This handbook reviews the growing body of empirical and theoretical knowledge on juvenile sex offenders and indicates how this knowledge can be used to guide and develop evidence-based practice for assessment and treatment.

The Handbook of Clinical Interventions with Young People who Sexually Abuse provides authoritative, critical and up-to-date reviews of the growing body of empirical and theoretical knowledge in this field and clearly demonstrates how this knowledge can be used to guide and develop evidence-based practice for assessment and treatment. Key features include: * essentials of effective treatment programmes * relapse prevention * adolescents with intellectual disabilities and female offenders * work with families of young people who sexually abuse. Practical guidelines from acknowledged international experts with extensive experience of research and clinical practice will be invaluable to all those working with young people who engage in sexually abusive behaviour.

In providing clear practice messages for practitioners, contemporary issues such as problematic online sexual behaviour and adolescent harmful sexual behaviour are covered and a formulation-based, trauma-informed and multi-systemic approach to working with children and their families is proposed.

The increasing focus on children's welfare has given rise to tremendous growth in the field of child psychology, and the past decade has witnessed significant advances in research in this area.

First published in 1995. This is Volume five of a series that looks at the developmental stages in addressing the complex and social problem of child abuse. The articles in this volume address the treatment of child victims and adult survivors of childhood sexual, physical, and emotional abuse and neglect. Where physical abuse is concerned treatment of victims and survivors lagged far behind the treatment of sexual abuse victims and survivors. This may be due in part to the fact that in cases of physical abuse—with its physical manifestations that heal—more attention is paid to the immediate physical safety of children than to their short- and long-term emotional needs. Thereafter, the focus of treatment tended to be on parents—in hopes of preventing further abuse—rather than on the abused children.

Public policy responses to child sexual abuse are dominated by interventions designed to take effect only after offenders have already begun offending, and after children have already been sexually abused. Comparatively little attention has been given to alternative prevention strategies – particularly to those aimed at preventing sexual abuse before it might otherwise occur. Considerable knowledge has been accumulated on the characteristics, modus operandi and persistence of offenders, the characteristics, circumstances and outcomes for victims, and the physical and social settings in which sexual abuse occurs, but little work has been done to systematically apply this knowledge to prevention. This book aims to fulfill this objective through integrating clinical and criminological concepts and knowledge to inform a more comprehensive and effective public policy approach to preventing child sexual abuse. Empirical and theoretical knowledge concerning child sexual abuse is integrated with broader developments in evidence-based crime and child maltreatment prevention, leading to new ideas about understanding and preventing child sexual abuse. This book will be essential reading for anybody with interests in this field.

Recognizing child maltreatment as a complex phenomenon requiring multifaceted responses, this volume provides a current and comprehensive assessment of the problem, and argues for an expanded conception of helping on the part of those who work with maltreated children, their families, and their communities. Contributions follow a general outline that addresses current theory and models of practice, and empirical knowledge regarding the problem, intervention, and outcomes. Presenting and up-to- date and encompassing view of how to combat child abuse and neglect, this book discusses the concerns of service providers as well as academics. All the prevalent ways of responding to child maltreatment are addressed, and each is discussed in terms of theory, implementation and evidence for its effectiveness. For use as an undergraduate or graduate level text for courses in child welfare, sociology, family studies, and community psychology. This text would also be insightful for professionals, academics, and policymakers concerned with child welfare.