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A Practitioners' Tool for the Assessment of Adults Who Sexually Abuse Children

★★★★★

Jeff Fowler ISBN 978184310 6395

This book lives up to its title in being strictly a practitioner's tool and not a textbook. By its own admission it is light on theory, and some of the theories presented are nothing new for those familiar with the field of sexual offending, writes Dr Andrew Durham.

There is little or no mention of varied pathways to abusing the balancing of risks against strengths, or holistic approaches beyond assessment that involve identifying and building upon an offender's skills and competences to meet needs appropriately.

The book presents a range of sometimes lengthy assessment checklists - one has 81 items. These cover: childhood experiences perception of self past and current relationships perception of children sexual history offence history account of sexual abuse response to previous treatment and future aspirations.

Despite some of the reservations, overall the book does amount to a useful practice tool and succeeds in drawing together key assessment factors and information will benefit practitioners in working with this group.

Dr Andrew Durham, consultant practitioner, Warwickshire SIBS/independent child care consultant