Young People who have Sexually Abused: What do they (and their parents) want from Professionals?

This article presents the findings of a small scale qualitative study of user perspectives in the adolescent sexual aggression field. Twenty four service users who had received intervention from nine different specialist providers completed a structured questionnaire about their experiences of professional involvement. Both young people who had sexually abused and parents identified the kinds of professional intervention which they found useful, as well as practices that they experienced as unhelpful. Young people and their families alike were found to value supportive interventions which gave them an opportunity to gain insight into the nature of sexual abuse as well to address their own feelings about their problems.     

How Does the Individual Find a Place in French Sociology?

In France over the last four decades increasing interest in the small, the specific and the subjective can be observed. This involves a shift away from a holist approach towards social analysis focused on the individual and often carried out by researchers as specified and reflexive individuals. To be understood, this movement must be situated in the context of the development of French sociology, largely dominated at its origins by Durkheimian sociology. Thus, when the individual has appeared this is often not in his or her own right, but as representative of a social trend or group. As from the 1980s, new perspectives, very often imported from American sociology bring into play individual action, emotions and bodies, often studied as socially shaped. More recently, individual characteristics have been examined as a constraint on the possibilities of action, and discussion has also revolved around the reality of the person as an autonomous subject.     

Community Reactions to Young People Who Have Sexually Abused and Their Families: A Shotgun Blast,Not a Rifle Shot

Data on 117 young sexual abusers were examined to investigate the nature of community responses to young people's abusive behaviour. A wide range of community responses were found, with stigmatisation, social isolation and collateral damage being common. A contagion effect was noted, with community responses extending over time and across contexts. Some young offenders and their families were attacked and forced out of their homes. In some cases, community responses heightened risk factors. The policy and practice implications of the findings are discussed, including the need for caution about the inclusion of children in policies on community notification of sex offenders.     

Constructing Scale/Contesting Scale: Women's Movement and Rescaling Politics in Quebec

Scalar shifts in public capacities and responsibilities arean important element of the way states have been restructuringin North America and in Europe. Women’s movements respondto these changes in various ways, including the rescaling ofcollective action. This article focuses on the rising importanceof the (subprovincial) region in Québec women’smovement politics to understand how new scales of action areconstituted or granted a renewed importance by women’smovements. Drawing on theoretical contributions from the humangeography literature on scale, state rescaling, and scalar politics,I show how the region has been materially and discursively constructedby Québec women’s movement actors as a legitimateand relevant scale for feminist politics. This has involvedan intricate and dynamic relationship with two different stateprojects of downward rescaling. Although it provided some realopportunities, it has also created difficulties and dilemmasfor women’s movement actors, who have also contested theprimacy of the region in Québec government’s newscalar arrangements.     

The paradox of parental participation and legal representation in ‘edge of care’ meetings

This paper assesses the nature of parental participation and legal representation in pre‐proceedings meetings in England and Wales. These are called when a local authority is considering care proceedings on a child. The parent(s) are invited to a meeting to discuss the concerns, and are entitled to attend with a lawyer. The paper draws on findings from a study of the process which included a file survey of over 200 cases, observations of 36 meetings and interviews with more than 90 key informants, including parents. The aim of the process is (usually) to reach an agreement to prevent the case going to court, but the families are usually well known to children's services, and have been through many meetings and agreements before. What then are the possibilities for parental participation and legal representation in the meetings? The study shows that they may help bring a greater degree of clarity to the local authority's proposals, but are not expected to challenge them. Paradoxically, they serve to reinforce the authority's position. The meetings can help divert cases, but it is important to be realistic about the chances of change in these often long‐standing ‘edge of care’ cases.     

Maintaining contact between parents and children in the public care

Children looked after by local authorities are at risk of losing contact with parents and significant others despite emphasis in the Children Act 1989 on partnership and promoting contact. Work to maintain contact should address losses before as well as during care. Contact declines over time with lower rates for children in foster care and as social work support for families diminishes. Contact after adoption is increasing; methods of indirect contact developed by adoption agencies may help to maintain contact for looked after children. Lost contact can be restored with social work support.