Resources: Review - Understanding child sexual behaviour

Simon Hackett

Barnardo's

149pp

ISBN 190465905 5

12.99

"He's just experimenting", "he's being a typical lad", and "he's just mucking about". These are all common explanations that may be given not only by carers but also by some professionals when inappropriate sexual behaviour on the part of a child or young person is drawn to their attention.

They may be right, but they may also be wrong. For anyone working with children and young people, Simon Hackett's latest book, which was commissioned by Barnardo's, makes essential reading.

In his introduction, he highlights the fact that adolescent sexual offending constitutes a significant minority of all sexual abuse cases coming to the attention of the criminal justice system and an even a higher percentage when considering allegations coming to the attention of child protection systems. As Hackett points out, the reality is that sexually harmful behaviour by children and young people is far from isolated or unusual.