Harmful sexual behaviours against siblings in New Zealand: could assessment of the family environment guide therapeutic intervention?

The current study reports the findings of a pilot study on a community-based sample of adolescent males with harmful sexual behaviours (AHSBs) with sibling or non-sibling sexual offending. Specifically, the study aimed to determine whether using the Family Environment Scale (FES) could differentiate between individual, familial and offence characteristics of those who had sibling victims and those with non-sibling victims, and whether using this tool might aid clinical practice. Results indicated that sibling offending AHSBs experienced significantly greater current familial conflict than non-sibling offending AHSBs. No statistically significant differences between groups were present with respect to offence characteristics, victimisation histories and family functioning. These findings indicate that psychological intervention for harmful sexual behaviour between siblings should include assessment of familial conflict and that psychological intervention for this behaviour may constitute a wider focus beyond the sexually harmful behaviour itself.