Impact case study database

Online PROTECT research and the CPT has changed CSEM client treatment and case formulation practice and improved staff training and awareness across the offender management sector in the UK and internationally.

Improving CSEM practitioner knowledge, treatment confidence and professional practice

Between August 2013 and February 2020, 20 Online PROTECT workshops were delivered to community treatment providers, social work teams, prisons and probation services both in the UK and internationally (Belgium, Canada, Hungary, New Zealand, Russia, USA). The workshops aimed to fill knowledge gaps around CSEM offending behaviour and professional practice response and were attended by clinical psychologists, therapists, police, youth workers, and legal professions. Of those, 10 were fully evaluated ( n = 384; pre-post training data). Evaluation data (collated and demonstrated through multiple figures in **[5.1]**) demonstrates a clear and consistent pattern that the CPT training significantly increased attendees’ knowledge about the topic, psychological approach and risk, and confidence to conduct treatment (e.g., 92.4% of respondents reported increased knowledge about CSEMos, [5.1 pdf p.23 ] . Qualitative comments endorse the benefit of the CPT for practitioners (e.g. “ I believe the CPT has great potential to improve the ways in which we work with CSEM offenders.” and “Really helpful tool that I can envisage using a great deal.”) [5.1, p. 60 ]. These benefits to knowledge are evidenced further by evaluations of a new CPT-based training within Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service [5.2].

Online PROTECT research has also been integrated into staff training and treatment programmes internationally. The University Forensic Centre Antwerp, a provider of specialised out-patient treatment for sexual offenders in Belgium, have used the contact-driven vs fantasy-driven offending behaviour distinction to improve client assessments [5.3]. Counselling and Psychotherapy Centers Inc., a national provider of Sex Offender treatment programmes in the U.S.A, have revised their treatment curriculum to align with the domains identified in the CPT [5.4]. The research has also influenced training content and professional practice in the assessment and treatment of CSEM offenders in Canada [5.5].

Shaping HMPPS Response to CSEM Offending

OnlinePROTECT has enhanced HMPPS staff practice in the management of CSEM offenders. Over 800 offender managers and probation staff have been trained to use the CPT in the North East and Midlands division of HMPPS alone and the CPT has now been integrated into the National Training Programme for staff working with individuals who have committed sexual offences, with training evaluations showing a “ highly significant increase in all domains”, particularly “improved understanding of internet based offending” and “development of a comprehensive understanding of a service user’s risks and needs” [5.6]. The research was further integrated into the HMPPS’ training workshop for all staff working with perpetrators convicted of CSEM offending, is featured in training videos on the CPT and implicit theories on the HMPPS Staff Learning & Development Platform [5.2] and influenced the development of iHorizons, an HMPPS’ treatment programme for men convicted of internet related sexual offences [5.7].

Influencing offender support practice in the Non-statutory/ Charitable Sector

OnlinePROTECT has also improved practice in the non-statutory and charitable sectors. The Lucy Faithfull Foundation, one of the UK’s leading charities working with offenders to prevent child sexual abuse, report that the CSEM Pathways Tool “assisted clients in their understanding of their offending” and crucially “helped structure individual intervention plans by providing a collaborative formulation between the facilitator and the client” [5.8]. In 2020, Circles UK, a national charitable provider who work with sex offenders to support reintegration back into the community, launched Circles Reboot, for individuals who have committed CSEM offences. Circles UK cite the importance of OnlinePROTECT in the conceptualisation of the programme design and enabling self-assessment to be placed at the core of the programme [5.9].

Informing Public Debate and Prevention

OnlinePROTECT researchers helped develop a joint campaign by the Home Office, Internet Watch Foundation and Marie Collins Foundation to reduce child sexual exploitation by improving young men’s knowledge of the law around Indecent Images. Now in its fourth delivery phase, evaluation results have shown a year on year increase in young men’s understanding of the law in this area [5.10a]. OnlinePROTECT researchers were also commissioned by the Centre for Expertise in Child Sexual Abuse (https://www.csacentre.org.uk/\) to conduct an analysis of interventions for CSEM offenders. Key findings from the report were included in the Centre for Expertise’s submission to the Independent Inquiry on Child Sexual Abuse’s Investigation into Child Sexual Exploitation by Organised Networks. The report, published on the CECSA’s website between Feb 2018 and July 2019 had 6,263-page views from 3,965 users [5.10b]