Children Who Demonstrate Abusive Behaviours Towards Other Children or Adults

Severe harm may be caused to children by abusive and bullying behaviours of other children, which may be physical, sexual or emotional and such abuse must be taken as seriously as abuse perpetrated by an adult. Abusive/inappropriate behaviour is often characterised by a lack of true consent, the presence of a power imbalance and exploitation - the same signs and symptoms that pertain to the abuse of children by adults are applicable to the abuse of children by other children.

The effect on the victim of intimidation and peer pressure by the person displaying the abusive behaviours  may make disclosure difficult for the victim.

The boundary between what is abusive and what is part of normal childhood or youthful experimentation can be blurred. The ability of professionals to determine whether a child's sexual behaviour is developmental, inappropriate or abusive will hinge around the related concepts of true consent, power imbalance and exploitation. This may include children who exhibit a range of sexually harmful behaviours such as indecent exposure, obscene telephone calls, fetishism, bestiality and sexual abuse against adults or children and accessing/downloading sexually abusive child images from the Internet.

Developmental sexual activity encompasses those actions which are to be expected from children as they move from infancy through to adulthood, developing an understanding of their physical, emotional and behavioural relationships with each other. Such sexual activity is essentially information-gathering and experimentation characterised by mutuality and consent.

Sexual behaviour can be inappropriate socially, inappropriate to development or both. It is important to consider what negative effects the behaviour has on any of the parties involved and what concerns it raises about a child. It should be recognised that the behaviour may be motivated by information-seeking but may cause significant upset, confusion physical damage etc. It may also be that the behaviour is acting out which may derive from other sexual situations which the child has been exposed to.

Abusive sexual activity is characterised by behaviour involving coercion, threats, aggression together with secrecy or where one participant relies on an unequal powerbase.

Professionals must decide in the circumstances of each individual situation whether or not behaviour directed at another child should be categorised as 'abusive' and it will be helpful to consider the following factors:

• Relative chronological and developmental age of the children (the greater the difference the more likely the behaviour should be defined as abusive);
• A differential in power or authority e.g. related to race or physical or intellectual vulnerability of the victim;
• Actual behaviour (both physical and verbal factors must be considered);
• Whether the behaviour could be described as age appropriate or involves inappropriate sexual knowledge or motivation;
• Physical aggression, bullying or bribery;
• The victim's experience and perception of the behaviour;
• Attempts to ensure secrecy;
• An assessment of the change in the behaviour over time (whether it has become more severe or more frequent);
• Duration and frequency of behaviour.

If any worker from any agency considers that the behaviour of any young person (of any age) is cause for concern (in terms of sexually harmful behaviour) then they must make a referral to First Contact following the appropriate referral process as detailed in the Assessments Procedure.

Where a child is already known to Children's social care consideration needs to be given to whether an AIM assessment/information sharing meeting is appropriate and a concern referral needs to be made (see Durham Safeguarding Children Partnership Procedures Manual, Harmful Sexual Behaviour Procedure).

If allegations concern abuse of an adult by a child, the Police would normally undertake the criminal investigation, but a referral to Children's Social Care should take place about any allegation of abusive behaviour by a child, irrespective of the age of the victim.

Adult and Health Services and/or Tees Esk, Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV) should be informed and involved when a vulnerable adult is alleged to have been abused.

It should be considered that the child who is displaying abusive behaviours could also be a victim of abuse now or historically.

Bullying is a common form of deliberately hurtful behaviour, usually repeated over a period of time, where it is difficult for the victims to defend themselves.

Damage inflicted by bullying is often underestimated. It can cause considerable distress and affect health and development and, in the extreme, can cause significant harm, including self-harm. This could be via acts of omission or commission by an individual or institution.

Bullying takes many forms, but the three main types are physical (hitting, kicking, theft), verbal (racist or homophobic remarks, threats, name calling) and emotional e.g. isolating an individual from social activities. Perpetrators and victims may be male or female.

All settings in which children are provided with services or are living away from home are required to adopt policies to combat bullying including cyber bullying via mobile phones or internet usage and in the first instance, situations  should be dealt with under such policies.

When there are concerns about sexual abuse or serious or persistent physical or emotional abuse, referrals should be made to Children's Social Care or the Police.

Bullying may involve an allegation of crime (assault, theft, harassment) and this must be reported to the Police at the earliest opportunity.

On receipt of a referral to Children's Social Care, a decision should be taken if the threshold for a statutory service has been met and if so, the referrals must be progressed to a Families First team so consideration can be given to whether a strategy meeting is required. The Police must be informed if a criminal offence may have been committed in line with the Durham Safeguarding Children Partnership Procedures Manual.

When the decision is reached that the alleged behaviour does not constitute abuse and there is no need for further enquiry or criminal investigation, the details of the referral and the reasons for the decision must be recorded. In these circumstances consideration should be given to the need for any further assessment or support services under Children In Need or early help from any agency. The referral will be triaged and progressed as appropriate.

If a decision is reached that the behaviour does constitute alleged abuse and the person displaying the abusive behaviours is a child, the referral will be progressed into Children's Social Care and a Strategy Meeting must be convened. There are occasions where the assessed risk is deemed to be high to the child and in such instances the meeting should be convened on the same day.

In situations where the alleged perpetrator is below the age of criminal responsibility, those involved in the Strategy Meeting should agree whether Police involvement at the S47 enquiry stage is necessary.

When the children concerned are the responsibility of different local authorities, each must be represented at the Strategy Meeting, which will usually be convened and chaired by the authority in which the victim lives.

The Strategy Meeting must consider the needs of both children. It may be helpful for separate meetings to be convened for the child who has suffered from the abusive behaviours and for the child who has displayed abusive behaviours.

To ensure that both are supported through the process of the enquiry and that both their needs are fully assessed a different social worker may be allocated to each child, even when they live in the same household.

Strategy discussion(s) should be convened and chaired by Children's Social Care and a record made. The following individuals should be invited to the meeting:

• Social worker for the child suspected or alleged to have displayed abusive behaviours towards another person;
• Social worker for the child alleged to have been abused;
• The social workers' team manager(s);
• A representative from the Police
• County Durham Youth Offending Services representative where the child displaying abusive behaviours  is aged ten or over;
• School representative(s) (particularly if the concerns suggest that other children in the school setting may have been or may be at risk of being abused);
• School nurse or other health services staff as required;
• Child protection school liaison officer;
• Education welfare service;
• Representatives of fostering or residential care as applicable;
• Any other professionals involved with the child (or where relevant the family) e.g. CYPMHS.

The discussion/s must plan in detail the respective roles of those involved in enquiries and ensure that:

• Information relevant to the protection needs of the child who has experienced abusive behaviours is gathered;
• Any criminal aspects of the abusive behaviour is investigated;
• Any information relevant to the child displaying abusive behaviours in terms of their history and any abusive experiences and protection needs.

In planning the investigation the following should be considered:

• Age of both children;
• Seriousness of the alleged incident;
• Effect on the victim and her/his own view of personal safety;
• Parental attitude and ability to protect their child;
• Arrangements to protect the victim and other children, especially where the children are in the same household or school class;
• Whether there is suspicion that the child displaying abusive behaviours  has also been abused;
• Whether there is reason to suspect that adults are also involved;
• The likelihood of criminal prosecutions taking place.

When there is suspicion that the child is displaying abusive behaviours but is also a victim of abuse, the Strategy Meeting must consider the order in which interviews will take place.

Where Police decide to conduct a separate 'offender' interview, Children's Social Care will not normally be involved other than in performing any statutory responsibilities to the child e.g. as appropriate adult.

Throughout the enquiry, the immediate protection of the child(ren) must be ensured, if that is necessary.

Children's Social Care Team Managers must ensure that critical risk assessments are completed in all circumstances where sexually harmful behaviour has been referred.

When there are insufficient grounds for holding a Child Protection Conference, or where one has been held but a child protection plan was not implemented, a multi-agency approach will still be needed if the child has complex needs that require support.

In such situations, a multi-agency meeting should be convened by Children's Social Care to pool information, allocate roles and set a time-table for an assessment of the needs of the child and the risks, as well as to co-ordinate any other interim intervention.

The meeting should be chaired by the appropriate team manager and held within:

• Fifteen working days of the last Strategy Meeting; or
• A maximum of three months of the Child Protection Conference which decided that a Child Protection Plan was not required but implemented a Child In Need Plan, and six months thereafter, or more frequently dependent on the Plan.

Those invited should include participants of the Strategy Meetings and representatives from health (including Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services (CYPMHS)), school and any other appropriate service provider, the child and her/his parents / carers.

A plan should be agreed which:

• Defines the elements of a multi-agency assessment;
• Identifies any specialist assessments;
• Addresses any immediate intervention required to minimise risk of future offending, including educational and accommodation needs;
• Co-ordinates the role of relevant agencies and identifies those responsible for specific actions;
• Defines timescales, expected outcomes and contingency arrangements.

On completion of the assessment, the same forum should be reconvened (within three months) to consider the outcome and the use of a further child in need plan.

Intervention should be reviewed subsequently at multi-agency meetings at intervals of no more than six months. At the point of closure, the review should consider the possible need for long-term monitoring and the availability of advice and other services.

Each meeting should consider the need for relevant professionals to meet regularly prior to the next review, so as to ensure that the plan is progressed and contingency arrangements implemented if required.