1. © Donald Findlater Donald Findlater Director of Research and Development Understanding Sexual Offending Behaviour to Protect Children

2. © Donald Findlater

3. Twelve points of focus for preventative action Primary prevention Secondary prevention Tertiary prevention Offenders Victims Situations Communities

4. © Donald Findlater Twelve points of focus for preventive action Primary prevention Secondary prevention Tertiary prevention Offenders -Developmental prevention -Sex Offender treatment -MAPPA Victims -Internet Safety -Resilience building -Therapy Situations -Safer Recruitment Communities/ Families -Public Education -Internet Safety - Education and support

5. © Donald Findlater Outline of content :- Scale of the problem – abused & abuser Model to understand abusers/abusing Application into school/professional context for recruitment purposes Caution! video, victim, offender

6. © Donald Findlater The prevalence of child sexual abuse Sources:- Wyatt 1985; Finkelhor 1979 &1989; Briere 1990; WomenMen 20%-30% 10%-20%

7. © Donald Findlater Ref: The secret trauma Incest in the lives of girls and women Russell (1984) British Crime Survey Home Office (1988) Estimated rates of reporting sexual crime IncestExtra-familial Abuse 17% 6% 2% Rape

8. © Donald Findlater Reasons for Not Reporting “it was nobody else’s business” “didn’t think it was serious or wrong” “didn’t want parents to find out” “didn’t want friends to find out” “didn’t want the authorities to find out” “was frightened” (24%) “didn’t think would be believed” (13%) “had been threatened by abuser” (7%) Child Maltreatment in the UK, NSPCC 2000

9. © Donald Findlater Chosen – Clip 1 The challenges of disclosure for children

10. © Donald Findlater Less than 5% of all allegations lead to a conviction 95 of every 100 allegations never lead to a conviction

11. © Donald Findlater

14. Who are the Sex Offenders? - Adult Males - 50 % ? - Adult Females - 5 - 20 % ? - Adolescents and Children - 30 % + “The majority of perpetrators sexually assault children known to them, with about 80 % of offences taking place in the home of either the offender or the victim”. Grubin, 1998.

15. © Donald Findlater Pre-conditions to sexual offending Ref:- D Finkelhor (1986) Child Sexual Abuse: New Theory & Research 1.Motivation to sexually offend 2.Overcome internal inhibitors 3.Overcome external inhibitors 4.Overcome Victim resistance

16. © Donald Findlater Finkelhor – ‘Four pre-conditions’ Adapted from:- D Finkelhor Child Sexual Abuse: New Theory & Research 1986 MOTIVATION ‘Wanting to’ INTERNAL INHIBITORS ‘Conscience’ OVERCOME VICTIM RESISTANCE ‘Doing it and getting away with it’ EXTERNAL INHIBITORS ‘Others’ (Creating Opportunity) Thoughts Sex with a child

17. © Donald Findlater An offender’s account…

18. © Donald Findlater “Professional Perpetrators” (1) 92.5% aware of interest by 21 67.5% offended by 21 15% chose career solely to abuse & 41.5% state abuse “part of motivation” 77.5% arranged meetings outside work for abuse 67.5% took children away overnight Average of 49 admitted victims 41.9% had reputation as “touchy”, pervy etc Sullivan & Beech 2004

19. © Donald Findlater Chosen – Clip 2 The risks…an environment rich in opportunities

20. © Donald Findlater Professional Perpetrators (2) Leclerc, Proulx and Mckibben, 2005) Strategies to gain victim’s trust:- Spending lots of time95% Touching non-sexually91% Share personal information78% Tell them they’re special70% Treat them like adults70% Play with them70% Saying loving/caring things65% Give special rewards/privileges43% Talking like you were their age35%

21. © Donald Findlater Professional Perpetrators (3) Desensitising victim to sexual contact: Touching non-sexually95% Saying loving/caring things70% Getting victim’s sexually excited or curious65% Talking more and more about sex60% Strategies to maintain victim’s silence: Saying you’ll go to jail/get into trouble35% Giving rewards for secrecy21% Saying they’ll go to jail17% Saying others would think they’re gay13% Threats to harm/injure0%

22. © Donald Findlater Areas of potential concern Unclear boundaries with children No understanding or appreciation of children’s needs or expectations Inappropriate language when talking about children Wanting role to meet own needs at the expense of children’s needs Maverick – non rule following, unwilling to work with others, the charismatic leader

23. © Donald Findlater The Bichard Inquiry Report ` Recommendation 16 Head Teachers and school governors should receive training on how to ensure that interviews to appoint staff reflect the importance of safeguarding children. Recommendation 17 From a date to be agreed, no interview panel to appoint staff working in schools should be convened without at least one member being properly trained.

24. © Donald Findlater Objectives of the workshop Based on an understanding of offender behaviour to: identify the key features of staff recruitment that help deter or prevent the appointment of unsuitable people consider policies and practices that minimise opportunities for abuse or ensure its prompt reporting help participants begin to review their own and their organisations’ policies and practices in recruitment with a view to making them safer

25. © Donald Findlater Stages of Recruitment 1.Inviting applications 2.Interviewing applicants 3.Appointing & inducting staff 4.Develop & maintain safe school culture

26. © Donald Findlater Safer Recruitment Deter Reject Prevent Detect

27. © Donald Findlater Deter Clear messages about the organisation’s commitment to safeguarding children from the outset: - Job adverts and descriptions - Person specification - Information sent to applicants

28. © Donald Findlater Reject Use of application forms not CVs Face to face interview, exploring values, motives and attitudes Information sought and considered about criminal history Active consideration of references at early stage

29. © Donald Findlater Prevent Not over reliance on vetting checks Comprehensive staff induction: - Child Protection procedures - Guidance for safe working practices - Support and supervision

30. © Donald Findlater Detect Invest in staff: - promote a culture of vigilance - increase their capacity to act as obstacles to abuse - shared clarity about acceptable behaviours Invest in children: - to whom do they talk? - where to go to feel supported and listened to?

31. © Donald Findlater MOTIVATIONINTERNAL INHIBITORS OVERCOME VICTIM RESISTANCE EXTERNAL INHIBITORS Thoughts Sex with a child ‘Pre-conditions for Prevention’ Adapted by Donald Findlater and Tink Palmer from:- D Finkelhor Child Sexual Abuse: New Theory & Research 1986

32. © Donald Findlater

33. Thank you dfindlater@lucyfaithfull.org 01372 847160 07778 532851