175,198 research outputs found
Understanding child neglect
No full textChild neglect is one of the most common forms of maltreatment. Neglect is a topic that encompasses complex issues, many of which are also emerging research areas. This paper aims to provide a broad overview of these issues in relation to current thinking and to generate discussion points for practitioners, policy makers and researchers.
Key messages:
Poverty and child neglect are closely linked but not all children from poor families are neglected and children from more affluent families can be neglected.
Neglect is often portrayed as the “fault” of mothers, while failing to take into account the role of neglectful fathers. The gendered nature of “neglectful parenting” may be, in part, explained by links between single mothers and poverty.
A tertiary child protection response may not be the best way to respond to children who are being neglected—neglectful families are complex and have high needs so require multiple levels of support and resourcing. The National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children aims to address these issues through the use of a public health model.
For many neglected children, access to resources and education to support families would minimise the effects of neglect—keeping them out of the statutory child protection system.
There is no quick, easy, “one size fits all” response to child neglect—the response must be based on careful assessment of needs and take into account the diverse nature of neglect and the compounding impact of multiple and complex needs.
Where it is necessary to provide a child protection response to neglect, an effective response is likely to be long term, resource intensive, and complex
Other title: Child welfare in Kansas, 1929
No full textTitle from cover.--1929 Child Welfare Officers, Department of Kansas: Hugo T. Wedell, Mrs. Etta J Wycoff, Mrs. H.W. Brewer, Mrs. A.E. Todd, Helen Reinbach.The endowment fund--Purpose of the National Legion Child Welfare Program--General Policies--Suggestions to District and Post or Unit Chairman--State laws in Kansas relating to public aid to children in their own homes (Mother's pension)--Existing facilities for the care of handicapped children in Kansas--Our goal, the normal child--Sources of information--Creed of the National Welfare League of America
The monitoring of the rights of the child: a child rights-based approach
No full textPhDDue to the lacunae between legal obligations to human rights and the actual situation,
monitoring is an essential component of the international and national human rights system.
Monitoring illuminates the situation of human rights commitments and ensures the relevancy
of instruments. The thesis explores monitoring in relation to the rights of the child and
submits that a child rights-based approach is essential. Monitoring should not only consider
the status and nature of child rights, but a child rights-based approach should also guide
efforts so that they improve as well as reflect and respect children's rights.
The study defines monitoring and describes a child rights-based approach. As a subject of
legal investigation, the thesis then addresses several questions. How do international and
national monitoring efforts respect child rights? How have the supervision of international
conference agreements supported child rights? Furthermore, how do different countries
monitor? National activities are examined through case studies of two Commonwealth
countries: Canada and South Africa. Then, analysis is presented about how actors interpret
and execute monitoring and the significance of different approaches. Lastly, the rationale,
challenges and existing support of a child rights-based approach are discussed. In sum, a
child rights-based approach is not generally utilised and the implications of child rights upon
the monitoring process are not yet realised. Most monitors, whether international, regional
or domestic, inadequately consider the demands of child rights upon the process of
ascertaining the situation of children's rights. Proposed guidelines are appended to support
a child rights-based approach to monitoring
Passages to inclusion : creating systems of care for all children : monograph for state, territorial and tribal child care administrators.
No full textShipping list no.: 97-0230-P."This monograph was prepared by the National Child Care Information Center (NCCIC) as part of the Child Care Technical Assistance Project, a project of the Child Care Bureau, Administration for Children and Families ... through contract #105-94-1626 with Trans-Management Systems Corporation (T-MSC) in cooperation with Collins Management Consulting, Inc. (CMC)"--P. [2] of cover.Includes bibliographical references.Mode of access: Internet
Family structure and child maltreatment: Do some family types place children at greater risk?
No full textReviewing current research on family structures, this paper aims to assist practitioners and policy-makers who work with children and families to make evidence-informed decisions.
This paper reviews the research on whether some family structures expose children to a higher risk of child maltreatment than others. It aims to assist practitioners and policy-makers who work with children and families to make evidence-informed decisions.
Key messages
The research on whether particular family structures place children at higher risk of maltreatment has produced complex and often ambiguous results.
While most of the available research suggests that children in sole-mother families and step families tend to be at higher risk of maltreatment than those in married families, not all findings are consistent.
In general, much of the perceived relationship between family structure and child maltreatment can be explained by factors such as poverty, substance misuse and domestic violence.
There is no single cause of child maltreatment. Rather, maltreatment reflects the effects of multiple, dynamic, interrelated and, often, cumulative risk factors.
Sole-mother families, sole-father families, and step or blended families are overrepresented in Australia\u27s child protection systems. However, there are a number of limitations to the Australian child protection data, which must be noted when interpreting this finding.
Although family structure is an easily identifiable risk factor for child maltreatment, its influence can easily be - and is often - exaggerated. It is important that practitioners and policy-makers look further and identify other risk factors that may be more conducive to intervention.
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Autism spectrum disorders
No full textThe earlier that children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) receive referral, diagnosis and intervention, the better the long-term results are for those children and their families (Barbaro & Dissanyake, 2009; Wiggins et al., 2006; Mandell et al., 2005). Primary health care professionals, such as child and family health nurses and GPs, can listen to parent concerns and be alert to the signs of developmental delay in infancy and early childhood to facilitate early referral and diagnosis. Indeed, Barbaro & Dissanayake state that primary health care professionals, given their extensive knowledge and training on developmental milestones, are the best placed – and most expert – to observe young children’s development and to identify early signs of ASDs (2010, p. 377).
ASD IN AUSTRALIA: AN OVERVIEW
ASD is the term used to refer to three types of developmental disorder: Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS).
A diagnosis of one of the three indicates a developmental deficit of varying severity in the areas of:
communication
social skills and/or
behaviour
No two children with an ASD are the same, as they each have varying degrees of developmental deficit in the above three areas. This is why the term ‘spectrum’ is used when describing the disorder. In this article we will use the term ASD when referring to the all three of the disorders. Diagnoses of ASD have increased markedly since the 1990s. Prior to this, children were generally diagnosed with Global Developmental Delay or intellectual disability. Williams et al. (2008) found that:
The current rate of prevalence in Australia is estimated at 1 in 160.
Rates of diagnosis vary by state and territory due to differences in the way a diagnosis can be reached.
Australian data show that about four boys are diagnosed with ASD for every one girl. The cause of ASD is not known, but is thought to be a combination of genetic and environmental factors. It is not caused by anything the family does or does not do.
Despite the recognition that signs of ASD can appear in infancy, one study from America found that the average age of diagnosis is around three or four years old (Mandell et al., 2005). In specialist centres, diagnoses can be made for some children as early as 24 months, and rarely earlier. Significant research is being done to try and reduce the average age of diagnosis as this may lead to an earlier intervention. In turn, earlier intervention could help improve developmental outcomes for children and their families and lessen the long-term impact of an ASD for an individual child (Barbaro & Dissanyake, 2009)
Child labor : cause, consequence, and cure, with remarks on International Labor Standards
No full textAt least 120 million of the world's children aged 5 to 14 worked full-time in 1995, most of them under hazardous, unhygienic conditions, for more than 10 hours a day. This is an old problem worldwide but particularly so in Third World countries in recent decades. What has changed, with globalization, is our awareness of these child laborers. (The International Labor Organization distinguishes between"child work,"which could include light household chores and could have some learning value, and"child labor,"a pejorative phrase.) By bringing together the main theoretical ideas, the author hopes to encourage both more theoretical research and empirical work with a better theoretical foundation. Among other things, the author observes that: a) The problem is most serious in Africa, where the child-labor participation rate is 26.2 percent. The rate is 12.8 percent in Asia. But since 1950, the trend is a decline in that participation rate worldwide. For most Latin American countries, the decline is notable but less marked than in Asia. In large parts of Africa, including Ethiopia, the problem has been extremely persistent, but even there the trend is downward. b) Child labor has not always been considered evil, and there is no consensus on why it began to decline. In some (not all) countries legislative acts declared it illegal, in some there were rules about compulsory education, and increasing prosperity generally made families less likely to experience poverty if their children weren't working. c) Mandating compulsory education is regarded as more effective than outlawing child labor, because attendance at school is easier to monitor, but some experts believe economic progress is the answer to the problem. The justification for many interventions is that the state is more concerned about the well-being of children than parents are; the author believes such an assumption to be wrong when child labor occurs as a mass phenomenon rather than as isolated abuse. The author argues that, in some economies, the market for labor may exhibit multiple equilibria, with one equilibrium having low adult wage and a high incidence of child labor and another equilibrium exhibiting high adult wage and no child labor. The model is used to provide a framework for analyzing the role of international labor standards.Labor Standards,Children and Youth,Street Children,Labor Policies,Environmental Economics&Policies,Street Children,Children and Youth,Youth and Governance,Labor Standards,Educational Policy and Planning
Child homicide: generating victim and suspect risk profiles
No full textPurpose– In England and Wales, on average one child every week is a victim of homicide. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether different victim-risk profiles and suspect variables can be differentiated for specific victim ages.Design/methodology/approach– This paper presents a preliminary analysis of more than 1,000 child homicides committed in England and Wales between 1996 and 2013, from data provided through the Homicide Index. Statistical techniques such as cluster analysis were used to identify specific victim-risk profiles and to analyse suspect variables according to the age of victim.Findings– The findings present a clearer picture of the risk-age relationship in child homicide, whereby several specific risk profiles are identified for specific child ages, comprised of crime variables including; likely victim and suspect demographics, the most likely circumstances of the homicide and methods of killing. Using similar techniques, a number of tentative clusters of suspects implicated in child homicide are also described and analysed, with suggestions of further analysis that might prove of value.Practical implications– The practical implications cannot be understated. For those professionals working in the fields of child protection and criminal investigation the identification of risk profiles promises to provide a back-cloth with which to practice when confronted with complex and distressing child homicide scenarios. This research promises most to those currently training in related professions.Originality/value– Although the statistical level of risk has been linked with the age of a child (with younger children being most vulnerable to killing by a parent or step-parent and older children most vulnerable to killing by acquaintances and strangers), extant research is yet to progress beyond the identification of broad age-risk categories. The paper concludes with a discussion of the likely implications for those charged with reducing and investigating child homicide and outlines the possibility of future research
A literature review on school child sexual abuse prevention
No full textPlan BChild sexual abuse is a problem occurring at alarming rates in our society. Although the number of substantiated cases of child sexual abuse in the United States is startling, these astronomical statistics do not represent the total number of child sexual victimizations. Most children do not disclose their abuse, with reasons varying from embarrassment, a sense of normalization surrounding the abuse, and fear of consequences if they disclose the abuse (Palmer, Brown, Rae-Grant, & Laughlin, 1999). In the late 1970s schools started implementing child sexual abuse prevention programs to help with this problem (Kohl, 1993, cited in Roberts & Miltenberger, 1999). School child sexual abuse prevention programs help promote disclosure of past abuse and prevent future abuse of students. The purpose of this research project was to examine the literature on child sexual abuse prevention programs in schools to see what effects these programs have. Areas reviewed in this paper include facts on child sexual abuse, what school child sexual abuse prevention programs look like, two specific curricula, and evaluations of these programs. Research shows that most school districts offer some sort of child sexual abuse prevention program (Kohl, 1993, cited in Roberts & Miltenberger, 1999). Since school child sexual abuse prevention programs vary, evaluations of such programs differ. Overall, prevention programs appear to offer far more positive than negative affects on children. In general, students who were involved with these programs tend to have a better understanding of various aspects on child sexual abuse. Programs that involve the students in activities and occur repeatedly over time seem to offer the best results (Davis & Gidycz, 2000)
The Social Construction of the Child Sex Offender Explored by Narrative
No full textThe notion of "child sex offender" provokes aversion, but it may be that it is a social construction. We suggest that a Dominant narrative, in which child sex offenders are constructed as irredeemable, persists, despite the emergence of assumption challenging Alternative narratives. A story completion method was used to elicit themes of Dominant or Alternative narratives, theory-led thematic analysis was used to identify them. The use and analysis of narrative and free-form stories are well established in social research, but remain a novel concept in the study of offenders. The results support the persistence of the Dominant narrative with two notable exceptions. Conclusions centre on utility of the narrative method to examine offender constructions, and the pervasiveness of Dominant narratives. Key Words: Dominant and Alternative Narrative, Social Construction, Child Sex Offenders, and Thematic Analysi
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