Child Sexual Exploitation: Why Theory Matters: San Francisco Chronicle 1985-1988

The issue of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) is firmly in the public spotlight internationally and in the UK, but just how well is it understood? To date, many CSE-related services have been developed in reaction to high profile cases rather than being designed more strategically. This much-needed book breaks new ground by considering how psychosocial, feminist and geo-environmental theories, amongst others, can improve practice understanding and interventions. Edited by one of the leading scholars in the field, this is an essential text for students and those planning strategic interventions and practice activities in social, youth and therapeutic work with young people, as it supports understanding of how CSE arises and how to challenge the nature of the abuse.

Table of Contents:
Foreword ~ Julia Davidson Bringing theory home: thinking about child sexual exploitation ~ Jenny Pearce Moving beyond discourses of agency, gain and blame: reconceptualising young people’s experiences of sexual exploitation ~ Helen Beckett Child sexual exploitation, discourse analysis and why we still need to talk about prostitution ~ Jo Phoenix Contextual Safeguarding: theorising the contexts of child protection and peer abuse ~ Carlene Firmin ‘Losing track of morality’: understanding online forces and dynamics conducive to child sexual exploitation ~ Elly Hanson Understanding adolescent development in the context of child sexual exploitation ~ John Coleman Some psychodynamic understandings of child sexual exploitation ~ Nick Luxmoore Understanding trauma and its relevance to child sexual exploitation ~ Kristine Hickle Social support, empathy and ecology: a theoretical underpinning for working with young people who have suffered child sexual abuse or exploitation ~ Pat Dolan and Caroline McGregor Using an intersectional lens to examine the child sexual exploitation of black adolescents ~ Claudia Bernard What’s gender got to do with it? Sexual exploitation of children as patriarchal violence ~ Maddy Coy Understanding models of disability to improve responses to children with learning disabilities ~ Emilie Smeaton Some concluding thoughts ~ Jenny Pearce

About the Author :
Jenny Pearce, OBE, is a Professor of Young People and Public Policy at the University of Bedfordshire.

Review :
"A topical and much needed resource reflecting research, theory, practice and experience of child sexual exploitation, violence and trafficking. It will be welcomed by practitioners and policy makers alike." Baroness Doreen E. Massey, House of Lords “A must-read for all of us thinking about intervention development and researching CSE, with thought-provoking case examples provided throughout. This book is a wonderful immersion in the theory behind what we do – I highly recommend it.” Elizabeth Dartnall, Research Manager, Sexual Violence Research Initiative. “This is a superbly argued collection unpicking the contemporary conceptual ‘framing’ of child sexual exploitation. Essential and challenging reading for all practitioners and researchers working to safeguard children.” Lorraine Radford, University of Central Lancashire