Investigating Institutional Abuse Of Children

This research explores the NSPCC's experience when undertaking independent investigations into allegations of abuse in residential and day care settings between 1994 and 1996. It summarizes the current research in the area - including literature from the United States - documents the types of investigations performed and explores the experiences of investigators undertaking such work. Conflicts of interest and loyalties that can arise in this context are discussed. Practice and procedural recommendations, relating to undertaking and managing independent investigations are made. This report should be of interest to child protection practitioners as well as providers and managers of residential and day care facilities for children and young people.

Reports of abuse at Nova Scotia youth facilities caused the provincial government to adopt a response, including a compensation program for those said to have been abused. This report presents an independent review to determine whether the government response to institutional abuse was appropriate, fair, and reasonable. Chapter 1 introduces the scope & nature of the review. Chapter 2 provides a historical overview of the institutions where abuse was alleged and a history of police investigations & court proceedings prior to 1994. Chapters 3 to 12 describe the government response to the reports of institutional abuse, from its early formulation to the various modifications throughout. The impact of the government response to both abuse claimants & institution employees & their families is discussed in chapter 13. Negotiations between the employees' union & the government led to a memorandum of agreement, addressed in chapter 14, defining options available to certain employees against whom abuse allegations had been made. Chapter 15 covers a report prepared by an internal investigations unit formed to investigate allegations made against current employees for disciplinary purposes. That report contained an implicit evaluation of the compensation program. Sections entitled Analysis in each of chapters 3 to 15 provide an evaluation of each component of the government response. Chapter 16 reviews responses in other jurisdictions to reports of institutional abuse. Chapter 17 discusses a recent Law Commission of Canada study on responding to child abuse in Canadian institutions. The final chapter contains recommendations for reform.

This volume provides a comprehensive analysis of the work of the The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (2013-17) and its social, psychological, legal and discursive impact.

Winner of the Christine M. Alder Book Prize in 2015 from the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology Historical abuse of children is a worldwide phenomenon. This book assesses the enablers of abuse and the reasons it took so long for officials to respond. It analyzes redress for institutional abuse in two countries, Canada and Australia, using first-hand accounts of survivors' experiences.

Institutional Abuse brings together a number of different research studies and accounts of institutional abuse from leading academics and researchers. Public enquiries and court cases concerning institutional abuse in a range of settings have generated considerable media interest and have highlighted the need for preventative strategies and appropriate responses. Four areas of abuse are covered: *the abuse of children *the abuse of adults with mental health problems *the abuse of adults with learning difficulties *the abuse of older people. Each section includes a chapter which reports on users' experiences of abuse and their views as to how institutional abuse can be prevented and survivors' needs met.