ESRC funded PhD Candidate - Sarah Lloyd Supervisors - Dr Jo Woodiwiss & Prof. Jeff Hearn Human and Health Research School Centre for Applied Childhood, Youth and Family Research University of Huddersfield

1. SOCIAL WORKERS’ UNDERSTANDINGS OF
CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION AND SEXUALLY
EXPLOITED GIRLS.
APRIL 2015
ESRC FUNDED PHD
CANDIDATE-SARAH LLOYD
SUPERVISORS-DR JO WOODIWISS & PROF JEFF HEARN
HUMAN AND HEALTH RESEARCH SCHOOL
CENTRE FOR APPLIED CHILDHOOD, YOUTH AND FAMILY RESEARCH.

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• Why this research?

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Definition of CSE.
“Sexual exploitation of children and young people under 18 involves exploitative
situations, contexts and relationships where young people (or a third person or
persons) receive ‘something’ (e.g. food, accommodation, drugs, alcohol,
cigarettes, affection, gifts, money) as a result of them performing, and/or another
or others performing on them, sexual activities. Child sexual exploitation can occur
through the use of technology without the child’s immediate recognition; for
example being persuaded to post sexual images on the Internet/mobile phones
without immediate payment or gain. In all cases, those exploiting the child/young
person have power over them by virtue of their age, gender, intellect, physical
strength and/or economic or other resources. Violence, coercion and intimidation
are common, involvement in exploitative relationships being characterised in the
main by the child or young person’s limited availability of choice resulting from
their social/economic and/or emotional vulnerability”. (DCSF 2009 p, 9)
DCSF (2009)Safeguarding Children and Young People from Sexual exploitation.

4. 4
CSE in groups.
Groups are two or more people of any age,
connected through formal or informal associations or
networks, including, but not exclusive to, friendship
groups
Berelowitz, S. et al (2013). “If only someone had listened” The Office of the Children’s Commissioner’s Inquiry into
Child Sexual Exploitation in Gangs and Groups Final Report. London: Office of the Children’s Commissioner.

5. Research Questions.
1. What are social workers’ understandings of
CSE and sexually exploited girls?
2. How do social workers understand and construct agency
regarding CSE outside the home (extra-familial) and
children sexually abused within the home (intra-familial)?
3. What discourses are social workers drawing on in their
understandings/ constructions of sexually exploited girls,
particularly concerning agency, consent, gender and
childhood sexuality?
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6. 6
Focus of presentation is on social workers’
understandings of sexually exploited girls and
their agency

7. Theory.
The social construction of childhood, historically and
currently.(Aries,1962; Hendrick,1997; James and Prout,1997;
Lee,N,2001)
- Childhood and (female)sexuality
( Egan and Hawkes,2010,2012; Archard,2004; Robinson,2013, 2012;
Lamb,2013; Jackson, 1982)
-Sexualisation of girls discourses
(Attwood,2006; Mcrobbie, 2007; Scott et al, 1998; Egan,2013)
- Child sexual abuse/exploitation/consent/Victimhood-Blame
(Parton,2014; Woodiwiss,2009,2014; Pearce, 2009; Melrose,2010,
2012; Jones, 2013; Davidson, 2005; Waites, 2005; Powell, 2010;Lamb,
1999)
-Agency/Social work practice
(Giddens,1984; Jeffreys, 2011; Van Nijnatten,2010; Parton and Byrne,
2000; Smette et al,2009; James and Prout, 1995)
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8. Methodology
Qualitative Research
Feminist
Social constructionist (Burr, 2003)
Thematic Analysis(King, 1998; Gibbs, 2007)
Ethics- SREP approval from the University of Huddersfield
Approval from the ADCS research group.
Annonymity of LAs and social workers/confidentiality.
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Methods.
Semi-structured interviews (60-90mins)
18 social workers- (had a CSE case or were very likely to be
referred a CSE case).
Three local authorities (identified as LA,A;LA,B;LA,C)
Interviews were transcribed
Thematically analysed

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Context of research
Jago et al (2011) What’s going on…?
Berlowitz et al (2011-2013) Inquiry into CSE in gangs and groups.
RSCB (2013) Rochdale Serious Case review
Jay, A (2014)Independent Inquiry into CSE in Rotherham 1997-2013
(commissioned by RMBC)
Casey, L (2015) Report of Inspection of Rotherham Metropolitan
Borough Council (ordered by the secretary of state)
Oxford SCR- March 2015
HM Government (2015) Tackling CSE

11. Recent reports have highlighted concerns
about the responses of safeguarding
professionals towards, sexually exploited
young people. Oxford SCR (2015);Casey
(2015); Jay (2014); Berlowitz (2013) and Jago
et al(2011) all refer to the issue of
professionals believing that sexually exploited
young people are ‘putting themselves at
risk’(Berlowitz 2013, p25)and are essentially
complicit in their exploitation.
11

12. 12
Findings.

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Constructions of sexually exploited girls
Strong, recurrent constructions-‘Type’ of girl, from a ‘type’
of family
(constructed as the main reason she is being exploited)
Socially/economically deprived; has ‘un-met needs’;
seeking material/emotional gain from perpetrators
Multi-dimensional victim
(Very different to the understanding of girls abused in the home-never
discussed as a ‘type’, or why they might be sexually abused)

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All the social workers constructed
sexually exploited girls as agents.
However, their understandings
were complex and multi-facetted.

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• They construct the girls as agents.
• They construct them as needing to act with
agency in order to achieve certain things.
• They construct their agency as pseudo.

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She is an agent-She has more choice about
whether or not to be in the sexually exploitative
situation…than a girl sexually abused in the
home.

17. 17
Azim: yeh, but at the end of the day, they are both abuse,
you know,both of them are being abused, umm, there
might not be a choice in, in, in CSA, that’s happening in
the home environment, umm, the girls…they may
choose, there might be more of an aspect of choice in
CSE, in terms of their vulnerable but they are actually
going along with what’s being asked of them because
there is a gain for them to be made at the end of it .
Interview 2-(LA-C)-Azim

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She is an agent-because she is ‘putting
herself at risk’…’engaging in risky
behaviour’.
(x53)

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Barbara: …so making her sort of understanding of this kind
of behaviour, that is not appropriate for men to be doing
this…and what that entails is doing step by step work with
her, direct work with her and then taking it step by step
trying to help her understand that this, you can’t let yourself
be in the situation where men are abusing you, it’s not right
for them to be doing that, but it takes a lot of time, it takes a
lot of time because…they’re children isn’t it there children
and they don’t understand that there being abused at times,
because of the little present that their getting so it’s working
with them direct work with them
Interview 15-(LA-C)-Barbara

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She needs to demonstrate agency-If she wants
to ‘get out’, she needs to recognise the abuse
and want to get out…

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Cath: … the only way you can make a change is when they
acknowledge that, that something, and they want to say well
yeh I’ve had enough I don’t want any more I want some help
to get out, I think otherwise…there’s nowt really you
can…you know when they say…you know it’s like with
anyone, an alcoholic, a drug user when they say they want
that help you can put that help in place but if they don’t want
that help there’s nothing.. very little that you can do int
there?(820)
Interview 4-(LA-B)-Cath
NB.CSA- the girl never constructed as needing to recognise
the abuse and want to get out

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She needs to demonstrate agency-if the
perpetrators are to be stopped…

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And in order to do that she…
• Needs to understand her situation
• Needs to want to get out
• Needs to disclose and give evidence
-She will be worked with to help her understand (remain in the
CSE, very different to CSA in home )
-SW’s understanding was that without the girls’ evidence,
charge or conviction was very unlikely-frustrating

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“There was an absolute reliance on children to give
evidence or cases did not proceed…In the view of the
Inspectors this placed an enormous burden on fragile and
vulnerable children…”
Casey, L (2015) Report of Inspection of RMBC.
www.gov.uk/government/publications

25. 25
The agency the social workers
identified was reconstructed into
pseudo-agency
(see Barbara)

26. 26
• Constructed as acting with agency, or needing to act
with agency-
• but agency the social workers construct her as
demonstrating that has ‘resulted’ in her being sexually
exploited is reconstructed as pseudo-agency, because
that agency is being demonstrated as a result of her
being manipulated and controlled. And furthermore being
a child/gifts obfuscates her understanding and
therefore…
• If her agency isn’t ‘real’, she is not to blame and is
treated as a victim.

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Nell:…I think people think that those young people
have choice, that the 15yr old’s got a choice, it’s not
actually always the case, they don’t have the choice,
they don’t have that, they don’t have permission not to
go, they have to, they have to disappear for four days
and not come back and then turn up on a motorway in
*** do you know what I mean they don’t have, they
wouldn’t choose to do that let’s be honest
Interview 13-(LA-A)-Nell
But-what if they did choose?

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Social workers construction = Agency—Pseudo agency= Not to
blame(victim).
-Missing discourse-Acting with agency, within a context and not to
blame (not accessed by any SWs)
-Need to separate out agency from blame
-Recognise contextual agency…and not to blame
(Woodiwiss, 2014; Smette et al, 2009; Pearce, 2013)

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Why recognise sexually exploited young people as agents?
-Important to acknowledge the ‘reality’ of their experience? Or do
we deny their agency to make ourselves more comfortable/to
understand sexually exploited young people?
- Paradox?-Do sexually exploited girls subvert and trouble
constructions of CSA, (female) childhood and sexuality etc?
-Research and reports have shown this is (amongst other things!) a
problematic area for professionals, in some cases agency = blame,
and c/yp have not been protected (see Jay, 2014; Casey, 2015,
OSCB, 2015)

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Thanks for listening!
s.lloyd@hud.ac.uk

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