ABSTRACT
Sam (details changed to protect client) was thir teen years old when he was referred to a specialist programme in the North-West of England for young people who had sexual behaviour problems. Sam admitted that he had sexually abused his two sisters and several young cousins over a period of two years. In total it was estimated that Sam had committed some thir ty assaults . After a lengthy interview with Sam, his mother was seen. Barely had the discussion started before Sam’s mother explained how she had first discovered Sam’s sexual behaviour problem three years earlier. She had returned from shopping to discover Sam playing a clearly sexual “doctors and patient” game with his younger sister. She immediately phoned the local social services department and a social worker visited and reassured her that Sam’s behaviour was experimental and that she should not worry.
