Child Protection Systems In The United Kingdom

This book identifies and analyses differences between the four UK nations in the way child protection systems are being developed, thought about and put into practice. Covering key areas such as inter-agency working and the role of local safeguarding children boards, it draws out important implications for policy and practice across the UK.

This book builds upon and advances the comparative analysis of child protection systems that was conducted in the mid-1990s. Since the mid-1990s, however, much has changed in the realm of child welfare and how states define and deal with their responsibilities for children at risk. This book sets out to identify and analyse these changes and their implications, with a particular focus on assessing the extent to which the child protection and family service orientations continue to provide a helpful framework for understanding and comparing systems in different countries.

"cross the spectrum of political ideologies there is, in principle, widespread agreement that the state has a legitimate role in protecting children from harm. Even the Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman (1962), among the most ardent liberal supporters of the laissez faire philosophy, recognized this "paternalistic" function of government. At the same time, the traditional view of children, that they are the property of the father (pater) or the parents, is under pressure (Zelizer, 1994; James & Prout, 1997; Archard 2004). Societies are at an intersection when it comes to how children are treated and how their rights are respected, which creates tensions in the traditional relationship between the family and the state. Children are a focus of government responsibility under certain state-defined norms relating to harm and need. And parents are sometimes constrained by the state from exercising their (familial or property) rights under state-defined criteria of harm and need"--

Around 85 children die each year in the UK due to abuse or neglect. A number of these deaths are later deemed preventable because the child involved was known to either social services or to a health professional. Cases such as those of Baby P and Victoria Climbie highlighted the failings of these organisations, ones set up to safeguard children. It is the responsibility of every health professional worldwide to identify and respond to child abuse and yet that very responsibility is both emotionally and strategically challenging. The Child Protection Practice Manual: Training practitioners how to safeguard children equips professionals with the ability to recognise a child at risk and the knowledge of how to work with a child already suffering abuse. Practical advice is offered on how to navigate the multi-disciplinary processes. Fictional case studies and exercises immerse the reader in scenarios. Building on this, the authors lead readers through learning points, recommendations, and legislation. With new definitions in child protection ranging from child sexual exploitation, gang violence, radicalisation and internet bullying through to female genital mutilation, witchcraft and spirit possession, honour based violence and forced marriage, this book will be a valuable resource for qualified paediatricians and those in training, as well as professionals who have contact with children such as GPs, nurses, health visitors, social workers, midwives, teachers, lawyers, and community workers.

Child Protection Systems is a comparative study of the social policies and professional practices that frame societal responses to the problems of child maltreatment in ten countries: USA, Canada, England, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Norway. Focusing on the developments in policy and practice since the mid-1990s, this volume provides a detailed, up-to-date analysis of the similarities and differences in how child protection systems operate and their outcomes. The findings highlight the changing criteria that define child maltreatment, trends in out-of-home placement, professional responses to allegations of maltreatment, and the level of state responsibility for child and family welfare, providing an in-depth understanding of the different ways modern welfare states assume the sensitive responsibility of balancing children's rights and parents' rights. The changing character of child protection systems worldwide reflects dramatic and rapid organizational, policy, and legislative changes; the expansion of child welfare systems; the rise of formal procedures and evidence-based initiatives; the increased challenges posed by race and ethnicity; and the extent to which countries adopt either a child protection or a family service approach to child abuse. Each chapter analyzes these developments and the directions in which they are heading, such as movements toward privatization and devolution of child welfare service delivery. Against this backdrop, a third approach begins to emerge-a child-focused orientation-that aims to promote and improve children's development and well-being. A vital book for understanding contemporary trends and policy issues in the design of child protection systems, this will be must reading for comparative scholars of child welfare, family policy, and the welfare state.

Essay from the year 2014 in the subject Pedagogy - Pedagogic Sociology, grade: 70, University of Portsmouth, language: English, abstract: Social work practice in relation to child protection has gone through changes in both England and Germany due to global and local processes. International social work policy and professional standards driven by the juxtaposition of neo-liberalism and social justice has become a cornerstone of national and local professional practice contexts. Practice relating to safeguarding children has developed globally through the process of political globalisation, "connecting large scale societies together in a whole variety of ways, from international political agreements electronic communication technologies and more fluid migration patterns.” (Giddens, 2009:110) Policy development and implementation by Supra-National organisations such as the United Nations are often created as universal ‘blanket policies’, with the aim of promoting equality and social justice for all. For example child protection policy in both countries has been influenced by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (1989). However” local policy and practice will nevertheless be influenced by national contexts and ‘mediated by country specific institutional arrangements’ – a process describe(d) as ‘glocalization’.” (Lyons et al 2006:34) Further to this national policy development is often not constrained to its boarders and can influence policy development internationally. “Increasingly, national policies are ‘rarely purely domestic in impact’ but have international implications, either because they impact directly or because of ‘social policy emulation’.” (Healy, 2001 cited in Lyons et al,2006:28) Global communication and the availability of data and research has become instantaneous. International and professional leaders and academics are able to compare and contrast theoretical perspectives, policies and practices and adapt them to fit local contexts.

In recent years, there have been significant policy shifts in relation to safeguarding children/child protection in the UK, with each region of the UK engaged in its own program of reform. Devolution has added a new dynamic to these developments. This book outlines recent developments in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the Channel Islands. The book concludes with a chapter in which the editors compare and contrast the various reform programs across the UK, and it considers the extent to which child protection policy is converging or diverging. Intended as a resource for academics, policy makers, and those who are training to work with children, young people, and their families, the book provides an invaluable oversight to the origins of the UK's child protection policies.

Eileen Munro, author of the seminal Munro Review, returns in this fully revised and updated third edition. With new chapters on ′Child Protection Agencies as Complex Adaptive Systems′ and ′How organisations can support more effective practice′, this new edition shifts its focus from individual workers to look at the critical role that organisations play in child protection, and how individuals are affected by the complex enterprise of people, processes, cultures and agencies. It remains an essential guide to strengthening analytic and intuitive skills to improve children′s safety.