YSVA Seminar Youth sexual violence and abuse Toward an evidence-based, prevention- centred policy and practice framework Research-Policy-Practice Symposium April 2010 Stephen Smallbone Professor, School of Criminology & Criminal Justice Australian Research Council Future Fellow Director, Griffith Youth Forensic Service

YSVA Seminar Four prerequisites 1.Sound evidence-base What, who, where, when, how? Offenders; victims; offence settings 2.Coherent theory Joins the empirical dots; moves from description to explanation Integrating levels of explanation (individual; ecological; situational) 3.Comprehensive prevention model A conceptual framework for organising prevention strategies and identifying prevention targets 4.Commitment to knowledge-based, prevention-centred policy and practice

YSVA Seminar Prevention models Public health model Primary (or universal) prevention Preventing potential victims from being victimised for the first time Preventing potential offenders from committing a first offence Secondary (or selected) prevention Focused on ‘at-risk’ individuals, groups and places Relies on evidence of risk and protective factors associated with offending and victimisation Prediction error Tertiary (or indicated) prevention Preventing recidivism and repeat/re-victimisation Prediction error

YSVA Seminar Prevention models Tonry & Farrington’s crime prevention model Developmental prevention Targets developmental risk and protective factors associated with offending (and victimisation?) Situational prevention Targets criminogenic features of potential crime settings Community prevention Local solutions to local problems (e.g. ‘Communities that Care’) Criminal justice interventions Day to day activities of police, courts, youth justice, etc Detection; deterrence; incapacitation; rehabilitation

YSVA Seminar Prevention models An integrated model (Smallbone, Marshall & Wortley, 2008) Four essential targets Offenders / potential offenders Victims / potential victims Specific situations in which abuse has occurred / is more likely to occur Communities Three levels of prevention Primary prevention Secondary prevention Tertiary prevention Thus, 12 points of focus for preventive action (4 essential targets x 3 prevention levels)

YSVA Seminar 12 points of focus for preventing YSVA Targets Primary prevention Secondary prevention Tertiary prevention Offenders General deterrence Developmental prevention Help-lines Developmental prevention Early detection Specific deterrence Offender treatment Victims Personal safety programs Resilience building Support for at-risk children Resilience building Harm minimisation Preventing repeat victimisation Situations Opportunity reduction Extended guardianship Situational prevention in at- risk places & organisations Safety plans Relapse prevention Organisational interventions Communities Public education Community capacity-building Interventions with at-risk communities Interventions with high-prevalence communities

YSVA Seminar Offender-focused approaches Offenders/potential offenders Almost always male Developmental adversity common (but not universal) Adolescence first of two main onset risk periods (+ early middle-age) Sexual offending often part of broader pattern of socially irresponsible conduct (but sometimes specialised) Typically know the victim before first abuse incident (but sometimes strangers) Abuse incidents typically occur in context of aggression or nurturance (or both) Different offence-related motivations for potential, novice, and persistent offenders Low official sexual recidivism (high nonsexual recidivism)

YSVA Seminar Offender-focused approaches Offender-focused prevention Developmental prevention Reducing abuse-related dispositions/vulnerabilities in whole populations (primary) or at-risk groups (secondary) Reducing exposure to adverse developmental events Minimising –ve outcomes for those who are exposed Socialisation for responsible social and sexual behaviour Promoting +ve attachments to family, community & its institutions (schools; elders; cultural activities & traditions) ‘early in life’ and ‘early in the developmental pathway’ Importance of life-phase transitions (perinatal; transition to school; transition to high school; transition to parenting) Formal interventions Early detection; general and specific deterrence; incapacitation; rehabilitation

YSVA Seminar Victim-focused approaches Victims/potential victims Girls approx twice at risk Wide range of victim ages (GYFS: 2-90 yrs) Concentrated in pre-adolescence Typically know the offender General individual & family vulnerabilities Increase risk of being abused; increase negative outcomes following abuse Poly-victimisation Co-incidence of emotional, physical, sexual abuse and neglect Re-victimisation and repeat victimisation

YSVA Seminar Victim-focused approaches Victim-focused prevention Developmental prevention Similar risk & protective factors for offending and victimisation Universal developmental interventions may therefore reduce both ‘ Resistance training’ Protective behaviours training Resilience building Secure personal & social attachments; building confidence/self-esteem Capable guardianship & creating safe environments Early detection Creating conditions that promote discovery & disclosure, and that promote +ve outcomes Preventing repeat/re-victimisation

YSVA Seminar Situation-focused approaches Abuse/potential abuse settings Place characteristics Domestic, institutional and public settings (also ‘virtual’ settings) Routine activities Situations as opportunity Assumes presence of motivated offender Risk, effort, reward Situations may also evoke abuse-related motivations Cues, prompts, temptations, social pressures, perceived provocations Three types of ‘controllers’ Capable guardians, handlers, & place managers

YSVA Seminar Situation-focused approaches Situational prevention Situational prevention principles have wide application, but prevention strategies likely to vary widely from setting to setting Begins with micro-level situational analysis It’s the detail that counts Principles Creating / strengthening natural situational barriers Increasing (perceived) risk; increasing effort; reducing permissibility Strengthening formal & informal child protection systems Enabling guardians, handlers & place managers Extended guardianship

YSVA Seminar Community-focused approaches The social ecology of sexual abuse Abuse influenced by multiple ecological systems within which the offender and victim are socially embedded Individual (biological/psychological systems) Family Peers Work/school Neighbourhood Service agencies/systems Broader socio-cultural environment More proximal systems exert more direct, and therefore more powerful, influence

YSVA Seminar Community-focused approaches Community-focused prevention Child maltreatment prevention models Local/neighbourhood family support services Parenting education Home visitation services Crime prevention models Mobilisation of collective interests (e.g. in child protection) e.g. ‘Communities that Care’ Local projects overseen by local management board (usually with paid co-ordinator) External training & support services Risk & resource audits undertaken by local board Prioritise 2-5 specific problems Select from menu of evidence-based interventions Sexual abuse prevention models Community awareness and education

YSVA Seminar Targets Primary prevention Secondary prevention Tertiary prevention Offenders General deterrence Developmental prevention Help-lines Developmental prevention Detection Specific deterrence Offender treatment Victims Personal safety programs Resilience building Support for at-risk children Resilience building Harm minimisation Preventing repeat victimisation Situations Opportunity reduction Extended guardianship Situational prevention in at- risk places & organisations Safety plans Relapse prevention Organisational interventions Communities Public education Community capacity-building Interventions with at-risk communities Interventions with high-prevalence communities

YSVA Seminar Moving forward Strengthening commitment to knowledge-based, prevention-centred policy & practice Sexual violence and abuse, especially child sexual abuse, seen as a distinct, inexplicable, ‘unnatural’ phenomenon unlike other forms of crime or other forms of child maltreatment requires special explanation and unique solutions explanation focused on limited number of deviant individuals Political, media & public focus on punishing and incapacitating offenders driven by powerful stereotypes SVA occupies central position in ‘law & order’ debates soft vs hard, rather than effective vs ineffective Confusion / slippage between retribution and prevention

YSVA Seminar Moving forward Developing the evidence- and theory-base Need for prevention-focused research e.g. focus on offence/abuse onset critical for primary prevention; identifying risk/protective factors specific to sexual offending/victimisation important for secondary prevention need to develop and integrate knowledge on offenders, victims, their social ecologies, & abuse situations specialised knowledge + wider knowledge-base need to develop and test interventions Need to integrate theoretical ‘threads’ e.g. evolutionary, developmental, ecological, situational