Considering Family Reconnection and Reunification after Child Sexual Abuse

Creating Guidelines for
Behavior Change
The process of creating a safety plan
identifies clear family guidelines for
personal privacy and behavior. These
should be discussed and reinforced with
every adult, teen, and, when appropriate,
child who is a part of the family.
A critical step in the safety plan process is
creating clear guidelines for the individual
who sexually abused a child. The guidelines
should be based upon a thorough risk
assessment conducted by a qualified
professional with input from all members
of the family. These guidelines will vary,
depending upon the risk that the adult, teen,
or child poses to children they harmed in the
past. If the abuse was perpetrated outside
of the family and there are no vulnerable
children within the home, then the specific
criteria will be quite different from a situation
where the abuse occurred within the family.
If the abuse was perpetrated by a child or an
adolescent, the guidelines again will be quite
different from the guidelines set for an adult.
Sample criteria for an adolescent
Sample criteria for an adolescent who
sexually abused a younger child may
include the following guidelines. These
guidelines should include what can be
done as well as what cannot be done
(Chaffin, n.d., p. 4.):
• Absolutely no babysitting.
• No “roaming” the house at night
when adults are asleep.
• No explicitly sexual materials in the
home, especially those depicting
sexual violence.
• Specified safe people for
the adolescent to talk with if
concerned about a situation.
• Supervised, no-contact,
prosocial activities for the
adolescent to engage in.
Sample criteria for an adult
Sample guidelines for an adult
who committed a sexual offense
may include (Cumming & McGrath,
2005, p. 125–126):
• Maintain a written journal of all
visits and debrief all visits with
appropriate professional.
• Always position oneself within
eyesight of an adult.
• Never be alone with a child
for any reason.
• Always knock if a door is closed.
• Always tell someone if any
guideline is broken.
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