A relational understanding of the needs of siblings of children who have been sexually abused

Abstract

This thesis explores the needs of and impact on brothers and sisters of young people who have been sexually abused; where they have not had this experience and they themselves have not abused. I explore the impact for them, and what they need, to be able to process their emotions following a disclosure of sexual abuse in their family. The research questions at the heart of this exploration are, • What is the impact of child sexual abuse on siblings who have not abused or been abused? • What is the impact on family relationships for brothers and sisters, following their sibling’s sexual abuse? • What do brothers and sisters of young people who have been sexually abused need, following their siblings' experience of child sexual abuse? • How can we reduce any potential long-term consequences or traumatic impact on their lives? • How might we develop interventions that are congruent with their defined needs? Within this relational exploration and qualitative research inquiry, I developed several approaches to capturing participants' perspectives and the perspectives of those in close sibling relationships to them. I have also included the views of staff who specifically worked in the area of child sexual abuse. I divided the study into two stages. Stage 1, a Youth Advisory Group to inform Stage 2 sibling one-to-one online consultations. The Youth Advisory Group was a direct engagement with young people under the age of 18 years. It was an invitation to young people receiving specialist child sexual abuse intervention and therapy, to contribute their views on service development for their siblings. Due to the Covid 19 pandemic and public health restrictions, the Stage Two, sibling participation was moved to in-depth online consultation with siblings between the ages of 12 and 18 years. With both these groups, I used a collaborative inquiry approach to narrative analysis. The young people who participated in the sibling online consultations, were not the siblings of those who participated in the Youth Advisory Group. Ethics approval was sought in two stages. I included a second layer of participatory pre-research inquiry using a mini World Café with practitioners, to produce a relationally engaged co-inquiry. This systemic inquiry used across the entire project paid particular attention to research as a relational process. Within my inquiry, I positioned myself centrally as a practitioner-researcher. I used ethnographic writing to enact a process of transparency and collaboration. I used a collaborative inquiry approach to narrative analysis with both groups in my analysis. The methodology employed in reviewing this material took the form of reflexive ethnography. I argue for the need for clinicians, policy makers, and society to better understand the impact and needs of brothers and sisters of children who have experienced sexual abuse. A key element for consideration is the identification of supports and interventions required for families who have had to manage such experiences, and for siblings to be included in these interventions. The thesis concludes with a clear rationale for including the therapeutic needs of those siblings and adds to the broader body of knowledge available in the fields of family therapy, child sexual abuse, and early childhood trauma. This rationale is formed centrally on the voices and experiences of the young people who participated. I demonstrate the role of relational ethics as a guiding action, enacting an ethics of relational responsibility approach rather than paternalistic protection over participation.