Experiences of Parents of Children with Harmful Sexual Behaviour
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Children and Young People who have Engaged in Harmful Sexual Behaviour; Exploring the Experiences of their Parents
IRAS ID
214162
Contact name
Pieter Nel
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of hertfordshire
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 1 days
Research summary
It is recognised that about one third of all sexual abuse of children and young people (individuals aged under 18 years) in the United Kingdom is committed by other children and young people. Although a significant proportion of these individuals may be in Looked After Care (LAC), these figures highlight the substantial number of birth parents with a child who has engaged in Harmful Sexual Behaviour (HSB).
Currently, there isn’t a good understanding of the personal lived experiences of these parents; this remains a poorly researched area (Hackett et al., 2015). Within a context where societal and professional discourses appear to at times cast judgement on such parents alongside their child’s actions, their own experiences and meaning-making remains under-heard and undervalued. The small body of research exploring the experiences of this group of parent’s points to a number of difficult consequences of their child having engaged in HSB: the parent themselves may experience strong emotional responses, their relationship with their child may change and there may be negative responses from their wider family and the local community. Within this study, which utilises semi-structured interviews and an IPA methodology, the experiences and meaning-making of parents where their child has engaged in HSB will be explored. Six to eight birth parents will be recruited from a service which specialises in working with children and young people who have engaged in problematic or harmful sexual behaviour.
REC name
West Midlands - Solihull Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/WM/0405
Date of REC Opinion
19 Oct 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion