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This paper draws on work undertaken to inform the alternative Children's Right Impact Assessment (CRIA) undertaken by the Observatory for Children's Human Rights Scotland (the observatory) in the early months of the impact of COVID-19 in the UK. With reference to children who are at risk of neglect and abuse, potentially subject to statutory intervention in family life, or living in care, the paper focuses on the purpose, process and value of children's rights impact assessments (CRIAs). It argues that wider understanding of the limitations of policy-making processes and close attention to existing limitations of CRIAs can help to enhance their effectiveness in achieving the realisation of children's rights in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews 26 reports into deaths and serious abuse of children in families who were subject to the No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) rule. Our analysis illustrates vulnerabilities caused by exclusionary policies, exacerbating social deprivation and isolation experienced by the children and families and making it more difficult for professionals to respond in ways which safeguarded children's welfare. Drawing upon a social model for protecting children that requires recognition of the social determinants of harm and the economic, social and cultural barriers faced by families, we examine the experiences of children and families with NRPF who were the subject of a serious case review, and the responses of agencies responsible for safeguarding child welfare. We conclude with recommendations for practices aimed at promoting the rights and well‐being of children and families subject to NRPF rules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a feasibility study for an evaluation of a UK primary school‐based prevention programme that addresses multiple forms of abuse and neglect, identifying research design and ethical issues and exploring research practice. For this feasibility study, 194 children aged 6–11 years completed a baseline survey and 113 did so following the intervention. Eight focus groups were undertaken with 52 children and nine interviews with school staff. We highlight key considerations for conducting large‐scale mixed‐method research on sensitive topics with younger children, a focus that is largely absent from the extant research methods literature. The feasibility study showed that younger children can contribute their views on sensitive topics in ways that are measurable, replicable and reliable, contesting ideas that certain topics are too sensitive to explore with younger children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of parents' cannabis use in the context of child protection has far‐reaching implications for how their parenting is perceived and assessed and for the decisions made regarding their children's lives. Yet little is known about the meanings various stakeholders in child protection processes attribute to parents' cannabis use. This paper aims to explore constructions of parents' cannabis use in child protection court proceedings and position them within a political and social context. A qualitative data mining method was used to examine 32 Family Court judgements in care proceedings that involved parents using cannabis in England and Wales. The analysis of the judgements revealed that most portrayed parents' cannabis use as a negative, deviant and harmful activity. Three constructions of cannabis use were identified: cannabis use as a risk to children, cannabis use as proof of parents' deficits, and cannabis use as (responsible) self‐medication. The discussion considers the findings in light of two social and political processes that underpin child protection policy and practice: the adoption of a risk perspective and the manifestation of othering processes. Implications for policy and practice highlight the importance of developing a critical framework for responding to parental cannabis use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the current state of literature on peer parental advocacy, offering practical insights and ideas for researchers and practitioners interested in this evolving field. Design/methodology/approach: This narrative review is a comprehensive, critical and objective analysis of the current knowledge on peer parental advocacy. Findings: Parental peer advocacy (PPA) has seen growing interest, with increasing research detailing the benefits and challenges. It is now being considered within children's services across the UK, drawing upon the success of similar initiatives, especially in the USA. There is a compelling case for PPA, not least as it may contribute to resolving the longstanding challenges within children services of families having the opportunity to meaningfully participate in decision-making (Corby et al., 1996; Muench et al., 2017; Bekaert et al., 2021). Research limitations/implications: Parental advocacy (PA) continues to be an evolving area of academic research and policy development both in the United Kingdom and internationally. Emerging research suggests a compelling case for an expansion in PPA within child welfare and protection systems, specifically in case, program and policy advocacy. Practical implications: PA continues to be an evolving area of academic research and policy development both in the United Kingdom and internationally. Emerging research suggests a compelling case for an expansion in PPA within child welfare and protection systems, specifically in case, program and policy advocacy. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is one of the first UK-based narrative reviews that critically analyses the research, highlighting the limitations and strengths of adopting PPA as an approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper By Ward et al. (Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2019) in the issue of the JCPP, is an excellent example of preparing a new programme for parents with children at high risk of present and future behaviour problems. It was to be delivered in a very deprived population in a township in South Africa. We discuss the paper but also raise questions about developing new programmes when they are already successful programmes available and discuss whether it is time for programme developers to meet to discuss what works best and for whom. Read the full article at doi: 10.1111/jcpp.13129 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a UK study which examined the identification of, and support for young people with learning disabilities who experience, or are at risk of, child sexual exploitation (CSE). CSE has received considerable attention in the UK, with evidence suggesting an increased risk for young people with learning disabilities. However, no study has specifically focused on this group, and their voices remain largely unheard. In‐depth interviews with 27 young people with learning disabilities were undertaken to explore how to meet their needs. This paper presents the young people's voices and identifies areas for improvements in policy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper introduces a systemic methodology for reviewing professional responses to abuse between young people. The approach, “contextual case reviewing,” draws upon constructivist structuralism to assess the extent to which safeguarding practices engage with the social and public contexts of abuse. The paper conceptually compares the methodologies of contextual case review and other serious case review methods before drawing upon findings from 2 studies, which used the contextual case review methodology to explore the extrafamilial nature of peer‐on‐peer abuse and the ability of child protection practices to engage with this dynamic. Thematic findings from these studies regarding the practical interpretation of “significant harm” and “capacity to safeguard,” as well as their use within child protection assessments, are used to challenge conclusions of other case reviews, which imply that child protection procedures are sufficient for safeguarding young people. Contextual case reviews suggest that safeguarding practices, and the legislation that underpins them, are culturally, procedurally, and organisationally wedded to the context of the home, whereas insufficiently engaged with extrafamilial contexts of significant harm. The application of these issues require interrogation if social work systems are to provide sufficient mechanisms for safeguarding young people and families at risk of significant harm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public inquiries have become a standard governmental response to managing matters of public interest and concern, including child abuse, in a number of countries, but questions have been raised over whether they are worth the time, money and resources. This paper examines experts' perceptions of the aims and outcomes of public inquiries, before moving on to consider whether there are more effective and efficient ways of investigating national scandals. Based on findings from a thematic analysis of the proceedings of a four‐day expert summit, and semi‐structured interviews with 16 participants who have been involved in child abuse inquiries in the UK and elsewhere, it concludes that public inquiries are not fulfilling all of their competing objectives. While a limited number of inquiries into the care and protection of children have had a positive impact on policy or practice, or successfully raised public awareness overall, there is little evidence of effectiveness. There is a need to: rethink the purpose, scope, methodology and impact of such inquiries to ensure that they are more effective and cost‐efficient; place children, victims and survivors at the centre; and use a wider range of professional expertise and skills. 'Examines experts' perceptions of the aims and outcomes of public inquiries... [and] consider[s] whether there are more effective and efficient ways of investigating national scandals' Key Practitioner Messages: Victims should be at the centre of any process to investigate serious cases of child abuse.Serious cases should be investigated by multidisciplinary teams comprising individuals with a range of different skill sets and capabilities.Cases where things have gone wrong should be considered alongside evidence from cases where children are well protected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child protection continues to be a pressing social problem. Robust and relevant research is essential in order to ensure that the scale and nature of child maltreatment are understood and that preventative and protective measures are effective. This paper reports selected results from a mapping review of research conducted in the UK and published between January 2010 and December 2014. The purpose of the review was twofold: to develop a typology of child protection research; and to use this typology to describe the features and patterns of empirical research undertaken recently in the UK in order to inform a future research agenda. The paper reports the maltreatment types, substantive topics and research designs used within empirical research published in academic journals. It identifies a number of challenges for the field including the need for conceptual clarity regarding types of abuse, greater methodological diversity and a shift of focus from response to prevention of child maltreatment. The importance of a national strategic agenda is also emphasised. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Messages A substantial proportion of empirical research focuses on child maltreatment generally and less is known about some specific types of maltreatment such as exposure to domestic abuse and child trafficking., More robust evidence is particularly needed concerning the effectiveness of interventions and choice of preventative approaches., Research-minded practitioners have an important contribution to make to the development of a practice-relevant research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe and explain trauma-informed approaches (TIAs) to mental health. It outlines evidence on the link between trauma and mental health, explains the principles of TIAs and their application in mental health and explores the extent to which TIAs are impacting in the UK.Design/methodology/approach The approach is a conceptual account of TIAs including a consideration of why they are important, what they are and how they can become more prevalent in the UK. This is supported by a narrative overview of literature on effectiveness and a scoping of the spread of TIAs in the UK.Findings There is strong and growing evidence of a link between trauma and mental health, as well as evidence that the current mental health system can retraumatise trauma survivors. There is also emerging evidence that trauma-informed systems are effective and can benefit staff and trauma survivors. Whilst TIAs are spreading beyond the USA where they developed, they have made little impact in the UK. The reasons for this are explored and ways of overcoming barriers to implementation discussed.Originality/value This paper – authored by trauma survivors and staff – describes an innovative approach to mental health service provision that, it is argued, could have immense benefits for staff and service users alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An estimated one in nine children will run away from home or substitute care before their 16th birthday in the UK. This paper explores the safeguarding concerns and responses for children and young people who run away or go missing from home. The majority of children and young people run away from home due to family relationship problems. Running away or being physically absent from home may be due to abuse and neglect. One in 11 children reported being hurt or harmed whilst running away. For some young people, 'running to' a person or situation can present many risks and can be part of a coercive and exploitative relationship. Despite these multiple indicators of risk, there has been little focus on safeguarding policies and practice for children and young people who run away from home. Drawing on a case example of a third-sector service using Return Interview Assessments, this paper argues that professionals must ensure that all children and young people who run away or go missing from home are given meaningful opportunities to be listened to, and taken seriously, in order to ensure that a wide range of safeguarding concerns can be addressed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Messages: When a child runs away from home, something may be wrong in that child's life., Some children run away or are absent from home due to abuse or neglect., Some children are 'running to' a place or person, which can place them at even more risk of harm., All children who run away need to have an opportunity to talk about what is happening in their life without feeling judged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on the Founder's lecture of the same title presented at the BASPCAN Congress, 'New Directions in Child Protection and Well-being', in April 2015 in Edinburgh. In a very schematic way, it attempts to critically review changes in child protection policies in the UK since the first BASPCAN Congress in 1991. It argues that while there are similarities, there are also important differences. The nature of the problems to be addressed has become both broader and more complex and this is reflected in developments in policy and practice. At the same time, the challenges for child protection have become increasingly politicised such that the narrative of professional and system failure has become more dominant and pervasive. This has the effect of deflecting political and policy attention from the size and nature of the social problems to be addressed. The paper concludes by considering the most recent developments and their possible impact including the statutory Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse chaired by Justice Lowell Goddard. Key Practitioner Messages The changing political contexts are significant for the way in which practice is and can be carried out., In many ways, developments over the last 24 years can be seen as a story of growing social awareness and progress rather than one of 'blame and failure'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of safeguarding children from violence is internationally recognised. However, detecting, intervening and protecting children from abuse both within the family and in institutions is complex. This paper specifically focuses on safeguarding in England and how workforce reform in the early years offers the opportunity to forge new partnerships with families and professionals. These relationships have the potential to support more positive outcomes for babies, young children and families who are ‘in need’ or where the children are at risk of significant harm or abuse has occurred. The paper draws on the findings from research exploring the impact of workforce reform in the early years and how the changes impact upon the wider safeguarding agenda. It will argue that the introduction of an inter-disciplinary graduate professional in the early years has afforded an opportunity to forge new partnerships that have the potential to significantly impact on child maltreatment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper develops Professor Eileen Munro's coverage of ‘emotional dimensions’ in her Review of Child Protection in England. It argues that managerialism has failed to recognise the importance of the emotional life of human beings and the importance of the relationships we build in social work and that this failure seriously hinders the quality and effectiveness of social work. The paper begins with an account of what an ‘emotional dimension’ might encompass and, drawing on conceptualisations mainly from neuroscience, looks at what is meant by the words emotions and feelings, affect, attunement and empathy. A second section looks at the skewed representation of logical thinking as innately superior to emotional and intuitive reasoning and the part played by conscious and unconscious elements within judicial decision-making. It then analyses the dangers evident in the more extreme and rigid forms of managerialism that can be found in some areas of social work and a final section argues that for managerialism to be humanised it calls for an emotionally responsive relationship-based practice to be located at the heart of social work. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The publication of theMunro Review of Child Protection: Final Report(2011b, Department for Education, London) was the culmination of an extensive and expansive consultation process into the current state of child protection practice across the UK. Despite the concern about ‘blame’ within the report, there is, surprisingly, at no point an explicit reference to the dynamics and practices of ‘scapegoating’ that are so closely associated with organisational blame cultures. This paper examines this gap in understanding of the recurrence of shortcomings in child care social work practice and suggests that unless the dynamics of scapegoating are more fully understood, new developments, such as the systems approach advocated by Munro, will fall short of their potential impact. A critical review of existing understanding of scapegoating is presented and the paper concludes by outlining initiatives to counter the detrimental effect of scapegoating of everyday practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper offers a historical and psychosocial account of ‘moral panics’ about child maltreatment in England over the last four decades, and proposes this perspective as additional to Munro's more systemic account of the same history. The formal child protection system is theorised in terms of an explicit and a covert dual primary task. The overt task is to actually protect vulnerable children and prevent abuse; the covert task is to protect the remainder of society from exposure to anxiety provoking ‘dangerous knowledge’ about the prevalence of child maltreatment. Episodes of public and political moral panic occur when the boundaries of containment provided by the official system and its processes are breached, propelling debate and contestation about child maltreatment into the public sphere, where public enquiries and other social mechanisms are called upon to ‘settle’ the contested issues. Sometimes these social settlements appear to be successful in resolving conflicts about the reality or otherwise of specific forms of abuse; in other cases, especially child deaths, the controversial and anxiety-laden nature of the problem is recurrently projected back into the public domain. The paper suggests that this may be associated with a difficulty about establishing a secure symbolic framework or discourse in society for the emotionally indigestible facts of child torture and murder. In turn, this may be associated with problems about the decline of public mourning rituals and the failure of the public enquiry format to facilitate this. In line with Munro, the paper argues for the importance of a tragic perspective on child maltreatment, to counter idealisations of the capacity of the formal system to protect children. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Understanding how survivors of complex trauma navigate towards resources can inform the design of interventions and health promotion strategies. However, there are little data on the resilience and help-seeking experiences of this group or others who have experienced institutional abuse in childhood. This empirical study sets out to illustrate the help-seeking experiences of Irish emigrant survivors of institutional childhood abuse (ICA). Twenty-two survivors of ICA were purposefully recruited from community organisations in the UK and data were collected via semi-structured interviews. As a result of negative initial help-seeking experiences in Ireland, most participants engaged in long periods of self-management and disclosed information about their childhood as part of a redress scheme in later life. Outside of this scheme, turning points, such as illness or family problems, and the needs of children were influential in seeking help. Peer support networks played an important role as a trusted signposting pathway towards formal interventions. Participants identified interpersonal barriers to formal help-seeking as helping professionals' failure to share control, insensitivity to identity loss and literacy issues, and the lack of explicit boundaries. The paper concludes with a discussion about the implications for research and future practice. Key Practitioner Messages: Turning points, such as illness and bereavement, and the desire to provide for children, influence the help-seeking of survivors of ICA., Irish emigrant survivors of ICA cite failure to share control, insensitivity to identity loss, literacy issues and the lack of explicit boundaries as barriers to help-seeking., General awareness of ICA can help practitioners in low-threshold services prevent against culturally insensitive practice., Peer support networks can provide uniquely trusted signposting towards formal interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The case has been made for introducing a rights‐based, public health approach to child protection in England. A continuum of prevention is proposed, with multi‐agency responses calibrated more carefully to the level of risk identified by children, parents and practitioners. The aim was to allocate inter‐professional authority and resources in such a way as to ensure the safeguarding response is proportionate to the nature and level of concerns expressed and reliable in achieving good outcoSmes for children and parents alike. Recent research findings confirm the need for new models of service alignment and inter‐professional responsibility at the interface of ‘primary’ and ‘specialist’ health‐care services and ‘children's social care’, where significant safeguarding concerns are raised. This paper reports the findings of a scoping study, designed to establish the extent to which innovative practice methodologies have been implemented and evaluated in England to date. While the evidence to support the effectiveness of specific practice methodologies and contrasting logics of service design and implementation is shown to be very limited still, achieving reliability and legitimacy in the safeguarding relationships established at the service interface seems to depend on the integrity of the dialogue facilitated in each case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highlights the importance of recognising forced marriage as a form of violence and draws attention to the interventions that are developing in Europe as a response to forced marriage. The paper highlights the difficulties of conflating all child marriages as forced marriage and discusses the different contexts of childhood in different parts of the globe. The UK is reputed to have the widest range of policy interventions and practice guidance to tackle forced marriage and is therefore used as a case study in this paper, but reference is also made to other countries thus ensuring a wider relevance. The paper’s analysis of UK based research studies on forced marriage identifies three key themes: i) lack of adequate reporting of incidents of forced marriage; ii) lack of professional knowledge of forced marriage and their fear of intervention; iii) the tension between conceptualizing forced marriage as purely cultural or as a form of gender based violence. It also highlights the largely legislative responses to forced marriage in Europe; Civil Protection for victims of forced marriage in the UK is discussed and a critical analysis is offered of the increase in marriage and sponsorship age in the UK and in many European countries. Health and clinical issues related to forced marriage are highlighted and the paper calls for further research globally to i) better understand the extent and nature of forced marriage; ii) to evaluate current interventions; iii) to investigate the clinical and potential mental health implications of forced marriage. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The past decade has seen substantial changes in the configuration of services for children and families in the UK. Most notably, the inquiry into the death of Victoria Climbié raised serious questions about the professional systems designed to safeguard children and the importance of professionals working effectively together to protect children. The research informing this paper was undertaken with a group of childcare social work practitioners and explored their everyday work experiences of the post-Climbié introduction of the Every Child Matters agenda and Integrated Children's Services. Through the application of psychodynamic and systemic concepts to the research findings, the paper identifies new perspectives on barriers to effective integrated working and makes suggestions for working practices that may overcome them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the issue of how strategic-level partnerships, such as Local Safeguarding Children Boards, know about and learn from practice. The death of Baby Peter in Haringey exposed the dangers of reliance on numerical performance data alone to inform leaders about the true state of practice. The drivers for, and impact of, regulatory, media and political pressures on front-line practice and partnership behaviour are discussed with reference to the rise of organisational risk management and 'rule-based' responses (Munro, 2009). These are exacerbated by an overload of negative data about child protection systems which results in contagious 'attention cascades' which lead to over-simplification of complex issues and the rush to quick-fix solutions. This results in compliance-based responses designed to avoid 'blame', based on individualistic analyses of complex situations. Under these conditions, 'learning', such as from serious case reviews, can become regressive (how to avoid future culpability) rather than progressive (how to improve knowledge skills and practice). It is argued that understanding and improving practice require strategic partnerships to have engaged with front-line staff in order to access practice narratives as well as performance numbers, and to achieve an accurate and systemic analysis of the state of practice and how it can be improved. This calls for collective forms of knowing and reflecting and the paper concludes by describing examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the legal and practice issues raised by a particular case in the UK. In January 2008, less than three hours after his birth, Baby K was removed from his mother's care by hospital staff and placed in a separate ward. At a High Court hearing later that morning, it was ruled that the removal of Baby K was unlawful. Important practice issues are raised by this ruling. After setting out the circumstances under which Baby K was removed from his mother, this paper considers a number of issues raised by the case: (i) what constitutes lawful removal under domestic law; (ii) European jurisprudence and domestic law in relation to emergency removal at birth; (iii) parental consent to removal; (iv) professionals' liability for breaches of human rights; and (v) the role of child protection plans in safeguarding children. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is estimated that up to one million children may have been exposed to domestic violence in the UK, with significant consequences for their social and emotional development in childhood and later life. At a time when the central and devolved administrations in the UK have developed strategies to tackle domestic violence, this paper reports the findings from a study conducted on children in the child protection system with long-term and complex needs as a result of experiencing domestic violence. The research identifies the characteristics of the children and their families and tracks their careers through the child protection system. The findings indicate that professionals have an awareness of domestic violence, and that younger children with younger parents are most likely to experience prolonged periods in the child protection system. Domestic violence in this context typically co-exists in families experiencing other difficulties such as substance misuse and socio-economic deprivation. In conclusion, the paper argues that Government policy and professional practice should primarily be concerned with assessing the risk that men present, rather than the risk that children are at. By reframing professional interventions, men are more likely to be challenged to accept responsibility for their behaviour and the consequences for their families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AIMS: This paper explores the ethical, theoretical and methodological implications of predictive testing in studies of child abuse, neglect and harm. BACKGROUND: The use of screening instruments to make predictions about children who may later be abused, neglected or at risk of exclusion is promoted in research and policy. The recent UK Action Plan on Social Exclusion suggests that health visitors and community midwives should be trained to use these tools in practice. METHOD: Position paper. CONCLUSIONS: The accuracy of screening instruments to identify children who will be abused or neglected has not been established. Even if the theoretical and methodological challenges of predictive instruments could be overcome, the ethical implications of their use are very difficult for nurses and midwives. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Nurses, midwives and health visitors require high levels of awareness of risk factors in working with children and families. We have a responsibility to reach professional judgements about risks of harm for individuals. This is best performed through improving skills in working with parents and carers to identify those factors which may impede their ability to offer safe developmental care to their children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the United Kingdom relatively little attention has been paid to ‘race’ and racism and the role of cultural, religious, and linguistic diversity in care proceedings. This paper will look at the background, law, and guidance on diversity in this field and explore the impact of notions of diversity in evidence before the courts. It will look at their relevance in allegations of 'significant harm’ to children and failures of parenting, and the coverage of diverse backgrounds in expert reports and parents’ statements. It will argue that while there is no evidence that the threshold criteria for a care order require reassessing, there is room for considerable improvement in attention to issues of diversity in evidence and in the experiences of parents attending court. The paper will explore the implications of the studies for theorizing law and the duties of the state and look at notions such as cultural relativism and concepts imported from cultural anthropology for determining culturally acceptable parenting. It will highlight problems with these approaches and demonstrate why ‘paradigms of intersectionality’ is a more useful and robust approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will discuss an article by Becker and French (2005) in this Journal which proposed the general acceptance of correlations or the ‘links’ between child abuse, animal abuse and domestic violence. Becker and French claim this topic has ‘seen a growth of interest’ (p. 399) over the past two decades and they suggest that organizations across the UK should ‘institutionalize the “links” within policy and practice’ (p. 410). In this paper we question the appropriateness of linking different forms of violence in such a mechanistic and predictive way by drawing on and extending arguments we have made elsewhere. We consider the proposed ‘links’ in terms of assumptions, definitions, methods and logic, and raise concerns for a prospective practice which is based on retrospective (and flawed) research. We aim to appeal to influential doubters (social workers, child care workers, animal welfare workers, vets, educators and policy-makers) in a language of ‘reason’, and we propose that the identified reluctance of professionals in the UK to adopt the rhetoric of ‘links’ can be viewed as an informed and reflective response. Throughout, we offer a corrective commentary to the flawed assumptions of the ‘links’ argument and seek to encourage others to remain sceptical about these claims and the suggested implications for practice. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1970s heralded the beginnings of a major shift in focus within child care social work in the United Kingdom, and the preventive, family support approach that had characterised practice since the 1940s was gradually, but decisively, replaced by a central concern with child abuse. This paper outlines the rise and dominance of child protection work in the United Kingdom before moving on to consider the legislative attempt, via the Children Act 1989 in England and Wales and the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995, to address this situation. The “refocusing debate” of the 1990s is then discussed and consideration given to local research that has called the central premise underpinning this debate into question. The paper concludes by suggesting that social workers in Northern Ireland are still struggling to shift away from a preoccupation with the identification and management of risk and poses some questions regarding the future of social work with children and families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 'moral panic' about child sexual abuse in Britain in the 1980s culminated in 'the Cleveland affair'that produced the challenge of widespread incest and sexual abuse within families. This paper considers the aftermath of this 'moral panic'. The main focus is on the offenders convicted of incest during the years 1988-96 inclusive, with comparative data from an earlier 1973 cohort. A shift in the incest offender profile is demonstrated. The aftermath of this 'moral panic'seems to have been to the detriment of incest victims who now seem less likely to speak or be heard. The findings are considered in the light of recent recommendations on changing the law on incest in the Home Office consultation paper, 'Setting the Boundaries: reforming the law on sex offences'(2000). The authors endorse the view that the offence of incest should be revised, but are concerned whether the use of the criminal justice system will be any more successful when a sexual activity which is currently narrowly proscribed is more widely proscribed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This section discusses the papers featured in volume 8 of "Child Abuse Review" in 2001 and the Guidance "Working Together to Safeguard Children," published in 1999, which seeks to reinforce the principles that the responsibility for promoting the well-being of children and protecting them from harm must be shared across all agencies and professional groups in Great Britain. The aim of the guidance is to provide a national framework upon which local child protection procedures should be built. It stresses the links with social exclusion, domestic violence, parental mental illness and substance abuse. This document also takes into account measures to prevent unsuitable people from working with children which are to be introduced in the Protection of Children Act 1999. Guidance is provided on investigating allegations of abuse by professionals, carers and volunteers, in children's homes for example, and considers perpetrators who act alone or in organized groups. The paper by Egan-Sage and Carpenter looks at a large number of referrals to a Social Service Department in the early 1990s. The second paper looks at the differences in Multidisciplinary working in Great Britain and New Jersey.

There have been serious concerns in the UK about the number of young people who are looked after in state care but are also young offenders. The relationship between the care system and offending is complex, since there are shared risk factors, in particular histories of poor parenting, abuse and neglect. This article reports on a mixed methods study. It focuses on findings regarding a sample of 100 young people (age 14–19), using data from file searches, psychological measures and narrative interviews. The sample was made up of three sub-samples — looked after young people who had offended, looked after young people who had not offended and young people who had offended but were not looked after. This paper presents the study's findings in relation to the characteristics and pathways of these groups. It illustrates the range and interaction of individual, family and education and activity risk and resilience factors. In particular, it highlights the role of social cognition deficits in increasing the risk of offending for young people in state care. It also identifies the significance of relationships and constructive activity in promoting resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experience of chronic neglect is extremely harmful to children's physical, emotional, cognitive and behavioural development. As an area of research it has been traditionally described as neglected, and as an arena of practice it is viewed as complex and intractable. Over the last few decades, however, there has been a body of evidence building up to help with the understanding of the impact of neglect upon children and to guide intervention. This paper draws on experience as a researcher in the field to present some thoughts on our current understanding of neglect, and how we can move forward with more appropriate responses. It argues that existing evidence is not being used to best effect and that current protective systems, like those in the UK, are still struggling to provide an effective response to neglected children. The language of neglect has become over-complicated and the systems and processes for assessment, planning and intervention are mired in bureaucracy. Some of these complexities are explored in more detail and a model is proposed that would support a more direct and straightforward response to children whose needs are not being met. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Messages: Agencies and practitioners need to avoid being driven into developing complex responses by the complexity of neglect as a phenomenon., Separate 'child protection' and 'family support/child in need' pathways are not helpful for neglected children., In relation to a neglected child, practitioners can consider what the child needs and what they need people to think about and do on their behalf., Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Children with maltreatment associated psychiatric problems are at increased risk of developing behavioural or mental health disorders. Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) was proposed as treatment for children with maltreatment histories in the USA, however, being new to the UK little is known of its effectiveness or cost-effectiveness. As part of an exploratory study, this paper explores the feasibility of undertaking economic analysis of DDP in the UK. Methods Feasibility for economic analysis was determined by ensuring such analysis could meet key criteria for economic evaluation. Phone interviews were conducted with National Health Service staff and social service therapists trained and accredited or in the process of becoming accredited DDP practitioners. Three models were developed to represent alternative methods of DDP service delivery. Once appropriate comparators were determined, economic scenarios were constructed. Cost analyses were undertaken from a societal perspective. Finally, appropriate outcome measurement was explored through clinical opinion, literature and further discussions with clinical experts. Results Three DDP models were constructed: DDP Full-Basic, DDP Home-Based and DDP Long- Term. Two potential comparator interventions were identified and defined as Consultation with Carers and Individual Psychotherapy. Costs of intervention completion per case were estimated to be: £6,700 (DDP Full-Basic), £7,100 (Consultations with Carers), £7,200 (DDP Home-Based), £11,400 (Individual Psychotherapy) and £14,500 (DDP Long-Term). None of the models of service delivery were found to currently measure effectiveness consistently. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was deemed an appropriate primary outcome measure, however, it does not cover all disorders DDP intends to treat and the SDQ is not a direct measure of health gain. Inclusion of quality of life measurement is required for comprehensive economic analysis. Conclusions Economic analysis of DDP in the UK is feasible if vital next steps are taken to measure intervention outcomes consistently, ideally with a quality of life measurement. An economic analysis using the models constructed could determine the potential cost-effectiveness of DDP in the UK and identify the most efficient mode of service delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The branding of children as ‘witches’, capable of harming others is a widespread practice in some countries in Africa and across the world. There is evidence of this within specific communities and faith groups; however, the extent to which this phenomenon occurs in England is unclear as is the response by childcare professionals, statutory agencies and Voluntary Organisations. Between 2000 and 2010, at least six children lost their lives in different parts of the UK following periods of abuse, neglect and trauma linked to what is now known as abuse arising from being labelled ‘witches’. Each of these children, died because their parent or carer believed that they were responsible for ill luck, ill fortune and/or ill health that had befallen them and/or members of their families.Drawing upon a children's rights framework, this paper aims to provide a critical examination of child abuse that is caused by a belief that children can and are ‘witches’ or possess some evil spirits, making them capable of causing harm and discord within a family. Existing literature will be interrogated to provide some background and a historical context to this alarming and abusive practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

• Risk of maltreatment from combined toxic trio factors a dominant concept in UK child protection. • Systematic review found 20 papers. • Evidence base lacks definition of key measures, intersectionality analysis or theoretical basis. • Other key risk factors, especially family socio-economic circumstances, excluded. • Need to rebuild the evidence base and rethink the focus of policy and practice. The term 'toxic trio' was coined to describe the risk of child abuse and neglect stemming from a combination of domestic violence, parental mental health issues and/or learning disability, and parental alcohol and/or drug misuse (Brandon, 2009). Although concerns about the language have been raised in some quarters, it has become a dominant reference point in children's social care in England and, to an extent, internationally over the past two decades. It has become embedded in the family justice system, child protection assessment processes and national data collection. There is evidence that each factor in isolation can lead to worse child outcomes, although this is of mixed quality and far from comprehensive. This article reports the results of a systematic review of evidence relevant to the relationship between the 'toxic trio' factors in combination and child maltreatment, identifying 20 papers. Despite the term's currency, we found little quality evidence of the incidence of the 'trio' factors in child maltreatment, little consideration of intersectionality and almost no theoretical examination of the supposed relationships. Such studies as have been conducted have too rarely taken into account, or controlled for, contextual factors, such as the socioeconomic circumstances or the ethnicity of the families, or children's ages. The discrepancy between the priority given to the 'toxic trio' and the paucity of the evidence-base makes a case for a shift away from over-simplified attributions of parental risk in policy and practice, and towards greater attention being given to other significant factors for child protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While violence against children is a common occurrence only a minority of incidents come to the attention of the authorities. Low reporting rates notwithstanding, official data such as child protection referrals and recorded crime statistics provide valuable information on the numbers of children experiencing harm which come to the attention of professionals in any given year. In the UK, there has been a strong tendency to focus on child protection statistics while children as victims of crime remain largely invisible in annual crime reports and associated compendia. This is despite the implementation of a raft of policies aimed at improving the system response to victims and witnesses of crime across the UK. This paper demonstrates the utility of a more detailed analysis of crime statistics in providing information on the patterns of crime against children and examining case outcomes. Based on data made available by the Police Service for Northern Ireland, it highlights how violent crime differentially impacts on older children and how detection rates vary depending on case characteristics. It makes an argument for developing recorded crime practice to make child victims of crime more visible and to facilitate assessment of the effectiveness of current initiatives and policy developments. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Messages UK recorded crime is not routinely disaggregated by age and there is limited consideration of the changing patterns of crime against children., Practitioners working to reduce offending against children and to support victims through the criminal justice system are not being provided with the appropriate data to measure throughput through the system., Lack of information on the reasons why cases remain undetected means that strategies to reduce case attrition are essentially 'flying blind'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Good practice for safeguarding children by health and social care means having the individual confidence to take considered risks in practice and the institutional support that encourages it. Yet, this is not easy to achieve or widely promoted across health and social care organisations. The pressure to ‘get things right’ very much dominates health and social care and this perpetuates a risk aversive culture. Risk measurement regimes based on actuarial methods influences the ‘get things right’ emphasis, with a focus on certainty and knowing ‘for sure’, leaving socially determined or socially constructed notions of risk at the practice margins. In an everyday practical sense, this can mean families being subjected to professional definitions about risk and need, rather than them being part of a working relationship where risk definitions are worked out together. In this paper, we argue that definitions of risk are best conceptually and practically mapped at the interface of health and social care practice, with families, to strengthen the case analysis and social work plans about what needs to happen next. We show how we have adopted the ‘signs of safety’ approach at Tower Hamlets to do just that. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The primary objective of this study was to explore perceptions of UK school counsellors of confidentiality and information sharing in therapeutic work with children and young people, using qualitative methods. The research design employed a two-stage process, using questionnaires and follow-up interviews, with a small, non-random sample of school counsellors. Paper-based questionnaires were used initially to identify themes and sub-themes from respondents (n=13), and were followed up with face-to-face, semi-structured interviews, with a convenience sub-sample (n=6). Counsellors reported a lack of awareness of information-sharing policies, largely assuming a legal duty to report child abuse. Maintaining confidentiality was seen as valuable, in order to protect the therapeutic alliance, despite disclosures of risky behaviour by some young clients. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Child protection services are criticised for failing to prevent abuse but demonstrating successful prevention is impossible as it is trying to prove a ‘negative’. The alternative is to examine ‘failures’, i.e. the ‘violent’ deaths of children (0–14 years) to indicate whether matters are improving or deteriorating. This paper uses the latest World Health Organisation data to compare children's ‘violent’ deaths in England and Wales with those in other major developed countries. To account for possible ‘hidden’ under-reported abuse deaths, undetermined, i.e. ‘other external causes of death’ (OECD) and fatal accidents and adverse events (AAE), deaths are also analysed along with homicides, to compare all ‘violence-related’ deaths between 1974–76 and 2000–02. England and Wales infant (<1 year) homicide rates were annually 57 per million but fell to 17 per million, a 74% fall. Infant AAE deaths fell in every country with England and Wales falling from 341 per million to 71 per million, a 76% reduction. Both these results were significantly better than those of eight other major developed countries, although England and Wales infant OECD at 26 per million, were high compared to the major developed countries. In the 1970s, combined ‘violent’ deaths of all children (0–14 years) (homicide, OECD and AAE) in England and Wales were 203 per million, they are now 61 per million, a 70% decline with only Italy having lower rates. The worst rates were in the USA which had the highest combined ‘violent’ death rate. These overall results in the major reductions of ‘violence-related’ deaths in England and Wales can be a boost to the morale of front-line staff and provide the public with an indication of the progress being made. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In England and Wales, local authorities have a duty under the 1989 Children Act to protect children from significant harm. This study builds on a previous paper that considered patterns of re-referral in cases that were not allocated; it considers re-referrals involving serious concerns about a child. File studies were carried out on 400 consecutive referrals to three local authorities in London that were closed rather than being allocated for long-term work in early 2000. Information on the presence and nature of re-referrals involving concerns about actual or potential ‘significant harm’ in the 27 months after closure (i.e. up to 2002) was noted. Such re-referrals were rare (2.75%). The factors that were statistically associated with them were: previous involvement with Social Services, physical abuse and parental alcohol misuse in the closed referral. These factors were also identified in a descriptive analysis of the re-referrals, though in addition issues not present in the original referral were identified as important, namely parental mental illness and sexual abuse. The findings were encouraging about the effectiveness of initial child protection assessment processes at the time of referral closure. The potential for the factors identified in the analyses to be used in initial risk assessment and their applicability to current policy and practice is considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An overview of child trafficking in the UK explores the nature and methods of this abuse, as well as the treatment and protection afforded to these particularly vulnerable children. It highlights the shortcomings and inconsistent standards of local authorities, the lack of specialist protection and the uncertainty of a trafficked child’s immigration status, combining to make these children vulnerable to further harm and at risk from the influence of their traffickers. A stark consequence of this has been the disappearance without trace of many children from local authority care and the mental health issues of trafficked children going undetected and untreated. For the sake of clarity some of the terms used in this paper are defined as: (i) child: the definition of a child is of someone up to 18 years of age as set down by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989 and UK legislation including the Children Act, 1989 and 2004. (ii) separated child: this term is used instead of ‘unaccompanied asylum-seeking minor/child’. A separated child is one separated from her/his parents or primary guardian. This definition is more useful because not all trafficked children who seek asylum are unaccompanied on arrival and not all trafficked children apply for asylum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Assessing the risk of further offending behavior by adult sexual perpetrators of children is highly relevant and important to professionals involved in child protection. Recent progress in assessing risk in sexual offenders has established the validity of actuarial measures, although there continues to be some debate about the application of these instruments. This paper summarizes the debate between clinical and actuarial approaches and reviews the “base rate” for United Kingdom sexual offense reconviction. Method: A review of the literature revealed 16 UK sexual reconviction studies, 8 using incarcerated samples (N =5,915) and 8 using non-incarcerated samples (N =1,274). UK estimates of sexual reconviction rates are compared with European and North American studies. Results: The mean sexual reconviction rates for the incarcerated sample at 2 years (6.0%), 4 years (7.8%) and 6 years or more (19.5%) were higher than that of the comparative non-incarcerated sample at 2 years (5.7%), up to 4 years (5.9%), and 6 years or more (15.5%). The overall sexual reconviction rate for both samples combined was 5.8% at 2 years, and 17.5% at 6 years or more. Conclusions: The sexual reconviction rate for incarcerated sexual offenders is higher than that of non-incarcerated sexual offenders. The UK sexual reconviction rates were comparable with European and North American studies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

SUMMARY: I comment on two papers by Koenig and colleagues that advocate the integration of religion into routine psychiatric practice. In my opinion, their selective overview of research, although useful, lacks balance. It omits any mention of the literature on worldwide scandals over child sex abuse (and other abuses of power) perpetrated and facilitated by religious authority within several faith groups. There is no mention of damaging 'religiously informed' treatments such as sexual orientation conversion therapy, which is still practised in the UK despite widespread condemnation. Their recommendations for clinical practice conflate association with causation. They do not offer practice guidance on managing the impact of power imbalances associated with religion in multicultural societies. In summary, despite more than a decade of research and debate, there are still no generally accepted ways of avoiding boundary violations where psychiatrists introduce religion into their clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although our society has put in place various forms of legislation to protect children's rights, many children are still subject to various forms of maltreatment such as sexual, physical or emotional abuse and/or physical or emotional neglect. All of these can have serious detrimental effects on the victims. Previous literature in this area has tended to focus on sexual abuse. In contrast, this paper provides an overview of all the different types of maltreatment in terms of characteristics of victims, the range of consequences, mediating factors and types of interventions that may be offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Covert video surveillance has been in use in UK hospitals since the mid-1980s as a technique for investigating suspected child abuse by parents against their children. Although its use is not widespread, it nonetheless raises a number of significant issues concerning patient confidentiality, human rights and deception by agents of the state. This paper considers such issues in the context of new central government guidance on the subject and in relation to past legal treatment of it by the courts.

This paper explores the ideas of culture and ethnicity in the context of child abuse in the United Kingdom as they are discussed in the literature relating to child protection. The culturally determined nature of some of the key concepts and terms used in child protection work is also discussed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Confidence in the public care system in the United Kingdom (UK) has been shaken by numerous and widespread scandals surrounding the abuse of children and young people, particularly those in residential child care institutions. This paper examines factors associated with such abuse, including: failings in relation to staff recruitment, training, and supervision; ineffective management and systems of accountability; the development of inappropriate institutional cultures; public ambivalence towards children in care; the slow footed response to the threat posed to children and young people by dangerous men and other youngsters in care; and the long-term policy failure to develop coherent and integrated systems of child welfare in the UK. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Domestic violence is everywhere and nowhere. No statutory organization or health service has work with either perpetrators or survivors of domestic violence (usually women and children) as the primary focus of their service, yet all agencies will have very significant numbers among their clients/service users. It is therefore crucial that the policy framework is developed both within and between agencies to address the need, and scope, of intervention in this area and particularly the impact on children. Currently, significant steps have been taken by some agencies in the UK to address this previously neglected issue, though the developments are patchy. This paper draws on a UK-wide research study which mapped the extent and range of service provision for families where there is domestic violence and also developed a framework of good practice indicators for provision in this area. This article examines one of the indicators of good practice arising from the research—that of policy development—within social service departments and within the multi-agency arena. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on an ethnographic study of the occupational culture of a social work team in the UK. It is a discussion of some key aspects of social workers’ construction of women as clients. Data were collected from observation of routine case talk, reading of case files and in-depth interviews with social workers. The conclusion of the research is that three defining discourses can be identified in the culture of the social work office: women as oppressed, women as responsible for protection, and women as making choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]