Errors And Mistakes In Child Protection

Lessons from child protection errors and mistakes in 11 countries in Europe and North America are drawn together in a stimulating study from leading researchers in the field. By comparing and contrasting impacts, responses and responsibilities, it deepens understanding of how child protection systems fail and points to ideas for risk reduction.

Looks at how society's sincere desire to care for and protect its children can lead to terrible mistakes, and asks who, or what, is responsible.

"This book is especially welcome because of the scholarship and thoughtfulness evident throughout." —Dr Peter Reder, Child Psychiatrist, London How do child protection professionals and courts make judgments on whether serious injuries to infants are due to abuse? If injuries are considered to be the result of abuse, in what circumstances can it be considered safe for the infant to return home? Child Protection Assessment Following Serious Injuries to Infants is concerned with helping child protection professionals and courts make the right decisions and avoid errors that can have disastrous consequences for children and families. Drawing upon the extensive clinical and research experience of the authors, this authoritative text: Reviews research on the causes of child abuse and problems in diagnosing abuse. Examines the views of parents who consider that they have been wrongly accused of child abuse. Draws specific attention to the need to assess potential for change in families and considers in detail how this can be achieved. Highlights skills issues that are necessary for undertaking appropriate assessments. Identifies key factors that are indicative of reunification in some cases, and factors that contraindicate reunification in others. With its evidence-based approach, this book will be a valuable resource for all child protection professionals. It will also be of use to health professionals, legal professionals, researchers, lecturers and students of social work.

′Effective Child Protection is a significant contribution to child welfare practice and policy...Munro offers a pathway to achieving better outcomes for children and families who are recipients of child protection services′ - Children and Youth Services Review Praise for the First Edition: `The book makes the fully justified claim [that] it will be essential reading for professionals undergoing qualifying and post-qualifying training. It is to be hoped that it will enjoy an even wider readership′ - Child Abuse Review This new edition is essential reading for anyone concerned with improving child protection practice. Building on the strengths of the first edition, it provides a deeper understanding of how practice judgements and decisions can be improved in child protection work. Updates include: - an account of how intuition, emotion, and analytic thinking are combined in practice - an analysis of how the nature of the task determines what combination is needed - an updated chapter on how we can detect errors - new material on how organisations can promote good reasoning skills - a simpler way to understand risk assessment instruments. Illustrated with detailed case studies throughout, it will be invaluable reading for students, researchers and practitioners in all areas of child protection, including social work, education, health and policing. Eileen Munro is a Reader in Social Policy at the London School of Economics, specialising in child protection. Other publications include Child Protection (SAGE 2006).

"Professionals working in child welfare and child protection are making decisions with crucial implications for children and families on a daily basis. The types of judgements and decisions they make vary and include decisions such as whether to substantiate a child abuse allegation, whether a child is at risk of significant harm by parents, and whether to remove a child from home or to reunify a child with parents after some time in care. These decisions are intended to help achieve the best interests of the child. Unfortunately, they can sometimes also doom children and families unnecessarily to many years of pain and suffering. Judgments and decisions in child welfare and protection are based to a large extent on the formidable knowledge base on child abuse and neglect created over the years to support this professional task chore. Nevertheless, making decisions in complex and uncertain environments is fraught with many difficulties and shortcomings. There are in fact many indications that decisions in this area are not reliable and there are many errors in judgment that could be avoided, had the decision makers relied on existing knowledge on decision making under uncertainty and followed appropriate procedures. Much needs to be improved on how these decisions are made by individual professionals and child welfare agencies"--

This exceptionally well-researched book's intention is to reveal what is really happening in our society and to spur people into action to turn this shameful and complex problem around so that abuse stops and healing can begin. It should be a compulsory handbook for all whose work involves children, especially in the legal system, all human services, schools, pre-schools and foster care. It covers all aspects of child abuse and neglect and presents recent case studies of acts of abuse and the ways they have been dealt with in recent times. It is books such as this that 'get the message out there' so that something is done in this supposedly enlightened age.

First published in 1997. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.