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Intervention for young people engaging in harmful sexual behaviour has been largely based on individual-level conceptualisations and assessment. Prevention efforts reflect this individual-focus, relying primarily on offender management and justice responses. Risk of sexual abuse, however, is often situated outside the individual, within the broader social and physical systems in which young people are embedded. Lack of recognition for how contextual factors contribute to sexual abuse narrows the focus of prevention and intervention, overlooking the very contexts and circumstances in which this behaviour occurs. This paper aims to demonstrate the utility of contextual practice with young people who sexually harm, and implications for prevention.

An Australian case study is used to showcase the “why”, “what” and “how” of a contextual approach to assessment and treatment of young people who sexually harm.

Contextual approaches extend the focus of clinical practice beyond the individual to include the physical and social contexts that may contribute to risk. Adding a contextual lens broadens the approach to assessment, affording new opportunities to tailor the intervention to local contextual dynamics, and identifying new targets for primary and secondary prevention.

This is the first known attempt to extend understanding of contextual approaches to clinical assessment and intervention for young people who sexually harm, using a case study method. The case study showcases contextual assessment and intervention processes that challenge traditional thinking and practice in this field. Importantly, the case study also reveals new opportunities for primary and secondary prevention that emerge through this contextual clinical practice.

The purpose of this paper is to explore to what extent neuro-typical theories of sexual offending apply to clients with Levels 2 and 3 autism with a co-morbid intellectual disability (ID). The paper develops a model of harmful sexual behaviour (HSB) for this client group and makes suggestions for how these behaviours can be understood and reduced.

The revised Integrated Theory of Sexual Offending (ITSO) (Ward and Beech, 2016) is used as a starting framework to understand HSB in this client group. This attends to specific neuropsychological systems, brain development, motivation and emotional processing.

The revised ITSO has some utility in understanding HSB in this client group. This is improved when neuro-atypical specific state factors are identified. Practical ways of establishing these state factors are made which attend to the function of the behaviour in line with “Good Lives” model of rehabilitation.

Recommendations for ways in which the function of HSB in this client group can be identified are made as well as recommendations for how treatment can be tailored dependent on the function of behaviour in this client group.

The paper makes practical recommendations for how interventions for people with ID and autism in line with Ward, Clack and Haig’s (2016) Abductive Theory of Method which noted that interventions should be adopted to consider wider explanations for offending thus acknowledging that treatment could extend beyond cognitive behavioural therapy for clinical phenomena. Future treatments for clients with autism and LD are suggested which attend to sensory needs, teaching alternative communication strategies for seeking out “deep pressure” or attention in ways that do not involve sexual offending, using picture communication, information technology or Makaton to communicate needs or using social stories to explain the consequences of behaviour. In addition, neuro-atypical interventions which attend to the neuropsychological functioning of clients could also be included in treatment for neuro-typical clients, thus ensuring that interventions attend to every aspect of the ITSO and not purely clinical phenomena.

Enhancing treatment interventions for clients with ID and autism could both reduce risk and enhance quality of life for this client group.

Much of the work to date exploring HSB in clients with autism has attended to clients with Level 1 autism or those without an additional ID. This paper provides practitioners with a theory upon which to understand HSB in clients with a dual diagnosis of Levels 2/3 autism and an ID as well as practical recommendations for reducing HSB in this client group.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the psychosocial experience of staff in a UK youth offending team (YOT) who work with adolescents displaying sexually harmful behaviour (SHB).

Eight participants were questioned by means of a semi-structured interview schedule about their experiences of working with adolescents displaying SHB. Subsequent data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.

Three superordinate themes were identified: client-focused; challenges within the role; and looking after the self. Staff appreciate the factors contributing to SHB and they experience challenges within their role, but are also aware of the importance of maintaining their own well-being. They demonstrate positive attitudes towards young people displaying SHB, whilst contending with the challenge of misconceptions within society. When addressing the self, YOT practitioners are able to adopt both individual and group methods of coping with the nature of the work.

The participant group could have included a wider range of disciplines as the YOT is a multi-agency service. A further study exploring staff from different professional backgrounds would be of value.

The findings will be valuable for both practitioners and policy makers working in the field of youth justice as they offer a unique insight into the role of youth justice staff and the complexities within their role when working with a group of young people often vulnerable to poor outcomes. It is important for practitioners and managers to be able to reflect on the challenges in the role in order for clinical supervision to be emphasised when working with this client group.

To the authors’ knowledge this is the first study to provide an in-depth exploration of the experience of UK YOT officers working with adolescents who have displayed SHB.

Managing the risk of sex offending and sexually harmful behaviour presented by some men with intellectual disabilities is enhanced if community services map the number in their catchment area, apply appropriate risk assessment and management methods, and implement evidence‐based treatment. This paper describes the methods and progress of one community intellectual disability service in mapping and assessing the risks. A second paper is planned that will address progress in treatment.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the development of Keep Safe, a manualised group intervention for adolescents with intellectual disabilities (ID) who display harmful sexual behaviour (HSB) as the initial phase of a feasibility study. National reports have highlighted the need for the development of specialist programmes, as adolescents with ID make up a significant proportion of young people referred to specialist HSB services and there is a lack of evidence or practice-based interventions for them. Aims included taking account of adolescents’ and families’ needs, motivations and practical commitments, integrating best- practice and being accessible and appropriate across different types of services.

Keep Safe development progressed from the practitioner/researcher collaborative young sex offender treatment services collaborative-ID through a project team, Keep Safe development group, comprising a range of practitioners with a variety of clinical expertise across services and an Advisory Group of people with ID. An expert-consensus methodology based on the Delphi method was used. The iterative process for the manual draws on the slim practice-based evidence from UK, New Zealand, North America and Australia.

Keep Safe comprises six modules distributed through 36 term-time young people’s sessions, alongside 16 concurrent parental/ carer sessions (some joint). The main focus of Keep Safe is to enhance well-being and reduce harm. Four initial sites volunteered as feasibility leads, and two more were added as recruitment was more difficult than foreseen.

National reports have highlighted the need for the development of specialist programmes, as adolescents with ID make up a significant proportion of young people referred to specialist HSB services and there is a lack of evidence or practice-based interventions for them. This study is innovative and valuable given the recognition that research and practice is significantly lacking in this area.

This is the second of two papers which aims to describe the development of a sex offender assessment and treatment service for men with intellectual disability (ID) within a community ID service. The first paper by McBrien et al. in 2010 described the mapping of need, the assessment methods and results.

This paper describes how decisions were made about whether or not to enrol 20 assessed men on group treatment and outlines the treatment group and outcomes.

None of the seven men who completed treatment had committed a further sexual offence at 12‐24 months follow‐up. Other outcomes are discussed including the outcomes for the men who did not start or complete treatment. The available measures are not sufficiently sophisticated to detect change in individuals.

This paper contributes to the literature that describes the assessment and treatment of men with an ID who have committed sexually harmful behaviours. It describes one community service's response to the complex needs of this client group.

The purpose of this paper is to consider the current knowledge in regard to females who engage in sexually harmful behaviour (HSB).

This is a brief paper, reviewing current literature.

This paper argues the continual limitations in fully understanding this population. However, it suggests the importance of progressing to discuss patterns of offending as opposed to typologies.

This argues the importance of effective formulation and consideration of patterns when understanding HSB in females.

This is a current brief review of the literature, summarising key thinking in this area, and some suggested ways forward for further progression.

Despite an increasing number of studies that examine sexual offending behaviour in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) individuals, there has been a lack of research investigating stalking and ASD. This study aims to carry out a scoping review following PRISMA guidelines to identify studies which have been carried out exploring stalking behaviour in individuals with threshold or subthreshold ASD.

A total of five bibliographic databases were searched to identify studies which explored ASD in relation to stalking and harassment (including case studies as well as empirical studies).

A total of five relevant articles were identified in the present review. One article contained a case study. In a short report, the authors discussed stalking and ASD. One paper explored ASD and stalking behaviour in employment settings and specific interventions that could be used in such environments. Another paper focused on stalking behaviour in those with ASD in school settings. The final paper examined stalking and social and romantic functioning in individuals with ASD. This final paper contained only the empirical study identified in this search.

The studies identified in this review clearly highlight the need for intensive socio-sexual interventions to improve social interaction skills and romantic functioning in individuals with ASD. There is also a need for schools to provide sex education programs for individuals with ASD.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first review looking at ASD and stalking.

This paper aims to review the clinical approach adopted in prison-based therapeutic communities (TCs) for working with residents who have committed sexual offences. It reviews recent research and practice developments and explores the implications for TCs.

This paper describes a “think tank” review process which explores and reviews practice. This paper discusses the current approach adopted by TCs when working with those who have sexually offended and explores changes in clinical approach which could be considered in the light of current developments.

This paper explores the implications for TCs of the recent research and wider practice developments in interventions for those who have sexually offended.

This paper presents clinical options for working with those who deny their offence and undertaking victim empathy and offence disclosure work. It makes recommendations regarding staff training and support. It also discusses the strengths of the TC approach and how these can be built upon.

This paper makes recommendations concerning how practice could be improved which promotes safety and public protection and enhances resident well-being.

There has been no recent review of TC clinical practice for working with those who have sexually offended.

This paper aims to argue that to address those factors that contribute to the probability of offending, the origins of such factors should be understood, and interventions that recognise the functional aspects of criminogenic capacities should be developed.

The paper provides a theoretical basis for trauma sensitive practice by providing an evolutionary understanding of human harmfulness alongside a summary of the impact of adversity and abuse on the developing child.

The paper proposes an overarching framework that uses compassion-focused therapy for risk reducing interventions with men who cause harm to others.

This paper encourages forensic practitioners to develop a trauma aware approach to intervention design and delivery. The paper provides an overview of a compassion-focused therapy as approach to intervention that conceptualises criminogenic capacities within a more holistic and functional framework.

Forensic interventions have been slow to assimilate evidence from adverse childhood experience research and have therefore been limited in their ability to address the functional origins of criminogenic need. This paper offers a framework that allows practitioners to address risk while also allowing individuals to process their own trauma and adversity.