Citation

Sidebotham P. Child Abuse Rev. 2017; 26(2): 85-90.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/car.2467

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Working with the victims and perpetrators of child sexual abuse and exploitation is one of the most challenging fields of child protection practice. The nature of some of these cases is such that it challenges our beliefs in the inherent goodness of our fellow human beings and can leave us, as practitioners, feeling emotionally drained and bruised. In the words of a participant in one of the research studies reported in this issue of Child Abuse Review, 'It's horrible stuff that you are hearing day in and day out' (Ahern et al., 2017, p. 133). These cases are often complex and their investigation can be protracted. There is a difficult balance to be achieved between the forensic requirements of robust evidence gathering, the therapeutic aspects of caring for the victims, and the public interests of ensuring justice, rehabilitating offenders and preventing reoffending. So how can we best support professionals working in this complex field? What tools and techniques are available to them and how best can they use these? The papers in this issue of Child Abuse Review address some of these topics.

Language: en