Child Abuse

How can professionals build constructive relationships with families where the parents dispute professional allegations of serious child abuse? How can meaningful safety for children be created in these families? How can professionals work together constructively in such cases? Situations where parents refute child abuse allegations made against them are often deemed to be impossible or untreatable by statutory and treatment professionals. These cases can consume enormous amounts of professional time and energy and frequently become bogged down by ongoing professional-family mistrust and dispute. Often, the decision to close such cases comes about not because the children are safe, but rather because the professionalsrun out of ideas, time and energy. Working with ‘Denied’ Child Abuse presents an innovative, safety-focused, partnership-based, model called Resolutions, which provides an alternative approach for responding rigourously and creatively to such cases. It describes each stage of this practical model and demonstrates the approach through many case examples from therapists, statutory social workers and other professionals working in Europe, North America and Australasia. The book is key reading for legal, health and social care professionals working in the area of child protection.

Child Abuse and Neglect: Diagnosis, Treatment and Evidence focuses attention on the clinical evidence of child abuse to help you correctly diagnose and treat such cases in your own practice. This unique, well-illustrated clinical reference provides new insights into the presentation and differential diagnosis of physical abuse, a look at shaken baby syndrome, sex offenders and abuse in religious organizations, information on the biomechanics of injury, and more. Great for general review, as well as clinical reference, it’s also ideal for those taking the American Board of Pediatrics’ new subspecialty board exam in Child Abuse Pediatrics. Identify an abusive injury and treat it effectively by reviewing evidence and critical analyses from leading authorities in the field. Recognize the signs of shaken baby syndrome, sex offenders and abuse in religious organizations. Understand the biomechanics of injury to determine whether abuse was truly the cause of a child’s injury. View illustrations that show first-hand examples of child abuse or neglect.

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This edited collection explores the background and implementation of the Nordic Barnahus (or 'Children's House') model – recognised as one of the most important reforms related to children who are the victims of crime in the Nordic region. This book discusses both its potential to affect change and the challenges facing it. The model was introduced as a response to a growing recognition of the need for more integrated and child-centred services for children exposed to violence and sexual abuse. In the Barnahus structure, different professions work together to ensure that victimized children receive help and treatment and that their legal rights are met. This original study is organised into four broad themes: child-friendliness, support and treatment; the forensic child investigative interview; children’s rights perspectives; and interagency collaboration and professional autonomy. Each themed section includes in-depth chapters from different Nordic countries, outlining and analysing the practice and outcomes of the collaborative work engaged in by Barnahus from different perspectives. The introductory and concluding chapters offer a comparative lens useful for policy and practice implementation within the Nordic welfare state context and beyond, ensuring this book has global academic and practical appeal.

The second edition of David Wolfe's text on child abuse has been updated to reflect the most recent literature on the subject. The book describes the different types of abuse and discusses their influence on development.

Each year, child protective services receive reports of child abuse and neglect involving six million children, and many more go unreported. The long-term human and fiscal consequences of child abuse and neglect are not relegated to the victims themselves -- they also impact their families, future relationships, and society. In 1993, the National Research Council (NRC) issued the report, Under-standing Child Abuse and Neglect, which provided an overview of the research on child abuse and neglect. New Directions in Child Abuse and Neglect Research updates the 1993 report and provides new recommendations to respond to this public health challenge. According to this report, while there has been great progress in child abuse and neglect research, a coordinated, national research infrastructure with high-level federal support needs to be established and implemented immediately. New Directions in Child Abuse and Neglect Research recommends an actionable framework to guide and support future child abuse and neglect research. This report calls for a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to child abuse and neglect research that examines factors related to both children and adults across physical, mental, and behavioral health domains--including those in child welfare, economic support, criminal justice, education, and health care systems--and assesses the needs of a variety of subpopulations. It should also clarify the causal pathways related to child abuse and neglect and, more importantly, assess efforts to interrupt these pathways. New Directions in Child Abuse and Neglect Research identifies four areas to look to in developing a coordinated research enterprise: a national strategic plan, a national surveillance system, a new generation of researchers, and changes in the federal and state programmatic and policy response.

Provides information necessary to identify, report, and investigate child abuse.

In Canada, professionals such as doctors, teachers, and social workers must report child abuse and neglect to Child Protection Services. This is often a difficult decision--professionals may be uncertain if they should report their suspicions and worry about the relationship with the client or patient if they follow through. Child Abuse and Neglect in Canada offers a concise guide to mandatory reporting in provincial and territorial jurisdictions with specific attention to the context and unique realities of Northern Canada. As an introduction to mandatory reporting, the book opens with an exploration of the historical rise of the child welfare system, mandatory reporters' ethical duties around reporting, types of abuse and neglect, risk and protective factors, and the ascendancy of child abuse in an online environment. The text goes on to explore various factors (e.g., legal, clinical, and situational) to assist human service professionals with their decision-making, examine the reporting process, and offer relationship-repair strategies (e.g., reporting, affecting regulation, and advocating). It culminates in a comprehensive, empirically based conceptual framework to help readers maintain relationships with their clients. Predicated on the author's dissertation research, this book offers human service professionals a comprehensive framework for fulfilling professional, fiduciary obligations while providing educators with accessible teaching tools to further their pupils' understanding of the subject.

“Anyone who had a troubled childhood ought to read this book.”—Anne H. Cohn, D.P.H., Executive Director, National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse Do you have trouble finding friends, lovers, acquaintances? Once you find them, do they dump on you, take advantage of you, or leave? Are you in a relationship you know isn't good for you? Are you still trying to figure out what you want to do when you grow up? Are you drinking too much, eating too much or trying to numb your pain with drugs of any kind? These are just a few of the problems abused children experience when they become adults. You may not realize you were abused. You may think your parents didn't mean it, didn't know better, or that others had it much worse. You may not even have made the connection between the past and your current problems. Outgrowing the Pain is an important book for any adult who was abused or neglected in childhood. It's an important book for professionals who help others. It's a book of questions that can pinpoint and illuminate destructive patterns. The answers you discover can lead to a life filled with new insight, hope, and love. “The best book available to help survivors cope and understand.”—Dan Sexton, Director, Childhelp's National Abuse Hotline “An invaluable aid for adult survivors of child abuse.”—Suzanne M. Sgroi, M.D., Executive Director, New England Clinical Associates