Child sexual exploitation and youth offending: A research note
| Author | Ella Cockbain,Helen Brayley |
| DOI | 10.1177/1477370812453401 |
| Date | 01 November 2012 |
| Published date | 01 November 2012 |
| Subject Matter | Research note |
European Journal of Criminology
9(6) 689 –700
© The Author(s) 2012
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DOI: 10.1177/1477370812453401
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Child sexual exploitation
and youth offending:
A research note
Ella Cockbain and Helen Brayley
University College London, UK
Abstract
Links between child sexual exploitation (CSE) and youth offending should be better recognised,
according to these preliminary research findings from the UK. Data from a leading CSE service
provider and Youth Offending Team were analysed for the period 2001–2010 inclusive. Of CSE
victims, 40 percent had offending records and recidivism rates were high. Together they committed
1586 offences – 5 percent of all local youth crime. Male and female offending behaviour differed
significantly. The types of offences identified were potentially symptomatic of CSE. Referral to CSE
services typically post-dated arrest, indicating that children were recognised first as offenders.
Challenges in researching the interactions between these two complex issues are discussed. This study
has important implications for youth justice policy and practice, both nationally and internationally.
Keywords
Child sexual exploitation, youth offending, juvenile offending, youth justice
Introduction
This short paper examines the interaction between two serious social issues: child sexual
exploitation (CSE) and youth offending. CSE is the exchange of the sexual services of a
child for commodities, where in England and Wales a child is someone aged 17 years or
under (DCSF, 2009). Commodities may be tangible, such as cigarettes or money, or
intangible, such as affection, and are given either directly to the victim or to a third-party
facilitator. CSE involves asymmetrical power relationships, whereby the victim’s emo-
tional, mental or physical immaturity or socioeconomic disadvantage is exploited (Chase
and Statham, 2005). Alongside the immediate trauma of abuse, CSE has been linked to
mental, emotional and behavioural difficulties, including truancy, substance abuse,
apathy, aggressive outbursts and self-harm (CEOP, 2011). In 2011, the issue of CSE
Corresponding author:
Ella Cockbain, Department of Security and Crime Science, University College London, London,
WC1H 9EZ, UK.
Email: eleanor.cockbain.09@ucl.ac.uk
453401EUC9610.1177/1477370812453401European Journal of CriminologyCockbain and Brayley
2012
Research note
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