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.
Disclosures of sibling sexual behavior (SSB) usually affect all family members but there remains, however, a paucity in studies on therapeutical family interventions and how they can initiate changes in families. This study was designed to explore relational impacts of SSB disclosures, goals for therapy and interventions that helped a family initiate the recovery process after a SSB disclosure. A single case study design was used to analyze a family's long-term therapy process. Data on this N = 1 study comprised 18 interviews with involved therapists, five interviews with involved family members, therapy files, and notes on family sessions. Data was analyzed using a thematic approach. Relational traumas were experienced in broken relationships, relationships under pressure and damaged trust between family members. Therapy goals were to (1) recreate family's safety, (2) help the family process the SSB consequences and (3) restore trust and search for relationship healing. Appropriate interventions to target the goals included individual-centered psycho trauma treatment as well as interventions for the parents, the involved siblings, and the uninvolved siblings, followed by sessions between the involved siblings and with the whole family. Therapy outcomes were found in reduced individual trauma symptoms, a recreated sense of family safety, the start of relational trauma processing, and newfound forms of sibling/family relationships. This study provides a unique and comprehensive insight into a family's healing process after SSB disclosures from the perspectives of both professionals and family members. The effective interventions identified in this study may provide tools for therapists working with these families. This study may also offer greater insights into both the abusive and mutual types of SSB.
