Profiling CSE: building a contextual picture of a local problem

This chapter explores the contribution that problem profiling has made to child sexual exploitation (CSE) practice within the United Kingdom and considers the implications of this work for local, national and international policy and practice. It provides a brief introduction to the concept of problem profiling. The chapter outlines the methodology of the seminar series, and the theoretical framework that informed both it and the approaches taken to research and practice by the authors. It considers three thematic issues that emerged from the series that have implications for how profiling activity is used as part of a response to CSE. The chapter discusses the learning from this process to make recommendations for policy and practice development. It explores the interdependent relationships between the objectives of problem profiling, approaches to information sharing and the dissemination/presentation of CSE profiles. Contextual profiling risks labelling those individuals, groups and environments that are more visible to professionals as problematic.