By Kieran McCartan, PhD, David Prescott, LICSW, and Kasia Uzieblo, PhD
It’s
interesting to consider the ebb and flow of academic and professional interest.
We have seen on the blog over the years (this is post 510 and the blog has been
running since July 2010) different topics come and go, some having periods of
significance and periods of dominance. We have seen prevention become
established, while risk assessment developments roll along in the background
and the polygraph remains controversial, sometimes even divisive.
One topic
that seems to have emerged strong and is now dominating the conversation, especially
in the UK and parts of Europe, that no one really saw coming is sibling sexual abuse
(SSA). This month, the Journal of Sexual Aggression had a special issue dedicated to
it, as well as the journal of Child Abuse & Neglect; so why the sudden increase in research
(and in some areas, practice like the development of a new mapping
tool for assessment and treatment planning) interest when SSA is not a new
phenomenon?
Controversies
about incest and psychology have been with us since Freud. In the US, sexual abuse within families and
among siblings became a focus of mental health interventions in the 1980s. At
the time, authors such as Chloe Madanes used techniques for family-based
interventions that appear harsh and misguided by today’s standards. Her contemporary,
Jan Hindman, wrote at length about clarification of abuse and demonstrated how
treating those who abuse can assist the healing of those abused. Within the
field of treating adolescents who sexually abused, authors such as Jerry Thomas
and Joann Schladale emerged in the 1990s and 2000s and addressed SSA through a
family-therapy lens. Much has been written outside of scholarly research about
the experience of surviving SSA; much less about those who commit the abuse. And
fewer still have conducted scientific inquiry into SSA until now.
While the
above practice developments took place in the US, there has been a growing
conversation amongst professionals about SSA over the past five years in the UK
and Europe. This has often emerged from the study of harmful sexual behavior in
childhood, with research by the Centre for Expertise on Child Sexual
Abuse developing a
range of policy, practice, and research papers that indicate that it’s the most
common form of intrafamilial violence.
These
papers have started to change conversations and perspectives, particularly away
from the typical perspective of father (or male caregiver)-daughter incest
being the most prevalent form. This changing conversation has led to scoping
studies and emerging research conversations across the UK that have indicated a
professional and practice interest in the area. A main driver has been the
emergence of SSA as a bespoke form of abuse that is not the same as child sexual
abuse, peer-on-peer abuse, or other sexual exploitation. SSA involves a
combination of different forms of abuse, neglect, and exploitation (sometimes
across multiple contexts), which makes it complicated and nuanced not only for
professionals and policy makers, but also for the children being harmed, the
children harming, their family, and peers.
The
complexity of SSA means that those who are victimized do not always feel seen
in the system. They may not recognize themselves in service provision, nor in
prevention campaigns against sexual violence, which means that they do not
necessarily seek help or support. In many cases, they may not realize that they
have been abused. The implications of this are that the true prevalence of SSA
is unrecognized and underrepresented in children and adults services; this is a
problem because if we truly want to prevent and respond to all forms of sexual
abuse we need to recognize and see all forms. This means that professionals
need to rethink, reconceptualize and redevelop some of their existing practice
in this area.
It is
important to state that in the flurry of research and practice activities
related to SSA (full disclosure: Kieran and Kasia are researching and
publishing in this area while David has produced book chapters and trainings in
this area), we must balance the old with the new. It is essential to recognize
that we need to look at the full picture and consider existing research and
practice from other areas and what role they can play in professional discourse,
rather than simply creating new information.
SSA sits at
the crossroads of Psychology, Sociology, Social Work, and Children’s Studies. We
therefore have to consider what these disciplines say about trauma, family
dynamics, abuse, violence, and their interactions with each other. The CSA Centre
and special edition of the JSA have done this well. It will be wise to acknowledge
and recognize what we know before we adapt and develop it for a new perspective
or audience. Additionally, it’s important to look towards other trends and
norms that are feeding into the establishment of this emerging topic (particularly
in light of what we are seeing with the lingering impact of COVID, lockdowns,
the presence of trauma and adversity, and the growing influence of pornography
on young people). Regarding this last point, with respect to pornography, practitioners
are reporting a rise in brother-sister/stepsibling content on relevant sites. Each of these considerations speaks to how we
need a broader social and community recognition of SSA and that conversations
around prevention need to happen in homes, schools, and communities.
While we recognize
and welcome the increased conversation about SSA in the professional, policy
and research arena, we think that it’s important to state that this is not a
new phenomenon. Rather, it is a shift in focus regarding a long-existing
concern, and a need to address a real issue in the lives of individuals and
families. Sadly, this problem receives scant attention in the media and that it
is not a topic regularly discussed in clinical practices outside our field. It
thus remains taboo. Nevertheless, we hope that with increased scientific
attention to this topic, interest from the community, counseling, policy etc.
will also significantly increase. Because there are still so many questions
that remain unanswered, such as, what interventions are adequate with this
group? What prevention measures can make a real impact? How can we also better
support adult victims of SSA? To answer these, we need input, insights, and
expertise from all services providers and users. Let’s not wait until a serious
case appears in the media before we really start investing time, money, and
efforts to prevent sibling sexual abuse.
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