Interagency Perspectives on Child Sexual Abuse Perpetrated by Juveniles

Abstract

Fifty practitioners in five different agencies working with perpetrators of child sexual abuse in a Welsh local authority area were surveyed to explore perspectives on child sexual abuse and practice issues of working with juvenile sexual abusers. The four social work agencies (i.e., child protection, child and family, juvenile justice, and probation) were in considerable agreement on many of the perspectives; however, the police differed substantially from the social work agencies on a number of perspectives. Practice issues highlighted the implications of fundamental differences of perceptions over whether a juvenile abuser is seen as a perpetrator or as a victim. The authors consider the implications of diversion strategies, a feature of work with young offenders, for this particular group of young offenders.