YOUNG children who have been abused are more vulnerable to abuse later in their childhood a forensic psychologist told the conference yesterday.
Dr Kevin Browne, senior lecturer in clinical criminology at the University of Birmingham said abusers learn to recognise vulnerable children. The children abused under the age of five are often abused by different people when they get older.
In his presentation, "Once a Victim Always a Victim: mechanisms of repeat and re-victimisation", Dr Browne said the consequences of physical and emotional abuse by a child's caretakers means they have low selfesteem, a low sense of self worth and crave affection from anybody.
Sex offenders learn to recognise this in a child and they target that child even though the child does not make any contribution to that in any way. They prey on kids who are vulnerable.
Other problems develop when a child who has been abused both inside and outside the family in turn violently offends against others later.
He said it is important to recognise low self esteem in children and to treat it.
A study of police records in the UK revealed that 25 per cent of children referred to the police protection unit, those at risk from physical or sexual abuse, had had earlier contact with the social services. A separate study of a group of young offenders in Birmingham found that 75 per cent had a history of child maltreatment.
"Most of them had been physically abused first and then sexually abused by others later in their childhood. This was true for females as well as for males," he said.