Table Of ContentAnne Lawrence
Principles of Child Protection
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Management and Practice c
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This book offers a detailed analysis of the issues and challenges in the theory le
and practice of child protection. It is based on the author’s research carried out s
in the United Kingdom and Australia and arose out of a recognized need to o
enhance co-operation among the major agencies involved in children’s welfare f
today. Governments across the world are radically reviewing policy in the child C
welfare field. In the midst of these new initiatives it is the managers and h
practitioners who must understand the context of change in order to do their work il
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effectively.
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This book examines:
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(cid:2) The social and cultural definitions of child abuse and child sexual abuse o
(cid:2) Social constructions of childhood t
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(cid:2) The origins of child protection practice c
(cid:2) Contemporary multi-agency approaches to child protection management t
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(cid:2) Organizational perspectives in social work practice o Principles of
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The author critically examines the social factors that have led to the rise in the
incidence of child abuse, as well as the expansion of definitions of child
abuse and child sexual abuse. The book concludes with
recommendations for the future development of child welfare services. Child
Principles of Child Protectionis important reading for child protection
practitioners, managers, policy makers and students on qualifying and
post-qualifying courses in social work, social policy, sociology and child
Protection
protection.
Anne Lawrenceis a qualified social worker and counsellor. She is currently a
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private social work consultant in the United Kingdom and has twenty-five years
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experience as a practitioner and manager in England, Australia and the United w
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States. Her research interests include child protection, parent education, e
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professional development and quality assurance programmes. c
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Management and Practice
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Principles of Child Protection:
Management and Practice
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Principles of Child
Protection:
Management and
Practice
Anne Lawrence
Open University Press
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Open University Press
McGraw-Hill Education
McGraw-Hill House
ShoppenhangersRoad
Maidenhead, Berkshire
England SL6 2QL
email: [email protected]
world wide web: www.openup.co.uk
and Two Penn Plaza, New York, NY 1012–2289
USA
First published 2004
Copyright © Anne Lawrence 2004
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of
criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher or a licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency
Limited. Details of such licences (for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained
from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited of 90 Tottenham Court Road,
London, W1T 4LP.
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 0 335 21463 0 (pb) 0 335 21464 9 (hb)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
CIP data has been applied for
Typeset by BookEns Ltd, Royston, Herts.
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Bell & Bain Ltd, GlasgowMP????G Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall
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To
Patrick
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Contents
Preface xi
Acknowledgements xiii
Introduction 1
1 The evolving social construction of child abuse and child
sexual abuse 7
Introduction 7
Definitions of child abuse 8
Reification of the term ‘child abuse’ 11
The broadening of the dimensions of child abuse 12
Why the need to define child abuse? 14
The evolving social construction of child sexual abuse 16
The development of contemporary concerns about child
abuse and child sexual abuse 18
The rediscovery of child sexual abuse 19
Problems stemming from societal recognition of child
sexual abuse 21
Definitions of child sexual abuse 23
The influence of special interest groups on definitions
of child sexual abuse 25
The sociological perspective 25
The feminist perspective 25
The systems perspective 26
The public health perspective 26
The psychiatric perspective 26
The interactionist perspective 27
Incidence and prevalence of child sexual abuse 28
Defining incidence and prevalence 28
Difficulties in the interpretation of incidence and
prevalence studies 29
The epidemiological value of incidence and prevalence studies 30
Statistical estimations of incidence and prevalence 32
Summary 33
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2 The evolving social construction of childhood 35
Introduction 35
Constructions of childhood 36
Sociological construction of childhood 36
Sociology of the body 37
Periodization of childhood 39
Contemporary social constructions of childhood 44
The modern child as scientifically measured 45
The late/advanced modern child and consumer culture 47
The contemporary welfare child 52
Notions of childhood innocence, social anxiety and
protectionism 56
Children’s rights 59
Summary 64
3 The child protection discourse 66
Introduction 66
Periodization of the professional regulation of child abuse
and child sexual abuse 67
The development of the child protection discourse 70
The legal model 71
The backlash against child protection 75
Challenges to child protection practice 76
Secondary victimization 76
Impediments to partnership 77
The ‘at risk’ discourse and assessment paradigm 78
Defensive practice 79
Identification of chronic child abuse 80
Summary 81
4 Interagency multidisciplinary work 84
Introduction 84
The interagency multidisciplinary approach to child protection 85
The Baglow multidimensional model 86
Inherent difficulties of interagency multidisciplinary work 89
Level 1: surface problems in the interagency multidisciplinary
approach 90
Tensions and stresses 90
Practice conflicts 91
Communication difficulties 92
Barriers to cooperation 93
Level 2: underlying theoretical problems 94
Objectivity and decision-making 94
Organizational systems in child protection 99
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Key criticisms of current interagency multidisciplinary work 101
The need for subjectivism 101
Gaps in services 102
Eligibility criteria for services 103
Imbalance in the system 104
Research and evaluation considerations 105
Summary 106
5 Organizational perspectives of contemporary social work 108
Introduction 108
What is an organization? 109
Organizational perspectives 109
Bureaucratic organization 110
The human relations school perspective 110
The systems perspective 110
The feminist perspective 111
The anti-racist perspective 112
Contemporary social influences on child protection
organization 113
Postmodern influences on organizations involved in child
protection 113
Pluralism 114
Participation 115
Power 116
Performance 118
Critical perspectives for social work 120
The ecological model 120
A version of critical theory for social work 121
Summary 122
6 Implications for the future 124
Introduction 124
A broader welfare perspective for children and families 124
The preventative approach to child welfare services 125
More reflexive practice 126
A Commissioner for Children and a Minister for Children 127
7 Conclusions 129
References 131
Index 146
