Child sexual abuse: using family work approaches

Welcome to Learn on the go, a Community Care Inform podcast where we discuss what the latest research, practice models and theories mean to your practice.In this episode, we discuss intrafamilial child sexual abuse and how social workers can use techniques from family therapy ("family work") to work with the family together and help with the crisis in the family and issues around communication and family dynamics that a disclosure of sexual abuse is likely to precipitate.The experts are Anna Glinski, deputy director for knowledge and practice development at the Centre for expertise on child sexual abuse, and Peter Bishop, a family therapist who worked with Anna in her previous role as local authority social worker and multi-disciplinary team manager in East Sussex. 1:33 – 06.09: Peter and Anna discuss what is meant by ‘family work’ and how social workers might be able to use key concepts from it in their work generally6.10 – 18.59: Peter explains why these ideas are particularly relevant to intrafamilial child sexual abuse and shares case examples of challenging situations and how family work can help19.00 – 27.07: Peter and Anna discuss how sibling sexual abuse may be different and ways that practitioners can support parents deal with conflicting feelings they may have and meet the needs of both the victim and perpetrator 27.08 – end: They conclude with discussion of how professionals can position themselves as facilitators of relationships between family members and the family as a whole, rather than the professional relationship being the primary driver of change.Detailed case studies by Peter and resources by Anna and colleagues on different aspects of social work and child sexual abuse can be found at https://www.ccinform.co.uk/knowledge-hubs/child-sexual-abuse-knowledge-and-practice-hub/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.