Working to reduce child sexual abuse: The perspectives of social workers in an Irish context

In 2016, the Tulsa Child and Family Agency received 3,042 referrals of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) (Tusla, 2017). These figures demonstrate that despite the increased awareness of CSA in Ireland, improved legislation for the protection of children, and the introduction of the ‘Stay Safe’ education programme, the sexual abuse of children remains a serious problem in modern Ireland. The aim of this study is to explore how to work towards reducing CSA. A qualitative method was adopted to explore the views of 12 Tusla Child and Family Agency social workers. This involved semi-structured interviews, which were subsequently analysed using thematic analysis. Findings are categorised into four overarching themes: ‘Identification of risk’, ‘New challenges in CSA – 21st century risk factors’, ‘The Irish cultural context’, and ‘Response to and prevention of CSA’. Findings are related to existent literature, and implications are outlined for theory, clinical practice, policy and research.