Family and extended family
While many perpetrators of CCE are associated with organised crime groups or gangs, exploitation can also occur within the family or extended family network. This form of exploitation is often hidden and complex, requiring practitioners to consider the child or young person’s immediate environment and relationships.
Paramilitary threats can compel families to facilitate CCE, with compliance driven by fear for their own or others’ safety rather than intent. Family members may face threats of serious harm or death, and such coercion can lead to involvement in CCE.
Family members may face threats of serious harm or death, and such coercion can lead to involvement in CCE, as outlined in Swaine’s (2024) research “When you know what they are capable of”: Paramilitary-related Gendered Coercive Control – Foyle Womens Aid offer Domestic Abuse, Domestic Violence Support in Derry / Londonderry, Strabane, Limavady & Dungiven
Key dynamics of family-based exploitation
Coercion and manipulation
Family members may pressure or manipulate children and young people into criminal activity for financial gain or other benefits. This can include drug trafficking, theft, or money laundering as highlighted in research undertaken by Ulster University and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) “Identifying Child Criminal Exploitation in Northern Ireland” (2025).
Normalisation of criminal behaviour
In some households, criminal behaviour is normalised or even encouraged. Children and young people raised in such environments may view illegal activity as acceptable or necessary, increasing their vulnerability to exploitation.
Exploitation of vulnerability
Families experiencing poverty, substance use, or domestic abuse may exploit their children’s vulnerabilities. Children and young people may be forced into criminal activity to support household income or a relative’s addiction. “The impact of coercive control on children and young people” (NSPCC, 2023).
Grooming and control
Similar to external perpetrators, family members may groom children and young people, using emotional manipulation, threats, or violence to maintain control. This can be particularly difficult to detect due to the perceived trust within familial relationships.
Intergenerational exploitation
Exploitation can be cyclical, with parents or carers who were themselves exploited as children continuing the pattern with their own children. This perpetuates a cycle of abuse and criminality within families, and more broadly on community and conflict dynamics, research on intergenerational transmission of offending behaviours supports this concept. The Executive Programme on Paramilitarism and Organised Crime (EPPOC) published three films in its video series which aims to highlight the impact of paramilitary harm on children and communities. EPPOC Case Study Series
Lack of Awareness
Some family members may not fully understand the harm they are causing. They may believe they are helping the child or young person, or acting in the family’s best interest, without recognising the exploitative nature of their actions.
Practitioner Considerations
Holistic assessment
Consider the child or young person’s family environment when assessing risk. Exploitation may be occurring within trusted relationships.
Trauma-informed practice
Children and young people exploited by family members may experience complex trauma and require sensitive, long-term support.
Multi-agency collaboration
Collaborate with education, health, social care, policing and community and voluntary sector to identify and respond to familial exploitation.
Safeguarding pathways
Ensure clear referral routes are available for children and young people at risk of intra-familial exploitation, including access to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM).