Over the last decade, many (European) countries have created special committees or conducted special investigations into the occurrence of sexual abuse in residential and/or foster care. Many of these studies concluded that children and young people in care are at a greater risk of being sexually abused, compared to youth growing up at home. However, the extent and scope of sexual abuse which has historically occurred in residential and/or foster care remains contested and is highly controversial. Although a broad range of factors are involved, one issue that is of crucial importance in the prevention of sexual abuse is paying attention to the healthy sexual development of children and young people in care. This sounds easy, but it isn’t easy at all. Ideas about relationships, intimacy and healthy sexual development differ between people and countries. It’s a sensitive subject that many professionals working in care find difficult to talk about. As most professionals working in care in Europe graduate from schools of Social Work, social work education should prepare (future) professionals to address this issue. Although some authors have addressed this issue, in general, social work education does not pay sufficient attention to the subject. This project aims to help (future) professionals build competencies on this specific subject by providing the following products:1. An international summer school on the subject of sex and sexuality, for social work students.2. An online course on the subject of sex and sexuality for professionals working in residential care or working with foster parents.3. A website with materials for European lecturers who teach future social workers on the subject of sex and sexuality.4. A reflection instrument as a tool for on-the-job training on the subject.These products are based on a set of practice based core competencies that professionals should develop in order to be able to provide care and upbringing on the theme of sex and sexuality. Next to that five central themes were used to order the development of modules.
Over the last decade, many (European) countries have created special committees or conducted special investigations into the occurrence of sexual abuse in residential and/or foster care. Many of these studies concluded that children and young people in care are at a greater risk of being sexually abused, compared to youth growing up at home. However, the extent and scope of sexual abuse which has historically occurred in residential and/or foster care remains contested and is highly controversial. Although a broad range of factors are involved, one issue that is of crucial importance in the prevention of sexual abuse is paying attention to the healthy sexual development of children and young people in care. This sounds easy, but it isn’t easy at all. Ideas about relationships, intimacy and healthy sexual development differ between people and countries. It’s a sensitive subject that many professionals working in care find difficult to talk about. As most professionals working in care in Europe graduate from schools of Social Work, social work education should prepare (future) professionals to address this issue. Although some authors have addressed this issue, in general, social work education does not pay sufficient attention to the subject. This project aims to help (future) professionals build competencies on this specific subject by providing the following products:1. An international summer school on the subject of sex and sexuality, for social work students.2. An online course on the subject of sex and sexuality for professionals working in residential care or working with foster parents.3. A website with materials for European lecturers who teach future social workers on the subject of sex and sexuality.4. A reflection instrument as a tool for on-the-job training on the subject.These products are based on a set of practice based core competencies that professionals should develop in order to be able to provide care and upbringing on the theme of sex and sexuality. Next to that five central themes were used to order the development of modules.
Dit rapport beschrijft de ondersteuningsbehoeften van jongeren tussen 16 en 24 jaar op het gebied van seksualiteit, intimiteit en relaties en welke rol het jongeren- en straathoekwerk hierin kan spelen. Dit rapport komt voort uit het onderzoeksproject Het Hoort Erbij!
Jeugdigen in jeugdhulp en jeugdbescherming vormen een kwetsbare groep voor seksueel misbruik en grensoverschrijdend gedrag. Professionals die met deze jeugdigen werken spe-len daarom een belangrijke rol bij de begeleiding van de relationele en seksuele ontwikke-ling van deze jeugdigen, het herkennen van seksueel misbruik en het voorkomen van grens-overschrijdend gedrag. Het is essentieel dat zij dit gevoelige onderwerp niet uit de weg gaan, op dit punt durven opvoeden en weten hoe zij om kunnen gaan met de enorme diversi-teit aan jeugdigen en ouders die zij in hun werk tegenkomen. In de praktijk blijkt dit lastig en ervaren veel professionals handelingsverlegenheid om dit intieme onderwerp te bespreken met jeugdigen, ouder(s) en collega’s. Hoewel jeugd-zorgorganisaties sinds het rapport van de commissie Samson naar seksueel misbruik in de jeugdzorg in 2012, verplicht zijn hun professionals te trainen in gespreksvoering over dit thema, gaan veel professionals het onderwerp liever uit de weg. Implementatieonderzoek toont bovendien dat het volgen van een training alleen niet voldoende is om competenties te ontwikkelen en op lange termijn te blijven toepassen. Het kunnen oefenen in een veilige omgeving en het regelmatig opfrissen van vaardigheden zijn nodig om vaardigheden te blij-ven ontwikkelen. Dit project – een samenwerking tussen het lectoraat Kwaliteit en Effectiviteit in de Zorg voor Jeugd, de Digital Society School, docenten van de opleidingen Social work en Pedagogiek (Hogeschool van Amsterdam) en Jeugdhulporganisaties Altra en Spirit - verkent in hoeverre vier innovatieve technologische middelen – chatbots, interactieve fake mo-vies, virtual ‘agent’ en serious gaming - bruikbaar zijn om (toekomstige) professionals be-ter toe te rusten op dit terrein. Daarnaast willen wij een eerste prototype chatbot rondom seksuele opvoeding ontwikkelen en testen als basis voor vervolgonderzoek en doorontwik-keling naar de andere technologische middelen.
