaching and learning program.
School contact: Ms Christine Kerslake, Principal, Hampstead Primary School. Phone: +61 8 8261 2248. Fax: +61 8 8266 1643.
Established in 1981, the Cottage Family Care Centre is a community-based program servicing the City of Campbelltown local government area in Sydney. The Cottage is sponsored by the Uniting Church of Campbelltown and is funded primarily by the Department of Community Services, and community donations. Multidisciplinary professional staff are complemented by volunteers.
The Cottage Family Care Centre provides a special service for families with children aged 0-5 years caught in the generational cycle of physical, sexual and emotional abuse and/or neglect. During the past year The Cottage has worked with approximately one hundred children and babies. All the children enrolled in the child care program are notified/registered children "at risk" and have been referred to the program by District Officers, Paediatricians, Community Nurses and other agencies.
The Cottage works with the whole family - child abuse and neglect is a family program and is generational. Intervention and treatment for the parent and the child is provided through the Child Care and Parent Program.
Four aspects of child abuse and/or neglect have to be acknowledged:
In working with the children, the Cottage Family Care Centre provides:
The Cottage Program helps the child work through the trauma of abuse to overcome problems. Work with parents aims to increase parents' sensitivity and emotional responsiveness to their child, and to help improve the degree to which they can meet their child's needs.
The goal is to help parents relinquish an abusive, neglectful pattern of child rearing, and replace it with a method of care which is more rewarding to the parents and at the same time conducive to the optimal development of the child. The Parent Program tries to reopen the channels of growth and development for parents to help them get beyond their limitations and the hampering residual liabilities of their own early lives.
The necessary components for growth of the parents are:
The Cottage Family Care Centre is committed to provide intervention, support and care to all its families.
The Cottage Family Care Centre recently won a National Child Abuse Prevention Award.
For further information, contact: Julie Baturynsky, The Cottage Family Care Centre, PO Box 357, Campbelltown, New South Wales 2560. Phone (02) 4628 1855. Fax (02) 4628 0463.
New Report on Child Protection Data
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, on behalf of the National Child Protection Data Project, has recently published the results of a project which examined the comparability of child protection data across Australia.
The project used a combination of document analysis and interviews with key personnel to identify some of the principal issues from which the report makes a series of recommendations. In particular, the report highlights the importance of comparability as it relates to opportunities for benchmarking service outputs, and defining outcomes, key performance indicators, and national reporting.
Currently in Australia, child protection matters in state and territory departments operate under different legislation, policies, and philosophies. It therefore follows that the project found significant differences in the way that child protection matters are defined and recorded.
According to the report, there was no clear definition across the jurisdictions about what constitutes child abuse. Thus child protection notifications are counted at different points in the process. For example, in Western Australia and Tasmania, which report lower rates of notifications, certain referrals are directed away at intake from a child protection pathway towards a family support pathway. It is the case that all states and territories provide for protection orders, but the reasons for granting care and protection orders differ.
The project also examined the similarities across the jurisdictions. All screen information that they receive from callers before deciding to instigate a child protection investigation, and once a decision has been made to investigate, all jurisdictions use much the same process. At a minimum they interview or sight the child, identify harm, determine an outcome, and assess protective needs. In this way the authors found that it is what jurisdictions investigate, not how they do it, that causes problems with comparability.
Among other things, the project recommends the adoption of a generic framework for national child protection reporting. The generic framework would involve establishing a new counting point (to be called "child protection intake") to record cases where it is confirmed that the contact is a child protection matter warranting a statutory response.
Finally, the report highlights the importance of a full commitment from the states and territories, as they will need to make some major changes to their information systems. However, the report points out that none of the changes recommended would require change to existing legislation or policy. The benefits of taking up the recommendations would likely be felt not only in terms of making sense of annual child protection reporting but importantly in future policy making in this area.
Comparability of Child Protection Data is available online at http://www.aihw.gov.au/inet/publications/welfare/ccpd/index.html
Liz Poole, NCPC Project Officer, AIFS
Most programs will have received an Audit Questionnaire over the last few months. If you haven't already returned your questionnaire but would like to have your program included in the Audit please return it now. Approximately 35,000 questionnaires have been distributed nationally, most via the post, others via telephone interviews, or accessed online: http://www.aifs.gov.au/nch/
A report of the Audit will encompass programs across the three prevention types - primary, secondary and tertiary - that is, programs targeted at the community as a whole (primary), those targeted at specific at-risk sections of the population (secondary), and prevention initiatives aimed at preventing the recurrence of abuse (tertiary).
The Audit Report will also look at developments across the program types - community education, family support, child empowerment, child and family centres, and personal safety and offender programs, and it will examine programs for specific population groups including (among others) indigenous communities, disability groups, and non English-speaking background groups.
We at the Clearinghouse would like to thank everyone who has participated in the Audit, all of whom will receive a copy of the Audit Report when it is released.
If you would like further information about the
Audit please phone the National Child
Protection Clearinghouse Audit Office on 1800
352 275 or (03) 9214 7888.
The Children's Protection Society has recently published a five-year review of its Sexual Abuse Counselling and Prevention Program. The following article is a brief summary of the findings outlined in the report.
In 1993, the Children's Protection Society established the Child Sexual Abuse Treatment Program to work with children and young people who had been sexually abused, and their non-offending caregiver(s).
In 1994, separate funding was sought from Health and Community Services (now the Department of Human Services) for the establishment costs of an additional program, the Adolescent Sex Offender Treatment Program, to provide quality assessment and therapeutic services to children and young people with sexually abusive behaviours.
Child Sexual Abuse Treatment Program
This program focuses on the needs of sexually abused children, adolescents
and their non-offending caregivers, with the aim of providing an integrated
and comprehensive child sexual abuse treatment service. Major objectives
are to establish a treatment service for all family members affected by child
sexual abuse, including the victim, non-offending caregiver, siblings and
offender; to work with families and educate the community to prevent
sexual abuse; to develop an effective model of practice; and to prevent
sexual abuse and re-abuse of children in families where abuse has occurred.
In the first five years of service, consultation was provided in relation to three hundred and ninety-five sexually abused children and young people. Five hundred and thirty-four children and young people agreed to attend the program for assessment and/or therapeutic services. The following section comprises a brief summary of information provided by these clients.
Client characteristics
The average age of clients at referral was 9.1 years. The average age at onset
of the abuse was 6.7 years. This indicates a delay between onset of the abuse
and referral. The majority of clients were female (60 per cent). However, a
greater proportion of clients were male than would be expected on the basis
of national statistics (Angus and Woodward 1995). The Department of
Human Services and parents/caregivers constituted the greatest source of
referrals (37 per cent and 39 per cent respectively). Clients sexually abused by
a parent or sibling were likely to have been referred by a Department
worker, whereas parent referred clients were likely to have been abused by
an extended family member or a well-known, non-familial person (non
significant trends).
Perpetrator characteristics
The mean age of perpetrators was 28 years (SD=16 years; range 5-80 years)
and one-third of all perpetrators were 18 years of age or younger (32 per
cent). The overwhelming majority of perpetrators were male (96 per cent)
and well known by the client (99 per cent). Parents/"substitute" parents (37
per cent), extended family members (20 per cent), and well-known, non
familial people (25 per cent) constituted the largest proportion of abusers.
Siblings/"substitute" siblings were reported as the perpetrator of the abuse in
11 per cent of cases.
At the time of referral, only 14 per cent of all perpetrators had been
sentenced. Whilst more than a quarter of clients had not reported the abuse
to the relevant authorities (28 per cent), reports to the police often resulted
in no further action (16 per cent). The outcomes of reports to the police were
not known for 29 per cent of clients.
Abuse characteristics
At case closure, approximately one quarter of clients indicated that they had
been abused on one occasion (26 per cent); almost one third had been abused
for a period of up to six months (29 per cent). Nevertheless, 15 per cent of
SACPP clients indicated that they had been abused for two to five years, and
seven per cent had been sexually abused for more than five years. The
longer the duration of the abuse, the more likely that it involved some
form of penetration, and that the perpetrator used physical force (significant
relationships, alpha = .05).
Irrespective of age or gender, the most prevalent offences reported by SACPP
clients at case closure were penetration (52 per cent) and non-penetration
contact offences (33 per cent). However, it should be noted that clients who
disclose penetration offences have generally experienced other less
intrusive forms of sexual abuse. Of note, almost one-third of clients were
referred to the SACPP as a result of sexualised behaviours or physical and
behavioural indicators of victimisation (30 per cent).
Parental reaction to disclosure
In the majority of cases, SACPP clients were believed and supported by
their mothers in the post-disclosure period (75 per cent). Similarly,
most fathers believed their child's disclosure of abuse and were
supportive in the post-disclosure period (78 per cent). Nevertheless,
the absence of parental belief and/or support in approximately one
quarter of cases is a matter of considerable concern. Research and
clinical experience indicate that familial reactions can have a strong
mediating influence on the impact of sexual abuse and the child's
subsequent recovery. Research into the factors influencing parental
reactions is required.
Abuse-related symptomatology and problem behaviours
The Children's Impact of Traumatic Events Scale - Revised (CITES-R) was
used to examine abuse-related symptomatology, and the Achenbach Child
Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) was used to examine broad problem
behaviours.
At intake, mean CITES-R scores indicated that most clients, irrespective of gender, experienced high rates of abuse-related symptomatology (for example, intrusive thoughts and avoidance) coupled with elevated levels of anxiety associated with the outside world. Nevertheless, consistent with the findings regarding parental reactions to disclosure, most clients felt high levels of social support and believed they would be able to avoid re victimisation.
Clients who were assessed twice on the CITES-R evidenced a significant decrease in intrusive thoughts, sexual anxiety, levels of self-blame, perceived vulnerability to negative life events, and anxiety associated with the outside world. Moreover, perceived levels of social support were significantly greater at second assessment. These findings indicate a significant reduction in the immediate and shorter-term impacts of sexual victimisation.
At intake, the majority of clients were rated in the "clinical" or "clinical borderline" range of CBCL scores by parents (68 per cent), teachers (37 per cent) and youths themselves (57 per cent). These ratings indicate that, at intake, a large proportion of clients evidenced extremely high levels of internalising (anxiety, depression, somatic and withdrawn behaviours) and externalising (aggressive and delinquent behaviours) symptoms.
A comparison of first and second assessment (repeat assessment conducted approximately six months after intake) CBCL scores for clients with "clinical" or "borderline-clinical" scores at first assessment indicated a significant decrease in both internalising and externalising symptoms as reported by both parents and youths. Of note, both parents and youths reported a greater proportion of the externalising symptoms at second assessment. Findings from the CBCL are congruent with changes reported on the CITES-R - that is, negative feelings associated with the abuse are being directed towards the self to a lesser degree.
Adolescent Sex Offender Treatment Program
The Adolescent Sex Offender Treatment Program is seen as the first step in
giving young abusers the opportunity to take responsibility for their
behaviours and make the changes necessary for preventing the harm caused
by the victimisation of others. A pilot project has been designed and
implemented to provide a specific sex offender assessment and treatment
program for adolescent sex offenders residing in Metropolitan Melbourne.
Ages are between ten and seventeen years and in all cases offenders must
have been reported to the police.
Treatment aims include assisting adolescents to accept responsibility for their behaviour and facilitating adolescents' understanding of thoughts, feelings and behaviour. Strategies are developed to enable the adolescent to break the offending cycle and provide education around empathy, social skills, interpersonal relationships, and human sexuality, as well as to support and encourage a safe and non-offending lifestyle. The overall objective of the program is to prevent adolescents from committing further sexual offences. Many of the techniques involved are derived from cognitive behavioural therapy as well as psycho-educational methods.
In the first four years of service, consultation was provided in relation to
one hundred and forty-two children and young people with sexually
abusive behaviours. Two hundred and three children and young people
agreed to attend the program for assessment and/or therapeutic services.
The following section comprises a brief summary of information provided
by this latter group of clients.
Client characteristics
The average age of clients at referral was 13.5 years. The average age of
clients at the onset of their abusive behaviours was 12.0 years; almost two
thirds were 10-13 years of age when they began sexually abusing others (60
per cent).
Department of Human Services workers (53 per cent) and education/ welfare agencies (18 per cent) were responsible for the majority of referrals, and 20 per cent of clients were self-referred (that is, parent, self or relative contacted SACPP staff).
At intake, only a small proportion of clients had been charged (9 per cent) or sentenced (7 per cent). Investigations were pending for a quarter of all cases and almost a half of all cases reported to the police resulted in no further action (43 per cent).
Victim characteristics
Two-thirds of all victims were 9 years of age or younger (68 per cent); the
average age being 8.8 years. Only 4 per cent of clients had sexually abused an
adult. The average age difference between clients and their most recent
victim was 6.4 years.
The ratio of male to female victims was 3:7. Male victims were generally younger than female victims. All adult victims were female. Strangers constituted the smallest proportion of victims (8 per cent). The majority of clients had abused a sibling/"substitute" sibling (43 per cent), someone well known to them (that is, non-familial) (35 per cent), or an extended family member (9 per cent).
Abuse characteristics
At case closure, more than half of all clients reported that their most serious
abusive behaviours involved some form of penetration (54 per cent) and
more than one-third reported non-penetration contact behaviours (35 per
cent). When compared with clients whose most recent victim was female, a
greater proportion of clients whose most recent victim was male indicated
that the abuse involved some form of penetration (71 per cent and 48 per
cent respectively - case closure figures).
The average duration of the abuse, as reported at case closure, was
approximately fifteen months. One half of clients had abused multiple
victims; the average number of victims abused by these multiple abusers was
5.7 victims. The longer the period of time the client had been abusing others,
the greater the number of known victims and the more likely the most recent
offence involved some form of penetration (non-significant trend).
In the overwhelming majority of cases, the abuse had taken place in the
joint home of the client and the victim (48 per cent), the victim's home (18
per cent), or the client's home (10 per cent).
Changes in problem behaviours and aggression
The Achenbach Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) was used to examine
broad problem behaviours and the Buss Perry Aggression Questionnaire
(BPAQ) was used to examine aggression, anger and hostility.
At intake, a substantial proportion of clients were rated in the "clinical" or "clinical-borderline" range of CBCL scores by parents (75 per cent), teachers (77 per cent), and youths themselves (46 per cent). These ratings indicate that, at intake, the majority of clients evidenced extremely high levels of internalising (anxiety, depression, somatic and withdrawn behaviours) and externalising (aggressive and delinquent behaviours) symptoms.
A comparison of first and second assessment (repeat assessment conducted approximately six months after intake) CBCL scores for clients with "clinical" or "borderline-clinical" scores at first assessment indicated a significant decrease in both internalising and externalising symptoms, and total problem behaviours as reported by youths. Unfortunately, parents' reports did not reflect this decrease in problem symptoms and behaviours.
For reasons outlined in the main report, the BPAQ was only used as a
measure of change. A comparison of intake scores with those obtained
approximately six month later indicated a significant decrease in Verbal
Aggression (the instrumental component of aggression; p < 0.05), and a
substantial decrease in Hostility (the cognitive component of aggression; p <
0.10). These changes were in line with those expected on the basis of the
aims of the therapeutic process.
Prevention
The final section of the five-year review is devoted to a series of
comparative analyses, including sibling incest cases and the history of
victimisation in young people with sexually abusive behaviours.
Sibling incest
The findings of this report indicate that sibling incest is a very serious issue.
Sibling incest often involves very young and prepubescent children. In
approximately two-thirds of all cases the abuse involved some form of
penetration; offences perpetrated against male victims were more likely to
involve some form of penetration. In many instances, physical force was
used to perpetrate the abuse. Almost one-third of all cases of sibling incest
had occurred for a period of more than one year.
History of victimisation
More than half of the adolescents referred to the program for sexually
abusive behaviours reported a history of victimisation at case closure (54 per
cent); most had been abused by a family member (a parent, sibling, extended
family member). Clients with a history of victimisation tended to abuse
younger children (p < 0.10). They were significantly more likely to indicate
that they had used coercion as a part of the abuse. They were also more
likely to report that the abuse they had perpetrated against another child had
involved some form of penetration (62 per cent compared with 48 per cent
of non-abused clients).
Overall, the findings were consistent with the notion of an
"intergenerational cycle" of abuse (Ryan 1999) and highlight the importance
of investigating the relationship between victimisation and subsequent
development of sexually abusive behaviours.
Conclusion
The two programs described above have now been combined into the Sexual Abuse Counselling and Prevention Program. The new name reflects the integrated nature of services provided to victims and young perpetrators of sexual abuse.
The Sexual Abuse Counselling and Prevention Program is in a unique position to gather information from both victims and young perpetrators of sexual abuse due to the integrated program model. It is most important to study this information to determine how we can improve therapeutic responses to the impact of child sexual abuse and also to prevent sexual abuse in the future.
Numerous recommendations and strategies are detailed in the five-year
review document, and plans are already underway to develop several of the
recommendations made. Funding is being sought to continue research,
particularly in the area of sibling incest. The Children's Protection Society
would be very pleased to hear from other agencies or people with an
interest in this work to share and exchange ideas.
References
Angus, G. & Woodward, S. (1995), Child Abuse and Neglect in Australia
1993-94, Child Welfare Series No. 13, Australian Institute of Health and
Welfare, AGPS, Canberra.
Ryan, G. (1999), Web of Meaning: A Developmental-Contextual Approach in Sexual Abuse Treatment, Safer Society Press, Brandon, VT.
Karen Flanagan is the Manager of the Children's Protection Society, and
Karla Hayman-White is a Research Consultant.
Copies of the full report may be obtained at the cost of $25.00 (including postage and handling) from the Children's Protection Society. Phone: (03) 9458 3566.
The Sexual Abuse Counselling and Prevention Program is funded through the ANZ Trustees by the Truby and Florence Williams Trust and the WCF Thomas Charitable Trust.
Readership and contents
The Newsletter is designed to provide information to service providers, policy officers, researchers, and students in the area of child abuse prevention.
The contents of each Newsletter comprise a mix of contributions from
Clearinghouse staff at the Australian Institute of Family Studies and
writers in the child abuse prevention area generally. Contributions are
concerned with practice, training, research, policy, and legislation, and
news or reviews of recent relevant publications are also published.
Regular Newsletter features include a literature highlights section on
recently published material received by Clearinghouse, and a
comprehensive listing of forthcoming conferences and workshops.
Writing guidelines for authors
We prefer clearly written, jargon-free, accessible articles of interest to the
broad range of Clearinghouse clients and Newsletter subscribers.
Length: items may range from very short contributions such as notices or news items, to essays and research articles ranging from 2500-4000 words.
Graphic material: graphs and tables should be used sparingly and should be uncomplicated and accessible; photographs are welcomed.
Title and headings: a short abstract of the main emphasis of the article should follow the title, and succinct headings throughout are required for the purpose of guiding the reader.
Referencing: the Harvard (author-date) style of referencing is used.
Biographical note: items should be accompanied by the author's name and affiliation.
Presentation: the electronic provision of material, while not essential, is much appreciated.
Copyright
The National Child Protection Clearinghouse holds copyright to all articles published in the Child Abuse Prevention Newsletter.
Review process
Acceptance of all material is subject to a review process. Consideration will
be given to whether articles are relevant, clearly written, jargon-free and
accessible. Consideration will also be given to the following criteria:
timeliness of article; significance of the topic; factual accuracy; clear
presentation and logical organisation of material; conclusions
substantiated by convincing analytical argument; argument supported by
references; quality and balance of the argument or information presented;
and balance and relevance of any policy implications drawn.
Please contact: Judy Adams, Project Manager, National Child Protection
Clearinghouse, Australian Institute of Family Studies, 300 Queen Street,
Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia. Phone (03) 9214 7812. Fax (03) 9214
7839. Email: judy@aifs.gov.au
Presented in two volumes, the Proceedings of the
conference are now available at the cost of $70.00 plus
postage. Copies may be obtained by contacting: Promaco
Conventions Pty Ltd, PO Box 890 Canning Bridge,
Western Australia 6153. Phone: (08) 9332 2900. Fax: (08)
9332 2911. Email: promaco@promaco.com.au
Copies may also be borrowed from the National Child
Protection Clearinghouse at the Australian Institute of
Family Studies via interlibrary loan. Please contact your
local library to arrange the loan.
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