Creating Safer Organisations Practical Steps to Prevent the Abuse of Children by Those Working With Them

by Erooga, Marcus

• ISBN13: 9781119943228
• ISBN10: 1119943221
• Edition: 1st
• Format: eBook
• Copyright: 2012-04-11
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

An accessible resource to help those in organisational settings ensure that they have taken all possible steps to safeguard the children and young people they are responsible for.

• Draws on up to date research with people who have committed sexual offences against children in organisational settings, and new developments in interviewing approaches
• Details recent cases to illustrate points about institutional failures in protecting children
• Highlights the fact that those who sexually offend against children are a diverse and heterogeneous population, and the approaches taken to protect children must address the range of possible risks
• Makes a firm commitment to the importance of multi-agency and inter-disciplinary collaboration and is relevant in both community and residential settings
• Offers clear and practical messages and measures for organisations to act on

Author Biography

Marcus Erooga is NSPCC Theme Adviser for Child Sexual Abuse and a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Huddersfield's Centre for Childhood Studies. He is also immediate past Chair of the National Organisation for the Treatment of Abusers (NOTA). He has studied staff and volunteers who may present a risk to children in the workplace,  and also undertaken research with people convicted of sexual offences in those settings. A past editor and current Board member of the Journal of Sexual Aggression, Marcus has authored and edited some 25 publications on child protection related issues.

Table of Contents

About the Contributors xi

Preface xv

Creating Safer Organisations – An Overview 1
Marcus Erooga

1 Understanding and Responding to People Who Sexually Abuse Children Whilst Employed In Positions of Trust: An Overview of the Relevant Literature – Part One: Offenders 7
Marcus Erooga

People Who Sexually Abuse Children in Organisational Positions of Trust – a definition 7

How Prevalent are Sexual Offences Committed Against Children in Professional or Workplace Settings? 8

Characteristics and Behaviour of People Who Sexually Abuse Children in Organisational Positions of Trust 8

Findings From a Study of Residents in a Specialist Treatment Setting Who had Sexually Abused Children Whilst in Organisational Positions of Trust 9

Grooming 11

Use of the Internet 14

Motivations to Sexually Abuse 15

Thought Processes and Cognitive Distortions 18

Female Sexual Abusers 20

Conclusions 22

2 Understanding and Responding to People Who Sexually Abuse Children Whilst Employed In Positions of Trust: An Overview of the Relevant Literature – Part Two: Organisations 27
Marcus Erooga

Characteristics of ‘Vulnerable Organisations’ – the Importance of the Organisational Environment in Preventing Abuse 27

Corruption of Care 28

Models of Authority 33

Characteristics of Sexual Abuse in Specific Organisational Settings 34

Motivations to Abuse 38

Developing Preventative Strategies 39

3 Policy and Legislation – Changing Responses to an Emerging Problem 44
Kerry Cleary and Marcus Erooga

General Organisational Legal Responsibilities 45

Child care Focussed Policy and Legislation 45

Department for Children, Schools and Families List 99 47

Protection of Children Act (PoCA) List 48

Disqualification Orders and Regulated Positions (replaced by the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act, 2006) 48

Sex Offender Register Notification Arrangements 49

Criminal Records Checks 49

Shortcomings of These Arrangements 50

The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act, 2006 (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) 50

The Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007 53

Strengths and Limitations of Legislation and Regulation 54

What Do Developments in Legislation and Regulation Indicate About Desirable Cultures for Organisational Safeguarding by Government Organisations and Individuals? 58

A Model 59

How Should Legislation and Regulation Support the Development of Safer Organisational Cultures? 60

4 Sexual Abuse of Children By People In Organisations: What Offenders Can Teach Us About Protection 63
Marcus Erooga, Debra Allnock and Paula Telford

Introduction 63

Methodology 64

The Sample 65

Findings 68

Organisational Facilitating Factors 68

Individual Facilitating Factors 73

Discussion 79

Situational Crime Prevention as a Response 81

Conclusion and Recommendations 82

5 Manipulation Styles of Abusers Who Work With Children 85
Joe Sullivan and Ethel Quayle

Introduction 85

Demographic Profile and Offending Patterns of Professional Perpetrators 86

Psychometric Comparisons with Intra- and Extra-Familial Child Abusers 86

Rationale for a Qualitative Methodology 87

Motivation to Sexually Offend 87

Victim Selection, Grooming and Abuse 89

Manipulation Styles 90

Conclusions 95

Multi Disciplinary Issues 97

Future Directions 97

6 Organisational Issues and New Technologies 99
Ethel Quayle

An Evolving Issue 99

Technology In the Workplace 100

Abusive Images 102

Sexting 104

Grooming 104

Stalking 105

Adult Pornography 105

Misuse of Social Media 105

The Individual and Organisational Abuse 106

Situational Factors and Technology Mediated Organisational Abuse 108

Guidelines on Child Protection Policies and Procedure In Relation to Technology 113

Conclusion 116

7 Safer Recruitment – Guidance for Organisations 122
Kerry Cleary

Introduction 122

Doing the Basic Things Well 123

Importance of Values and Emotional Intelligence 124

Safer Recruitment Within a Safeguarding Culture 126

A Model of Safer Recruitment – PICK 127

P – Plan 127

I – Identify 130

C–Check 134

K is for Keep 136

The Basics Are Necessary But Not Sufficient 137

Appendix 1 Safer Recruitment Checklist 138

8 Prevention Is Better Than Cure: The Value of Situational Prevention In Organisations 140
Keith L. Kaufman, Hayley Tews, Jessica M. Schuett, and Benjamin R. Kaufman

A Foundation for Prevention in Organisations and Institutions 141

Rational Choice Theory 141

Routine Activity Theory 143

Defensible Space Theory 144

Applying the Situational Prevention Model to Child Sexual Abuse 146

A Structured Approach to Applying the Situational Prevention Model with Community Organisations and Institutions 150

The Situational Prevention Model Approach to Assessing Local Organisational Settings 151

Identifying Common Risks Across National Organisations and Institutions 161

Situational Prevention Model Children’s Hospital Consultation – a Case Study 163

The Boys & Girls Club Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Self-Assessment Initiative 164

Conclusions 166

9 Avoiding and Managing Allegations Against Staff 170
Jo Green

Introduction 170

The Incidence of Allegations 171

Behaviour That Gives Rise to Allegations 173

Procedural Fairness Within a Precautionary Approach 174

Characteristics of a Safe Organisation 186

Index 188