PBs Evidence Base

Dear All,

At our recent PB Trainer meetings we have started a conversation about the Evidence Base for PBs. This has always been an area of “weakness” for PBs – we all know there is a mass of anecdotal evidence of its effectiveness yet no one has done/been able to do a rigorous evaluation of PBs.

Given “proper” evaluation is so difficult and expensive to do we agreed in our discussions that it makes more sense for us to look to the evidence base of other similar models/programmes. I have started to look into this as has Terri from Safety-Net in Brighton.

However, in order to find the most relevant evidence from elsewhere, we first need to be able to give clear answers to the questions:
What does PBs do?
What impact does PBs have? (ie what change or difference does PBs bring about)?

I am finding it difficult to answer these questions myself; I often describe PBs thus….”it is a powerful, easy-to-use “toolkit” that promotes safeguarding, develops personal resilience and emotional safety.”

In thinking about what PBs does I have come up with the following list:
• Develops Emotional Literacy (Illiteracy)
• Teaches safety skills
• Develops awareness of self/other
• Encourages/enables Personal Development
• Builds resilience/well-being
• Develops Response-Ability
• Develops Relationship Skills
• Enables us to bridge internal & external world; personal & social
• Creates both Protective and Connective culture
• Promotes Safeguarding
• Enables us to have adventures and RoP

I can imagine some of you would list others things so I would welcome creating more clarity and shared meaning. And in the hope of generating some useful discussion to move us forward with developing a credible and effective evidence base for PBs I would really appreciate hearing how any of you would answer these questions.

In anticipation
Lucy

Hi Lucy,
Having been back from the Safety Net PB conference for a week now, I'm reading through my notes and the handouts in order to help me retain the wealth of information shared and then also remembered your reference to this post.

I'm wondering now if you feel any further forward with your thinking having heard what we did and what, if anything, I could perhaps offer in addition. Just about to settle down with a cuppa and my reading, so will maybe post some more later today?

I really enjoyed the conference for a wealth of reasons, not least of all catching up with you, so many other PBPeople and meeting some new ones.
SA

Hi Sally-Ann, and others,
Firstly, thanks for your message Sally-Ann. I feel Terri and I are progressing with developing an evidence base, having had a further discussion after the conference. We are both planning to work this up more over the summer. So more conversations would be helpful over the next few weeks if you have some time.

AND I am still interested, and think there is value, in further discussion amongst PBs trainers and practitioners as to my original two questions:

What does PBs do?
What impact does PBs have? (ie what change or difference does PBs bring about)?


I have also just come across the following website www.lucyfaithfull.org.uk . They are "currently running a major project to identify effective and promising responses to child sexual abuse from around the world with the aim of helping nations implement effective strategies to protect children from sexual harm. Link below will take you to the relevant page."

www.lucyfaithfull.org.uk/ecsa_eradicatin...ild_sexual_abuse.htm

IF you click on this blue map in RHS of page it takes you to the "prezzi" they have created to illustrate all the different programmes they have collated so far. There also seems to be a list of other responders to their request for info for this project in which I see at number 103 "Protective Behaviour Workbook"! No further information at the moment. It looks like they have an office in Epsom and Alvechurch, Birmingham. Wondering if anyone come across the organisation?

Also I am thinking it would be good to submit something about Protective Behaviours for their research. Donald Findlater, their Director of Research and Development, will be doing a workshop about the Smallbones Framework at the conference I am going to in Cape Town in September.- see link below:

www.lucyfaithfull.org.uk/files/ECSA%20Framework.pdf

Wondering if anyone come across Smallbones Framework too?
Any thoughts/suggestions generally about what we might submit to their research project - they have created a 12 step framework into which they are gathering information from responders so we would need to think about where PBs might fit/how we frame it.

Look forward to hearing from others.
Best wishes
Lucy

Hi Lucy,
Bit of background: Donald knows of Protective Behaviours. I had a conversation with him a year ago last March and he was already aware. Not sure how much depth of knowledge, but I recall talking to him about the PB language of safe and unsafe secrets along with other basics. I also mentioned the Taking Care Scheme I run in Warwickshire and the fact it was based on PBs. He was running the Safer Recruitment train the trainer course I was on at the Foundation HQ in Alvechurch.
It would be good to contribute to his work, no time at the moment here to look at it but will try and get to it sometime soon.
Ann

hi all

had a quick look at this, interesting to note that the Frieda Briggs programme ' Keeping Ourselves Safe' is featured highly. from what I understand of this it is essentially PB but with added elements to the programme around public and private, naming body parts etc. There is an article comparing this programme to PB in a Child Abuse Review Journal which is written by Frieda Briggs in which she concludes that her programme is a lot better than PBs!

Freda Briggs has tried to sabotage PBs both in Australia and USA. Her programme uses more command mode and is not really PB consistent. I have attend a PB conference where she has canned PBs. It was disturbing to watch. She sees PBs as as a sexual abuse prevention programme and does not understand it is an empowerment process. Sheer from Di