The final risk management issue to be explored with professionals was what organisational factors the professionals believed influenced their ability to effectively manage risk. Four key areas were chosen to explore; the role of the organisation, the resources available, the level of professional involvement and caseloads. The results can be seen in Fig 56.
Police YOT/ Probation Social Care Clinical Own Profession 0 2 0 3 different Profession 2 6 3 2 all 0 3 1 1 don’t know 0 0 2 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Nu m b er of Pr ofess ion al s
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Figure 56- Factors influencing risk management
Each professional during interviewed was asked to rate whether they believed certain factors affected their ability to risk management a lot, sometimes or never. All of the professionals interviewed stated these areas affected their ability to manage risk to some degree. The caseload and resources available both scored highest, closely followed by the role of the organisation. The majority of the professionals interviewed believed that these factors significantly affected the ability to manage risk. Professional P14 expanded on their answer stating:
‘I think the resource question is difficult, we are given less and asked to do more. I think it means you have to be creative about solutions, just because you can’t do one thing doesn’t mean you can’t do anything. Life is always easier if you have more money and can get what you want but for me because the harmful sexual behaviour a lot comes down to the child’s stability and attachment and good old Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, that actually quite a lot can be done about their home setting. The level of professional involvement, it depends on the people involved that they have real knowledge they bring and the responsiveness they bring to that child. Caseloads is really interesting because when I left probation I had a caseload of 225, and I currently have officers that are complaining about a caseload of nine, it depends on what you want to achieve in the time and what other services can pick up’
Professional P14 raises interesting points about the pressures on professionals, the limited resources and increasing caseloads. There was a clear sense of professionals wanting to
Role of organisation Resources available Level of professional involvement Caseload a lot 18 19 14 19 sometimes 6 6 11 6 never 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 n u m b e r o f p ro fessi o n al s
173 provide a good service, to make a difference and prevent further offending. Professional P14 also spoke about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need, suggesting that having a strong theoretical base to draw on can aid professionals in responding creatively to the organisational challenges they face.
10. Summary of Findings
There were several findings presented within this chapter. The chapter explored the relationship between risk assessment and risk management. The following findings were highlighted:
The findings indicated that over half of the professionals interviewed believed imposing restrictions is important in order to protect the public.
Professionals believed restrictions need to relate to the offending behaviours and be appropriate, proportionate and individually developed.
Half of the professionals interviewed were cautious about the use of restrictions, questioning the consistency, appropriateness and necessity of them.
The findings question the purpose of the restrictions; whether they were a means of control or therapeutic intervention, or whether they are there to help the offender to manage their behaviour whilst they develop the internal controls to manage the behaviour for themselves.
The findings suggest the link between risk assessment and risk management is at best tenuous and there was a lack of clarity about the process for reviewing restrictions.
Professionals believed the role of the organisation, the resources available to them, the level of professional involvement and the caseload professionals experience all have an impact on risk management.
Professionals indicate that sometimes restrictions are placed on an individual in order to manage professional anxiety and social fear.
The findings indicate that professionals believe that their profession is not given the most weight within multi-agency meeting.
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Chapter 8
Findings: The Experience of the Risk Assessment and Risk
Management Process
1. Introduction
The following chapter explores the experiences adolescents who display harmful sexual behaviour and the professionals who work with them have of the risk assessment process. The chapter focuses on the following overarching research question:
What experience do professionals and young people have of the risk assessment and risk management process?
This question is addressed through a qualitative analysis of interviews with professionals who work with harmful sexual behaviour and young people who have displayed harmful sexual behaviour, gathering information about the experiences of risk assessing through the developmental transition.
The aims of the data collection and analysis were:
a) To explore how young people experience differences in the way services work with them
b) To explore whether professionals believe there are differences in the way services work with adolescents who display harmful sexual behaviour
c) To explore adolescents’ experiences of the risk assessment process d) To explore professionals’ experiences of the risk assessment process
e) To examine the level of involvement young people have in the assessment process f) To examine the usefulness of the assessment process for aiding professionals in developing risk management strategies for adolescents who display harmful sexual behaviour
g) To explore what factors impact on the assessment process h) To consider the key factors for assessing risk
There are a number of people involved in the assessment of sexual risk, such as Police, Youth Offending workers, Probation Officers, Social Care professionals or Psychologists. Each of these professionals will have had different levels of training and will use varying tools in the
175 course of an assessment. It was important to explore the experiences of both the young people and professionals as they undertake the assessment process in order to understand the impact of assessment on those involved.
The findings presented are in respect of the experiences that professionals have of working with and assessing adolescents who display harmful sexual behaviour. It considers how professionals feel about the different risk assessments. There is also an exploration of what professionals believe the assessment process should be like and what influences this process. There follows exploration of the level of involvement the young people would like to have in the assessment process and importantly what they believe are the key factors in reducing their risk.
These findings are reviewed considering the wider themes found in previous research and existing literature, exploring the importance of the findings, analysing the limitations of the findings and considering alternative explanations. There are also recommendations for further areas of study. The chapter concludes by considering how to reduce the challenges experienced by those involved in assessing adolescents who display harmful sexual behaviours.