Sibling incest and sibling sexual abuse

382 Pages·2016·2.1 MB·English

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‘Better Together’: A grounded theory study
of social worker decision making in cases
involving sexual behaviour between
siblings
Peter Yates
PhD in Social Work – The University of Edinburgh - 2015

Declaration

This is to certify that the work contained within has been composed by me and is
entirely my own work. No part of this thesis has been submitted for any other degree
or professional qualification.

Peter Yates
31st May 2015
‘Better Together’: A grounded theory study of social worker decision making in
cases involving sexual behaviour between siblings
Contents
Acknowledgements ................................................................................................... vii
Abstract .................................................................................................................... viii
Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................ 1
1.1 Background to the study ............................................................................... 1
1.2 Terminology ................................................................................................. 5
1.2.1 Siblings ..................................................................................................... 5
1.2.2 Children’s harmful sexual behaviour ....................................................... 6
1.2.3 ‘Perpetrator’ and ‘Victim’ ........................................................................ 7
1.2.4 Separation, contact and reunification ....................................................... 7
1.3 The value of the study .................................................................................. 8
1.4 The structure of the thesis .......................................................................... 10
Chapter 2: A review of the literatures ................................................................... 13
2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 13
2.2 The historical context: Sexual behaviour between siblings as a subject of
public concern ........................................................................................................ 13
2.3 Changing definitions: Sibling incest and sibling sexual abuse .................. 15
2.3.1 Differentiating harmful from harmless sibling sexual behaviour .......... 16
2.3.2 The impact of sibling sexual abuse ........................................................ 20
2.4 Prevalence .................................................................................................. 23
2.5 Theories of sibling sexual abuse ................................................................ 25
2.6 The legal context ........................................................................................ 29
2.7 Social worker decision making regarding the removal of children from
their families, and subsequent contact and reunification ....................................... 35
2.8 The sibling incest literature on separation, reunification and contact ........ 41
2.9 Conclusions ................................................................................................ 43
Chapter 3: Methodology .......................................................................................... 45
3.1 Introduction and research questions ........................................................... 45
3.1.1 The research aims ................................................................................... 46
3.1.2 Research questions ................................................................................. 46
3.2 Research design: Research questions 1 and 2 ............................................ 47
3.2.1 Research assumptions ............................................................................ 47
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‘Better Together’: A grounded theory study of social worker decision making in
cases involving sexual behaviour between siblings
3.2.2 Reflexivity .............................................................................................. 48
3.2.3 Research strategy ................................................................................... 50
3.2.4 Grounded theory .................................................................................... 51
3.2.5 Data generation ...................................................................................... 52
3.2.6 Recruitment and Theoretical Sampling .................................................. 61
3.2.7 A description of the final sample ........................................................... 64
3.2.8 Data analysis .......................................................................................... 67
3.2.9 Archiving ............................................................................................... 73
3.2.10 Ethics .................................................................................................. 74
3.3 Research design: Research question 3 ....................................................... 76
3.3.1 Recruitment ............................................................................................ 76
3.3.2 Data generation ...................................................................................... 77
3.3.3 Data Analysis ......................................................................................... 77
3.3.4 Ethics ...................................................................................................... 78
3.4 Research design: Research questions 1, 2 and 3 ........................................ 78
3.4.1 Validity and reliability ........................................................................... 78
3.4.2 Knowledge dissemination ...................................................................... 80
3.5 Conclusions and Reflections ...................................................................... 81
Chapter 4: The context of policy and uncertainty ................................................ 85
4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 85
4.2 Policy and Guidance .................................................................................. 86
4.2.1 Incidence of cases involving concerns about sibling sexual behaviour . 86
4.2.2 Policy and guidance findings ................................................................. 87
4.2.3 Summary ................................................................................................ 98
4.2.4 Comments by policy informants .......................................................... 100
4.2.5 Conclusions to policy and guidance findings ...................................... 102
4.3 “It was just questions marks” (Jenny) ...................................................... 103
4.3.1 Not knowing what happened between the siblings .............................. 103
4.3.2 Not knowing the impact of the behaviour ............................................ 107
4.3.3 Not knowing the risks of future sibling sexual behaviour ................... 110
4.4 Conclusions .............................................................................................. 113
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‘Better Together’: A grounded theory study of social worker decision making in
cases involving sexual behaviour between siblings
Chapter 5: Maintaining an underlying perspective of children as vulnerable and
intending no sexual harm to others ...................................................................... 119
5.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 119
5.2 Differentiating normal from concerning sibling sexual behaviour .......... 120
5.3 Cases with no identifiable perpetrator and victim .................................... 125
5.4 The perpetrator is a child but the victim is the child ................................ 127
5.4.1 Looking for reasons ............................................................................. 132
5.4.2 Resisting labelling the behaviour as abuse .......................................... 141
5.4.3 Labelling the behaviour as abuse ......................................................... 151
5.5 Conclusion................................................................................................ 156
Chapter 6: Maintaining an underlying perspective of sibling relationships as
non-abusive and of intrinsic value ........................................................................ 159
6.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 159
6.2 Requiring a second incident ..................................................................... 163
6.3 Focusing on safety.................................................................................... 164
6.3.1 Taking no account of the possible emotional impact ........................... 164
6.3.2 Considering the possible emotional impact ......................................... 173
6.3.3 Making rules ........................................................................................ 179
6.4 Anticipating others’ decisions .................................................................. 188
6.5 Coming under pressure from other professionals .................................... 192
6.6 Conclusion................................................................................................ 198
Chapter 7: Maintaining an underlying perspective of parents as well-
intentioned protective ............................................................................................ 201
7.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 201
7.2 Parents who were perceived to have abused their children ...................... 203
7.3 Ticking all the boxes in the short-term .................................................... 205
7.3.1 Covering all the bases .......................................................................... 215
7.3.2 Not ticking all the boxes in the short-term ........................................... 217
7.4 Ticking all the boxes in the longer-term .................................................. 221
7.5 Breaking rules .......................................................................................... 225
7.5.1 Making allowances .............................................................................. 228
7.6 Conclusions .............................................................................................. 236
Chapter 8: Discussion ............................................................................................ 239
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‘Better Together’: A grounded theory study of social worker decision making in
cases involving sexual behaviour between siblings
8.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 239
8.1.1 Frame theory ........................................................................................ 239
8.1.2 The child, sibling relationships, and parent frames ............................. 242
8.1.3 The context of relationships ................................................................. 245
8.1.4 Assessment-based decision making ..................................................... 246
8.2 Making sense of the sibling sexual behaviour ......................................... 248
8.2.1 The child frame .................................................................................... 248
8.2.2 The sibling relationships frame ............................................................ 250
8.2.3 Conflicting frames ................................................................................ 252
8.3 Some reflections on age and gender ......................................................... 258
8.4 Separation and reunification decision making ......................................... 261
8.4.1 Focusing attention on the parents ......................................................... 263
8.4.2 Extending the rule of optimism ............................................................ 267
8.5 Contact decision making .......................................................................... 269
8.6 Loss of focus on the victim child ............................................................. 270
8.7 Some simple heuristics ............................................................................. 274
8.8 Conclusions .............................................................................................. 276
Chapter 9: Strengths and limitations of the research ......................................... 279
9.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 279
9.2 Limitations ............................................................................................... 279
9.2.1 Outcomes ............................................................................................. 279
9.2.2 Retrospective Interviews ...................................................................... 279
9.2.3 Changes of social worker ..................................................................... 282
9.2.4 Self-selected sample ............................................................................. 282
9.3 Strengths ................................................................................................... 283
9.4 My position .............................................................................................. 285
9.5 Conclusions .............................................................................................. 286
Chapter 10: Conclusions and recommendations ................................................. 287
10.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 287
10.2 Summary of findings ................................................................................ 288
10.3 Recommendations .................................................................................... 291
10.3.1 Maintaining the perspective of the perpetrator as a child ................ 291
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‘Better Together’: A grounded theory study of social worker decision making in
cases involving sexual behaviour between siblings
10.3.2 Taking account of the impact on the victim ..................................... 291
10.3.3 Assessing the quality of the sibling relationship .............................. 294
10.3.4 Assessing the protective ability and capacity of the parents ............ 295
10.3.5 Some general points ......................................................................... 296
10.4 Summary of recommendations ................................................................ 297
10.4.1 Practice ............................................................................................. 297
10.4.2 Guidance .......................................................................................... 297
10.4.3 Research ........................................................................................... 298
10.5 Concluding comments .............................................................................. 299
Appendix 1: Reflective notes taken immediately after Interview 1 ................... 301
Appendix 2: Reflective notes taken immediately after Interview 5 ................... 305
Appendix 3: Schedule of interview questions ...................................................... 307
Appendix 4: Extended and annotated interview schedule with ideas for possible
prompts ................................................................................................................... 309
Appendix 5: Participant sampling questionnaire................................................ 315
Appendix 6: Follow-up recruitment e-mail ......................................................... 317
Appendix 7: Demographic characteristics of sample ......................................... 319
Appendix 8: Profile summary of study participants ........................................... 321
Appendix 9: Summary Information about the sibling sexual behaviour
groupings discussed by the social workers .......................................................... 323
Appendix 10: Transcription glossary ................................................................... 325
Appendix 11: Memo - Thoughts on coding interview 1 ...................................... 327
Appendix 12: Memo - Resisting labelling the behaviour as abuse .................... 329
Appendix 13: Memo - Engaging ........................................................................... 331
Appendix 14: First mapping exercise ................................................................... 333
Appendix 15: Memo - Strategies for managing uncertainty and complexity ... 335
Appendix 16: Recruitment process ...................................................................... 337
Appendix 17: Information for participants ......................................................... 339
Appendix 18: Consent form .................................................................................. 341
Appendix 19: Schedule of questions for policy informants ................................ 343
References ............................................................................................................... 345

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‘Better Together’: A grounded theory study of social worker decision making in
cases involving sexual behaviour between siblings

Table of Figures
Figure 3-1: Example of line-by-line and focused coding .......................................... 68
Figure 4-1: The social workers' practice mindset 'siblings as better together' ......... 114

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