Risk assessment and decision making for children with harmful sexual behaviours

Gathering information about harmful sexual behaviours

Understanding harmful sexual behaviours helps practitioners develop a more accurate assessment of the risk posed by the child with harmful sexual behaviours, and what interventions might build safety for them and children around them who may be vulnerable. This information helps in the development of immediate safety plans and long term safety and support plans around the child with harmful sexual behaviours as well as other children. 

Seek to understand characteristics of the child with harmful sexual behaviours. Some characteristics of a child that are associated with repeated harmful sexual behaviours include:

• there are multiple instances of sexual abuse (this could include multiple incidences of abuse of one child or multiple incidences of abuse of multiple people)
• the use of violence to sexually abuse other children, particularly where this violence was not necessary to sexually abuse the child
• the use of penetration
• the use of extensive planning and manipulation for opportunity to sexually abuse.

Assess the risk

The following questions will help assess the risk:

• How did we find out about the harmful sexual behaviours? For example, did the child tell someone?
• Was the behaviour discovered by someone? Who? What did they do?
• How long have the behaviours been occurring?
• How many (known) times has the harmful sexual behaviours occurred?
• How many (known) victims are there?
• Have the behaviours become more frequent or more serious? Indicators of severity may include:
  • penetration
  • greater levels of planning
  • greater use of force
  • greater levels of threats or intimidation.

• Have the harmful sexual behaviours stopped? If yes, how do we know they have stopped? Why did they stop? Did the child who was sexually abused tell someone? Were the harmful sexual behaviours discovered? Did the child (with harmful sexual behaviours) move away?
• How did the child sexually abuse the other child? For example, did they use:
  • tricks, such as pretending the abuse was a game
  • manipulation, such as bribing the child with money or toys
  • threats, such as threatening to harm the child or others they love
  • force, such as punching, kicking, stabbing the child, causing the child injuries that need medical attention? If force was used, what type of force was used? Was the force used clearly beyond what was needed to sexually abuse the victim?
• How were the harmful sexual behaviours kept secret? For example, was the child:
  • threatened
  • physically assaulted
  • alienated from support
  • tricked into thinking that the behaviour was normal?
• How much forethought, planning, or pre-meditation was involved in sexually abusing the victim? This includes coercive behaviour, and arranging the timing and location of the abuse.
• Are there any obvious triggers for the behaviours? Some possible examples include:
  • jealousy
  • bullying
  • alcohol andother drugs use
  • substance misuse
  • anger against the victim
  • domestic violence
  • shared rooms or sleeping environments
  • a lack of privacy in the home
  • pornography.
• What was happening for the child who has displayed harmful sexual behaviours at the time they occurred? For example:
  • Where was the child with harmful sexual behaviours living?
  • Where was the child with harmful sexual behaviours attending school?
  • Who was the child with harmful sexual behaviours socialising with?
  • What was happening in the family environment?

Past responses to harmful sexual behaviours

Gather information from parents and care providers about past responses to information that their child has displayed or may have displayed harmful sexual behaviours. This information can help identify if there has been a shift in the parent’s response since the last episode of harmful sexual behaviours. A parent who has denied or minimised a previous incident of harmful sexual behaviours may respond with belief when another incident is discovered. This information assists in further assessing a parent’s ability to be an affective supervisor and participate in safety planning. Understanding previous interventions from Child Safety, care providers, education, child care, or the QPS is also important when deciding on the most effective approach.

Consider the following questions, including parental responses and the responses of care providers (for children in care):

• How did the parents and care providers respond to the child who was abused and the child with harmful sexual behaviours? For example:
  • Did they punish the child with harmful sexual behaviours or the child who was abused? Did they remove privileges, lock the child in their room or verbally or physically hurt or threaten them?
  • Did they deny or minimise the behaviours?
  • Did they blame the child who was sexually abused?
• How did they seek help, for example, did they discuss the behaviours with professionals?
• Did they discuss the behaviours with extended family or community members?
• How did they try to manage the behaviours? For example:
  • Did they put rules in place?
  • Did they increase supervision the child with harmful sexual behaviours?
  • Did they put other limits in place?
• How did the child with harmful sexual behaviours respond to:
  • the child who was sexually abused
  • parents / other children in the home? For example, did they minimise or deny the behaviours, blame the child or show empathy for the child?
• Were there any child protection or police responses to the previous harmful sexual behaviours? What was helpful? What was unhelpful?
• Were any protective measures put in place?
• Were there any consequences for the child with harmful sexual behaviours? What were they?
• Is the child with harmful sexual behaviours currently acknowledging the previous harmful sexual behaviours?

For further information on assessing parents and caregivers as effective supervisors and safety planning, refer to Effective primary supervisors.

Current risk factors - child

Answering the questions below do not predict the risk of a child exhibiting harmful sexual behaviours on their own. They help build a picture of risk and vulnerability, and provide an understanding of the types of interventions the child with harmful sexual behaviours may need. While researchers and practitioners agree that long term separation of children with harmful sexual behaviours is not recommended, a child who is experiencing multiple risk factors may need more complex and lengthy interventions before it is safe for them to return home.

Consider the following questions:

• Does the child have frequent verbal, aggressive or angry outbursts? Where do these outbursts occur? For example, in multiple contexts, home, school or with peers?
• Does the child have a history of harming animals or sexual behaviour with animals?
• Does the child have a sexual abuse history? Did this abuse involve penetration or excessive force?

• Does the child have a history of bullying behaviour? Are they a victim of bullying behaviour?
• Does the child have mental health or substance misuse issues that may lower their inhibitions, alter their mood or make it difficult not to act impulsively? 
• Does the child have an intellectual impairment?

• Is there evidence that the child is preoccupied with sexual urges or with meeting their own sexual needs? For example:
  • paraphilias (exposing, peeping, fetishes, etc.)
  • compulsive masturbation
  • chronic and compulsive use of pornography
  • frequent highly sexualised language and gestures
  • indiscriminate sexual activity with different partners out of the context of any relationship.
• Is the child behaving in ways that are socially unacceptable, or harmful to themselves or others? (This behaviour does not have to involve criminal charges). For example:
  • vandalism and destruction to property
  • engaging in activities that are deliberately designed to cause distress
  • fighting and physical violence
  • owning or carrying a weapon
  • theft, robbery, burglary
  • reckless driving, driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs.
  • use of violence.
• Is the child experiencing behavioural problems at school? For example:
  • use of alcohol or other drugs at school
  • consistently coming to school late
  • suspension or expulsion
  • truancy.
• Has the child been charged or arrested for any offence before the age of 16?
• Is the child currently living in an unstable living environment? For example:
  • living in a family that is unstable, inconsistent or neglectful
  • at risk of homelessness
  • homeless
  • living in a youth refuge/hostel/temporary accommodation?

Current risk factors - family

The below factors are known to increase the risk of harmful sexual behaviours. These questions help practitioners understand the factors in the family environment that may have enabled or supported the harmful sexual behaviours to occur. The questions also help practitioners assess the parent and family’s capacity to supervise the child with harmful sexual behaviours and keep both children safe.

Be mindful of the parent’s emotions during the information gathering stage. Parents are likely to feel torn between the needs of each child and be experiencing emotions that are difficult to manage. Build rapport with the parent to assist in the level of information gathered to ensure a robust assessment and quality intervention.

Consider the following questions:

• Have the children in the family experienced or are currently experiencing domestic and family violence?
• Are the children in the family experiencing:
  • parental disability / illness or other issues that may impact on the parent’s capacity
  • parental alcohol and other drugs use
  • poor supervision
  • abuse, neglect, emotional or physical violence?
• How connected is the parent to the child with harmful sexual behaviours? For example:
  • Is the child with harmful sexual behaviours given roles and responsibilities that are not developmentally appropriate?
  • Does the parent appear to empathise with the child with harmful sexual behaviours / child who was sexually abused / other children in the home?
  • Does the parent recognise and respond to emotional cues or distress experienced by the child with harmful sexual behaviours?
• Is the family environment highly sexualised? For example, exposure to pornography, explicit conversations about sex or witnessing sex between people in the family?
• Is there secrecy about sex or a lack of knowledge about genitals, personal boundaries or what constitutes harmful behaviour?
• Are there inappropriate parent-to-child sexual interactions? For example, prolonged kissing on lips or sexualised interactions?
• Is there a lack of appropriate boundaries around nudity, privacy or sleeping arrangements? For example, are older children expected to shower without privacy?
• Does the family have views about gender that may support harmful sexual behaviours? For example, views such as:
  • being masculine means dominating women and children
  • women should meet a man’s needs for sex
  • women are objects for male sexual gratification.
• Are some children given power or responsibility over other children in the family? For example, are:
  • older children in charge of disciplining their younger siblings 
  • the children given adult responsibilities such as feeding, washing, dressing younger children?

• Are the parents able to effectively discipline their children or do they have a history of inconsistent, ineffective discipline or overly harsh discipline? For example, do the parents:
  • allow their children to ‘run’ the household and rarely impose limits on bedtimes, mealtimes, play activities?
  • impose different consequences for the same behaviour?
  • impose inappropriately harsh or harmful discipline?

Current risk factors - community

During adolescence, a child’s peers become critically important to their emerging sense of self and belonging. Adult community members play a critical role in supporting, encouraging and connecting with the child who was sexually abused and the child with harmful sexual behaviours. Approaches that connect both children to well-functioning peers and safe adult community members are a fundamental aspect of building safety.

The values and beliefs of peer groups and adult community members can also increase the risk of harmful sexual behaviours. Risk factors for harmful sexual behaviours are widespread across all communities, including Anglo-Saxon Australian communities. For example, access to pornography, and beliefs that encourage male sexual aggression or prioritise men’s rights to sex over women’s rights to consent.

Consider the following questions:

• Does the peer group of the child with harmful sexual behaviours condone or encourage sexually aggressive behaviour?
• Does the peer group of the child with harmful sexual behaviours engage in criminal or antisocial behaviour?
• Is the child with harmful sexual behaviours isolated from peers, with no close friends?
• Do other adults who are involved with the child with harmful sexual behaviours condone sexually aggressive behaviour?
• Does the community have high levels of pornography use?
• Does the community have high rates of violent crime or domestic violence?

The experience of the child who has been sexually abused

Consider the following questions in relation to the child who has experienced sexual abuse when assessing risk:

• Are there other risk factors occurring for this child?
• What is the child’s relationship to the siblings / other children in the home? For example
  • Is the child liked?
  • How much power does the child have?
  • Is the child being bullied by siblings or other children in the home?
  • Is the child included in the games and activities of their siblings or other children in the home?
  • How do siblings or other children tend to respond when the child is distressed?
  • How do siblings or other children in the home view the harmful sexual behaviours?
  • Is the child fearful of any siblings or other children in the home?

• Is the child who has been sexually abused fearful of the child with harmful sexual behaviours? If yes, are there particular behaviours that have made them fearful?
• How much does the child who was sexually abused understand about the harmful sexual behaviours? Does the child who was sexually abused:
  • recognise that the behaviour was harmful
  • describe the harmful behaviour
  • describe any manipulative and coercive behaviour that was used by the child (with harmful sexual behaviours)
  • know what a respectful sexual relationship looks like (consensual / equal / without coercion)?
• What does the child who was sexually abused understand about protective behaviours (without over estimating a child’s ability to self-protect), including:
  • private parts
  • inappropriate touch
  • keeping secrets
  • what to do or say if someone touches their private parts
  • what to do or say if they are feeling unsafe or unsure.
• Does the child who was sexually abused understand the safety plan and why it has been put in place?
• Has a safety and support network been developed? Does it encourage the family to be have open communication? Are network members who don’t reside in the home aware of the concerns, and of their role to keep the child who was sexually abused, and other children, safe?
• Can the child who was sexually abused recognise their emotions? Are they able to tell their parents / members of the safety and support network if they are feeling unsafe or unsure?
• Has the child ever had therapeutic support to help manage their experiences of child sexual abuse?