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Practitioner Perspectives on Child Sexual Exploitation: Rapport Building With Young People.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Ahern, EC 
Sadler, LA 
Lamb, ME 
Gariglietti, GM 

Abstract

Young people suspected of being sexually exploited are unlikely to have made prior disclosures before being approached by authorities, and this can make them especially uncomfortable when involved in investigations. Semistructured interviews were conducted with frontline social workers and law enforcement practitioners about their experiences interacting with youth during child sexual exploitation investigations. The findings provided some tentative insights into the processes by which practitioners sought to establish rapport with young people who have been exploited and establish themselves as trustworthy abuse disclosure recipients. Practitioners reported that rapport building in child sexual exploitation cases not only occurred over lengthy periods of time (e.g., months or years) but also required repeated contacts between the practitioners and young people, during which practitioners minimized their roles as authorities and maximized their authenticity as caring people. Practitioners mentioned the importance of dependability, lightheartedness, and having a casual demeanor. Findings have implications for managing reluctance and understanding rapport building when working with possible victims.

Description

Keywords

Child sexual exploitation, qualitative, rapport building, Adult, Child, Child Abuse, Sexual, Humans, Police, Professional-Patient Relations, Qualitative Research, Social Workers

Journal Title

Journal of Child Sexual Abuse

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1053-8712
1547-0679

Volume Title

26

Publisher

Taylor & Francis
Sponsorship
This study was funded by the BASPCAN, the Jacobs Foundation and the Nuffield Foundation.