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Family responses to young people who have sexually abused: anger, ambivalence and acceptance

Hackett, S.; Balfe, M.; Masson, H.; Phillips, J.

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Authors

M. Balfe

H. Masson

J. Phillips



Abstract

Data on 117 British young people who had sexually abused others were examined in order to investigate the nature and impact of family responses on the management of young sexual abusers. Parental responses were varied, ranging from being entirely supportive of the child, through to ambivalence and uncertainty and, at the other end of the continuum, to outright rejection. Parents were more likely to be supportive when their child's victims were extra-familial and condemnatory when the victims were intra-familial. Sibling responses were complex and strongly influenced by whether that sibling was the victim of the young person's abuse or not. Policy and practice implications are discussed.

Citation

Hackett, S., Balfe, M., Masson, H., & Phillips, J. (2014). Family responses to young people who have sexually abused: anger, ambivalence and acceptance. Children & Society, 28(2), 128-139. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1099-0860.2012.00471.x

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jun 20, 2012
Online Publication Date Sep 3, 2012
Publication Date Mar 1, 2014
Deposit Date Mar 5, 2012
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Children & Society
Print ISSN 0951-0605
Electronic ISSN 1099-0860
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 28
Issue 2
Pages 128-139
DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1099-0860.2012.00471.x

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Copyright Statement
This is the accepted version of the following article: Hackett, S., Balfe, M., Masson, H. and Phillips, J. (2014), Family Responses to Young People Who have Sexually Abused: Anger, Ambivalence and Acceptance. Children & Society, 28(2): 128-139, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1099-0860.2012.00471.x. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.




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