By Kieran McCartan, PhD, &
Danielle A. Harris, PhD.
A few weeks ago, Griffith
University (Brisbane, Australia) hosted a two day research conference on
innovative international approaches to understanding and responding to sexual offending.
The symposium was a collaboration between the Griffith Criminology Institute
and the Griffith Youth Forensic Service with the objective of bringing
contemporary international debates [from the ATSA, NOTA and ANZATSA
conferences] on sexual abuse to Brisbane. In this blog we discuss the main
points of discussion and outcomes of the event.
The two day conference was held
straight off the back of the 2017 ANZATSA meeting to capitalize on the fact
that so many international speakers were in our neck of the woods. Several
presenters made the trip from Auckland (New Zealand) to Brisbane (Australia) to
share the knowledge of sexual abuse research and practice internationally, and
to highlight and discuss new and best practices. The first day of the
conference saw presentations from a host of international speakers from the USA
(Jill Levenson; Alissa Ackerman), New Zealand (Gwenda Willis) and the UK
(Andrea Darling; Carlene Firmin MBE; Kieran McCartan). The speakers addressed:
the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences; the importance and promise of
Trauma Informed Care; understanding the life histories of people who sexually
abuse; the importance of the labels that we attach to individuals; the interaction
between the survivor voice and service user voice; the experience and potential
of vicarious restorative justice; female perpetration of sexual abuse in
institutional settings; and how we can develop a rounded case management
approach to understanding the contextualized risk of sexual offending among
peers.
All presenters emphasized the
individual nature of sexual abuse and, therefore, why we need to take this into
account in responding to, managing, and preventing sexual abuse in the broader
community. The speakers called on all attendees to break down our professional
barriers and break out of our silos so that we can work together more
comprehensively. The feeling in the room was very much in line with the theme
of ATSA’s forthcoming conference in 2018 #bettertogether!
The second day of the symposium
was more a practical research roundtable. The roundtable was attended by the
presenters from day one, plus an invited group of local researchers, clinicians,
and stakeholders. After a quick round of introductions, we shared the common
themes that had emerged from the international meetings in our field, with a
focus on key debates and emerging trends. Most had attended some combination of
ATSA, NOTA, ANZATSA, ANZSOC, ASC and/or BSC. We then broke out into thematic
groups based on our previously identified research interests. Folks spent the
afternoon with the opportunity and space to plan and discuss ongoing and
nascent research questions; brainstorm possibilities for collaboration and data
sharing; and agenda setting that prioritizes the most important issues in our
field today.
Bringing this second day to
fruition was a long-term goal of Danielle’s. She often found herself excited
and overwhelmed at the end of a conference, but then lacked the time to have
any detailed, follow up conversations. She says she would often spend the
flight home furiously consolidating notes scribbled on cocktail napkins or
business cards. So this was a chance for a meeting of the minds between
established researchers, emerging scholars and PhD candidates, as well as
practitioners and policy makers all in one room. The feedback was very positive
and folks were grateful for the slower pace and opportunity to have longer and
deeper conversations and, as one delegate called it, “thinking time.”
The two day event reinforced the
need for us all to work together and to recognise that sexual abuse is an
international issue. It was also interesting to observe that there are many
more things that unite us than divide us – for example, as the US grapples with
the “Weinstein effect,” and as those Hollywood revelations make ripples in international
news, it was clear to see that each of our countries, cities, neighbourhoods,
and fields of expertise have their own such examples. Indeed, we are all in
this together. Perhaps most inspiring was the feeling that while attendees had
come and were eager to learn about the approaches from abroad, each of our
international guests was in turn inspired by the many inventive, innovative,
and creative methods that we have developed down under. As the world gets
smaller and better connected, and we acknowledge that we are more similar than
different, it behoves us to explore how we can all learn from each other. This
two day conference reminded us that much can be gleaned from the success of
unique initiatives that have been able to flourish under legislative landscapes
quite dissimilar to those in the US. Similarly, there is much to be gained by
understanding how different approaches have been able to develop in communities
with healthcare systems or social circumstances that are distinct from those
experienced by our American cousins.
As we move into 2018, watch this
space for more information on ways we can engage in an international knowledge
exchange with the goal of making society safer.
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