English summary of the evaluation of the JANUS Project.
Written by Alexandra Holmboe, Center for applied social psychology From March till June 2005, Center for applied social psychology, Department of psychology, University of Copenhagen has evaluated the JANUS-project. The Ministry of social affairs initiated the evaluation. The evaluation is based on written material published by the project, and on interviews with project workers, some young project participants and their parents. Furthermore, the evaluation is based on information from questionnaires answered by some of the project’s collaborators (The social service system and residential care homes, where some of the young people in treatment, live). In the following, a summary of the overall evaluation of the JANUS-project is given. Among other things, this deals with the project’s understanding of the problem, the project’s assessment and treatment offers, type and extent of cooperation with other professionals, and the gathering and transmission of knowledge and the development of treatment methods and models that has taken place in the project so far. Furthermore, the evaluation of the different interested parties will continuously be mentioned.
Project goals: Since the beginning of the JANUS-project April 2003, the project has had to manage three overall purposes: • To establish a treatment offer for assessment and treatment of young people between the age of 12-18, who have committed sexual assaults or have displayed sexually offensive behaviour • • To gather and transmit knowledge about “young sexual offenders” To develop and describe treatment methods and models
In the evaluation it is pointed out that the JANUS-project until now has considered and attended to all three goals, emphasising the first two tasks in the first project period, however. Furthermore it is pointed out that the JANUS-project from the beginning has organised the different areas of efforts in such a way, that the parallel gathering of knowledge has been worked in, in a systematic and structured way. This systematism makes it possible for the project to continue and intensify the task of describing the developed treatment methods and models, in the present knowledge-gathering phase of the project.
Social services departments from all over the country have contacted the JANUSproject, with cases both within and outside the project’s criteria for participation. This suggests that there exists an unsatisfied need for counselling and treatment offers, which have the problem of “young sexual offenders” as their main focus. In the overall evaluation it is pointed out that the JANUS-project has displayed flexibility and obligingness towards the cases and needs that social services departments has contacted the project with. For example, the project has referred four young people with different degrees of mental retardation, to assessment and treatment in the project (not originally considered as the project’s target group). An overall goal with the JANUS-project’s contribution to treatment has been to contribute with knowledge concerning both individual and general prevention of sexual assaults. The perspective of general prevention has to a large degree been handled through the project’s development of knowledge and treatment methods. Based on the project’s treatment of individual cases, the project has been able to generate knowledge about which circumstances and conditions constitute risk factors for the development of sexually offensive behaviour and what different professionals have to be aware of accordingly. The individual prevention (of relapse) has been taken care of in the treatment clinic established by the JANUS-project. Here, a very encompassing psychological assessment of the young peoples’ difficulties, needs and resources has been the foundation for the formulation of individual treatment plans. At the time of the evaluation, the clinic had 29 young people and their parents in treatment or under assessment. Of these 29 young people, all of them are boys, primarily in the age range between 13-15 years, while the 12 year olds and the 16-18 year olds, both constitute a minority.
Assessment: The assessment offered by the JANUS-project (and by the assistance of an external consultant) consists of different psychological tests together with conversations with the young person and his family and a more thorough interview with the young person. The results from the assessments collected so far point to several general common features of the target group: With regard to cognitive development, the performances from the cognitive tests generally show results lying in the low end of the standard normal area. From the personality test, the results collected so far point to the observation that a majority of the young people are emotionally immature and they can be characterized by having relatively dysfunctional social relations and insufficient social competencies. The neuropsychological tests point to the observation that there in approximately 1/3
of the cases are problems of ADHD (often undiagnosed). With regard to social function, it can be said that a majority of the young people mention that their experiences in school are characterized by feelings of failure, among other things as a consequence of a learning disability. They have often experienced difficulties with peers by being bullied and stigmatised, and have felt themselves standing outside the community. A majority of the young people can be characterised as socially isolated, they lack social competencies and they experience low self-esteem. For some young people this will show itself as introversion and withdrawal, for others in acting-out and in behavioural disorder. In the evaluation, the summary of some young peoples’, parents’ and collaborators’ evaluation of the assessment-offer by the JANUS-project is as follows: The young people particularly emphasize that the assessment has taken place in a secure setting and relation, where they have experienced it as relatively “easy” to talk with project workers about such difficult subjects as the sexual assault. The parents that have been interviewed all emphasize that they have experienced the psychological testing and the verbal feed-back in particular, as very good and helpful,- especially in those cases, where the tests point to the possibility of (until now undiagnosed) neuropsychological difficulties, as for example ADHD, or problems in the autistic spectrum. Very often, this gives parents a possible explanation for difficulties that parents and young people may have experienced for several years – without having received the necessary help and support. The majority of the interviewed collaborators (social services departments and social workers from residential care homes) give a very positive evaluation of the project’s assessment-service. It is mentioned that the assessmentprocess has been very thorough and encompassing, and in some cases has contributed with new and important knowledge about the young person, for the use of the caseworker’s continued work with regard to the young person. In summary, it is the evaluation of the different people involved, that the assessment both gets hold of all relevant aspects of the young person and his family network and that it thereby creates a good fundament for the following planning of the individual treatment process.
Treatment: On the basis of a holistic1, interdisciplinary and network-oriented approach to the problem of “young sexual offenders”, the JANUS-project has developed different treatment offers, both aimed
For example, the project involves the social network of the young person (primarily the family and professionals in touch with the person) and treatment focuses both on working with the young person’s abusive behaviour, and at the same time on the possibility, that the young person himself may be the victim of abuse (sexual, psychological,
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at the young people and their parents. The project offers both individual therapy and group therapy for those young people who the project believes will profit from being in a group. The JANUSproject has until now establishes two groups for young people with average cognitive function, and one group for young people with mental retardation. Furthermore, the project offers family treatment, treatment for parents, and a therapeutic self-help group for parents has been established. The JANUS-project has in several cases offered mediation between the victim and the perpetrator, and this is an area of intervention which both young participants and their parents point out as very important. Mediation is an area that the project plans of making use of even more in the future. It is the conclusion in the evaluation, that the JANUS-project has developed a clear and purposive treatment offer, which the different involved and interviewed parties assess as both relevant and effective in relation to the intended goals of prevention and support for general personality development. All interviewed parties consider the project’s efforts as both necessary and sufficient and the different parties all report about already attained results from the treatment. For example, both the young people, their parents and the project workers themselves point out that the treatment has contributed to the development of social competencies and a beginning attachment to peers, factors which are both considered signs of a part of the young peoples’ increased well-being and development. In addition, the young clients who have been interviewed point out that the treatment has contributed to the fact that “it won’t happen again”.
Counselling, knowledge transmission and cooperation with relevant parties: In connection with the project’s efforts to with regard to assessment and treatment, the project has offered counselling, advice, supervision and given lectures, to both directly involved and other professionals. In addition, the project has established a supervision group for those pedagogues/social workers from residential care homes with a referred young person. In those cases where the JANUS-project begins collaboration around a young client, the social services department is always involved. Furthermore, the project makes an effort to always involve relevant others from the young person’s network, in the treatment process. The project workers have to a large degree -on both own and others’ initiative- also given priority to the task of transmitting and communicating knowledge and information about “young sexual offenders”, gathered until now. This is done through lectures and teaching seminars. Furthermore, the project both arranges and participates in national and international conferences.
physical),- which is the case in 20-30 % of the cases. The goal of the treatment is thus both to be relapse preventing and personality-developing.
Generally, collaborators evaluate the cooperation with and the received services from the project as very positive. Some professionals point out that there is a good and close contact to the project, that they receive good advice and that the project workers are good at offering counselling and help. Others point out that they would like to receive more information about the treatment process or could need more personal supervision. All interviewed cooperation partners point out that the extent of the cooperation (coordinating meetings, contact over the telephone), is sufficient. In the evaluation it is concluded, that the JANUS-project to a large extent has succeeded in establishing an encompassing and well-functioning cooperation, both with involved social services departments and with other professionals involved with the young person. Through this cooperation, the JANUS-project has been able to realize the intended holistic approach concerning the individual young person.
Overall evaluation and suggestions for improvement: It is pointed out in the general evaluation that the JANUS-project’s development of knowledge and treatment methods will be able to contribute with important information and insights about which conditions constitute risk factors for the development of sexually abusive behaviour, and what professionals must be aware of accordingly. At the same time it is pointes out, that the JANUS-project is standing in a double position as a pilot project for “young sexual offenders” – by being both a psychological treatment project and at the same time having the task of contributing to the young clients’ development of new sexual behaviour, on the basis of clear, operational goals for young peoples’ sexual development and behaviour in youth life. These two approaches aren’t necessarily the same, but point to young peoples’ development of general psychological functions or to young peoples’ current youth life respectively. It is pointed out, that the JANUS-project seems to be aware of this double challenge and has reflected on this in their planned efforts and interventions. Although young people with sexually offensive behaviour do not constitute a homogeneous group, the evaluation concludes that social pedagogical or educational interventions may be able to counter some of the difficulties, which seem to be common to a majority of the young people in contact with the project. Difficulties, which are also found in existing research in the area: The young people show a considerable lack of social competencies and their life and school attendance until now is to a certain degree characterized by the lack of social relations to peers. The possibility of social integration and participation in a youth life together with peers are factors of central importance for
young peoples’ development of sexual and social identity and behaviour. In order to be able to transform the gathered knowledge to concrete treatment methods and models for use to local authorities and professionals, it is recommended that the JANUS-project – besides the psychological treatment methods and models which are already developed or are being developed – also contribute to developing guidelines for how social pedagogic/educational interventions towards young people with (a potential) sexually offensive behaviour, could be arranged. The very broad goal perspectives of the JANUS-project point to the big professional responsibility of the project. At the same time, it may be exactly this professional responsibility, which contributes to the fact that the project hasn’t terminated any treatment yet. The evaluation thus points out, that the most central challenge for the JANUS-project lies in transforming and operationalising the experience from the project’s development of knowledge and methods, to goal perspectives for appropriate youth sexual behaviour, and to target and make more specific the project intervention accordingly. Making goals for young peoples’ development operational in such a way, could contribute to focussing the whole treatment process and to unite the general perspectives of psychological development in relation to supporting the young peoples’ development of future sexual behaviour and identity.
Since the evaluation period, the JANUS-project has completed 21 treatment processes. In August 2005, the project has 20 referred cases and 13 more cases waiting for assessment and eventual treatment.