Levels of violence, abuse and neglect in early childhood are reported internationally as having reached epidemic proportions. The prevalence of all forms of violence to children has been difficult to establish, particularly in low and middle income countries. However, even in countries with a high GDP, the sexual abuse of children and young people by predatory adults may continue undetected for decades. In parts of Africa young children are mutilated and killed for religious reasons. Physical beatings that injure and break bones are still common in the Western world. Pornography and sexual abuse involving young children is propagated worldwide through the internet. The prevention of this violence will require substantial shifts in parental and public attitudes to children and the development and support of national systems of preventive legislation. The last 20 years has seen the emergence of a body of material which interrogates early childhood violence and neglect in a wider range of global settings, particularly those countries with a low GDP. This book aims to highlight important features of national and international initiatives which are rooted in findings from systematic research. The continued abuse and neglect of children has been attributed to social acceptance, not understanding the importance of reporting abuse, and the limitations of child welfare systems. This book will be of interest to practitioners in health care, education, and social work services, as well as field workers implementing programmes to address all forms of abuse at family, community and national level. This book was originally published as a special issue of Early Child Development and Care.

Child Welfare: Preparing Social Workers for Practice in the Field is a comprehensive text for child welfare courses taught from a social work perspective. This textbook provides a single source for all material necessary for a contextual child welfare course. As well as combining history, theory, and practice, the authors integrate different practice perspectives to teach social workers how to engage children and families at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels. Covering both broad issues, such as child welfare, child maltreatment, and responses to child maltreatment, and current issues in social care, including mandated reporting and evidence-based policy prevention and preservation, the material is designed to meet the needs of social work students entering the child welfare workforce. Child Welfare provides students in social work courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels with a single source for all material necessary to successfully navigate their studies and careers.

Child Welfare: Preparing Social Workers for Practice in the Field is a comprehensive text for child welfare courses taught from a social work perspective. This textbook provides a single source for all material necessary for a contextual child welfare course. As well as combining history, theory, and practice, the authors integrate different practice perspectives to teach social workers how to engage children and families at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels. Covering both broad issues, such as child welfare, child maltreatment, and responses to child maltreatment, and current issues in social care, including mandated reporting and evidence-based policy prevention and preservation, the material is designed to meet the needs of social work students entering the child welfare workforce. Child Welfare provides students in social work courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels with a single source for all material necessary to successfully navigate their studies and careers.

"Shadow Mothers" shines new light on an aspect of contemporary motherhood often hidden from view: the need for paid childcare by women returning to the workforce, and the complex bonds mothers forge with the "shadow mothers" they hire. Cameron Lynne Macdonald illuminates both sides of an unequal and complicated relationship. Based on in-depth interviews with professional women and childcare providers-- immigrant and American-born nannies as well as European au pairs--"Shadow Mothers" locates the roots of individual skirmishes between mothers and their childcare providers in broader cultural and social tensions. Macdonald argues that these conflicts arise from unrealistic ideals about mothering and inflexible career paths and work schedules, as well as from the devaluation of paid care work.

This book represents a significant contribution to the highly contested debate surrounding how allegations of child sexual abuse should be evaluated. Despite decades of substantial research in this sensitive area, professional consensus remains elusive. A particular source of contention is the sensitivity vs. specificity debate; whether evaluators should give priority to reducing the number of true allegations that are labelled false or to reducing the number of false allegations that are labelled true. This edited collection aims to address directly and offer new insights into this debate. It responds directly to Kuehnle and Connell's edited volume, The Evaluation of Child Sexual Abuse Allegations: A Comprehensive Guide to Assessment and Testimony (2009), which included chapters which advocated strong specificity positions at the expense of sensitivity. The chapters in this collection feature both challenges to, and replies by, the authors in Kuehnle and Connell's book, making this an essential resource that moves the debate forward. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Child Sexual Abuse.

Asian children in Britain today come from settled communities reflecting a diversity of ethnic and religious backgrounds from the Indian subcontinent. This book traces their ethnic origins and patterns of migration that results in the configurations found in Britain today. The belief systems that give shape and form to the traditional extended family structure are first explored by an exposition of the main religious faiths to be found in India and Pakistan, and their implications for individual and family life. The next section looks at the reality of life for Asian children in Britain today. How are these children coping with the educational system, what are the factors contributing to advantage and disadvantage? What are the tensions in the home-school interface? How does racism make an impact? The final section looks at children in need of assistance, including children with physical disability, learning disabilities, emotional and behavioral disturbances and children who need to be accommodated as a result of the proceedings under the Children Act.

When struggling photojournalist Harper tries to return a dress she bought that morning for a job that's fallen through something catches her eye: the same little girl who was waiting there that morning is still there. The sales assistant doesn't know whose she is. The security guard at the mall hasn't had anyone come looking for her. Same goes for the local police, and the media. In fact, no one seems to be looking for little May at all. Harper knows from bitter experience what awaits May in Child Protection Services. But, without any clues, how do you put the needle back in the haystack? And who would just leave a child like this? And what if finding her home was the worst thing you could do? From the chilly streets of New York City to the electric blue skies of coastal Florida - this is an emotional, page-turning road trip that follows a trail of theories, all the way to a devastating revelation.

What do children need to grow and develop? And how can their needs be met when parents work?

Emphasizing the importance of parental choice, quality of care, and work opportunities, economist Jane Waldfogel guides readers through the maze of social science research evidence to offer comprehensive answers and a vision for change.

Drawing on the evidence, Waldfogel proposes a bold new plan to better meet the needs of children in working families, from birth through adolescence, while respecting the core values of choice, quality, and work:

Allow parents more flexibility to take time off work for family responsibilities;Break the link between employment and essential family benefits;Give mothers and fathers more options to stay home in the first year of life;Improve quality of care from infancy through the preschool years; Increase access to high-quality out-of-school programs for school-aged children and teenagers.

Now in its fourth edition, this is the classic assessment of the state of child well-being in the United Kingdom. This edition has been updated to review the latest evidence, examining the outcomes for children of the impact of the economic crisis and austerity measures since 2008. It draws together a vast amount of robust empirical evidence and includes intra-UK and international comparisons. Edited by a highly regarded expert in the field, each chapter covers a different domain of child well-being, including health, wellbeing, housing and education. This is an invaluable resource for academics, students, practitioners and policy makers concerned with child welfare and wellbeing.

Written by an experienced adoptive parent, this clear, sensitive and practical handbook is designed to encourage and support adoptive and long-term foster parents, their children and adolescents. An adopted child may well have suffered abuse, neglect or inconsistent parenting in the past; he or she will certainly have experienced painful separations and losses. These early traumatic experiences, often expressed in emotional and behavioural problems within the family, can conceal a broad range of subtle alterations to the brain and nervous system of the developing child. They may become increasingly problematic as the youngster approaches the developmental challenges of adolescence. Drawing on both firsthand experience and some of the latest medical research, Caroline Archer presents strategies to help parents deal with their youngsters' troubling behaviour and to make them feel more comfortable, in what seems to them a hostile world. Archer sets out to provide adoptive and foster parents with an understanding of the complex range of difficulties with which their children may struggle as a result of their early experience of adversity. By exploring, in very simple ways, the effects of adverse experiences on the child's built-in biological response systems, she assists parents to make sense of the frequently perplexing behaviours of the hurt child within their family. Common situations which she specifically addresses include: sleep problems; anger, aggression and violence; lying and stealing; staying out late and running away; addictive behaviours and self harm; impulsiveness and risk-taking; sex; suicide and compulsive eating disorders. Following on from First Steps in Parenting the Child Who Hurts: Tiddlers and Toddlers (2nd edition), Next Steps will be an invaluable resource for adoptive and foster parents seeking to support their child through the later stages of childhood and adolescence. This book will also be an essential practical guide for professionals working with families and eager to gain a thorough understanding of the on-going developmental and relationship difficulties of adopted children.

This book offers an analysis and summary of the uses, abuses and limitations of attachment theory in contemporary child welfare practice. Analysing the primary science and drawing on the authors' original empirical work, the book shows how attachment theory can distort and influence decision-making. It argues that the dominant view of attachment theory may promote a problematic diagnostic mindset, whilst undervaluing the enduring relationships between children and adults. The book concludes that attachment theory can still play an important role in child welfare practice, but the balance of the research agenda needs a radical shift towards a sophisticated understanding of the realities of human experience to inform ethical practice.

This book explores the conceptualisation and measurement of youth quality of life in sub-Saharan Africa. Further, it addresses methodological questions relevant to the development of measures and gaining an understanding of youth quality of life in this region. Drawing on the data collected, it subsequently explores students' primary goals and their satisfaction with the extent of having achieved those goals. Accordingly, the book fills an important gap in the available literature on youth quality of life, and advances the role of qualitative methods in developing youth quality of life measures in sub-Saharan Africa.

The brief provides an overview of Dr. Penelope K. Trickett's work and explores her innovations in the areas of theory, measurement, and methodology in the study of child maltreatment. It offers a summary of Dr. Trickett's seminal longitudinal studies on child maltreatment, including their influence on understanding the impact of sexual abuse and child maltreatment on female and adolescent development. Chapters examine the impact of her work on policy and practice and offer present four new empirical studies that have been directly influenced by Dr. Trickett's contributions. The brief concludes with further research recommendations to bridge the current policy and practice gaps. Topics featured in this brief include: Childhood sexual abuse and its effect on eating disorder development in females. The traumatic nature of reporting maltreatment in adolescents. Associations between adolescents' community violence exposure (CVE) and the development of aggressive behavior problems. Child sexual abuse experiences in Korea. Child Maltreatment Research, Policy, and Practice is a must-have resource for policy makers and related professionals, graduate students, and researchers in child and school psychology, family studies, public health, social work, law/criminal justice, and sociology.

This book offers a timely and detailed exploration and analysis of key contemporary issues and challenges in child sexual abuse, which holds great relevance for scholarly, legal, policy, professional and clinical audiences worldwide. The book draws together the best current evidence about the nature, aetiology, contexts, and sequelae of child sexual abuse. It explores the optimal definition of child sexual abuse, considers sexual abuse in history, and explores new theoretical understandings of children's rights and other key theories including public health and the Capabilities Approach, and their relevance to child sexual abuse prevention and responses. It examines a selection of the most pressing legal, theoretical, policy and practical challenges in child sexual abuse in the modern world, in developed and developing economies, including institutional child sexual abuse, female genital cutting, child marriage, the use of technology for sexual abuse, and the ethical responsibility and legal liability of major state and religious organisations, and individuals. It examines recent landmark legal and policy developments in all of these areas, drawing in particular on extensive developments from Australia in the wake of its Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. It also considers the best evidence about promising strategies and future promising directions in enhancing effective prevention, intervention and responses to child sexual abuse.

This book presents the outcomes of a field action project at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). Project Chunauti (English translation: Project Challenge) focused on a group of intellectually disabled, orphan children who were survivors of abuse, exploitation and neglect, and describes their journey toward empowerment. It offers a vision and a reproducible, adaptable model for rehabilitation that can foster the social re-integration of intellectually disabled orphans at institutions. As the implementation of laws is especially important for vulnerable groups, the book also outlines a socio-legal approach that not only impacts the children directly, but can also bring about policy level reforms. Project Chunauti was born out of the need to explore options for these children and to set standards for their care, protection, rehabilitation and social re-integration. The core objectives of the project were to provide support and services, including counseling, education, life skills and vocational skills training, as well as medical and psychiatric support to help them overcome the trauma of abuse and exploitation. Its further goal was to train the staff of state-run homes and state authorities, helping them prepare and implement care plans and rehabilitation, combat child sexual abuse and malnutrition, employ positive disciplining, and better understand disabilities. The book also draws on the Project team's experiences of rolling out the replication process in Maharashtra. This book highlights the role of the courts, media and other stakeholders in the journey towards empowerment and justice. It is a combination of social-work methods, application and implementation of law and legal advocacy, as well as best practices for protecting children's rights and developing rehabilitation and re-integration projects for intellectually disabled, orphaned children in India. The interventions detailed here provide a reproducible, adaptable model of intervention for children in institutional care across the country.

How much would you risk for a child who isn't yours? An ingenious, taut, global thriller for fans of Linwood Barclay and Harlan Coben... * * * * * * * When struggling journalist Harper returns a dress to the shop she bought it from that morning, she sees the same little girl sitting in the exact same place she saw her hours ago. No one in the shop knows who the girl is. No desperate parents have contacted mall security to say they've lost their daughter. And the local police have no new reports of a missing child. The girl says she misses her mother. But why is nobody looking for her? And what if finding her home is the worst thing you could do? * * * * * * * From the chilly streets of New York City to the electric blue skies of coastal Florida - this is an emotional, page-turning road trip that follows a trail of theories, all the way to a devastating revelation...

In 1990, disturbing television footage emerged showing the inhumane conditions in which children in Romanian institutions were living. Viewers were shocked that the babies were silent. The so-called 'Romanian orphans' became subjects of several international research studies. In parallel, Romania had to reform its child protection system in order to become a member of the European Union. This book sheds light on the lived experiences of these children, who had become adults by the time the country joined the EU. Uniquely, the book brings together the accounts of those who stayed in institutions, those who grew up in foster care and those who were adopted, both in Romania and internationally. Their narratives challenge stereotypes about these types of care.

This eye-opening monograph challenges professionals across disciplines to take a more thorough and focused approach to addressing child physical abuse at the practice and policy levels. Positing child physical abuse as a public health crisis (as opposed to a more vague "social" one), the authors use empirical findings and clinical insights to advocate for wide-scale reforms in screening, assessment, responses, treatment, and prevention. The book's social/ecological perspective delves into root causes of physical maltreatment, analyzes the role of family and community risk and support factors, and notes forms of discomfort keeping many professionals from meeting the issue head-on. From there, chapters describe coordinated multidisciplinary efforts for intervention and prevention with the potential to avert all forms of child abuse. Included in the coverage: * Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) * The non-verbal child: obtaining a history for caregiver(s) * Clinical perspectives on multidisciplinary collaboration Corporal punishment and risk for child physical abuse Intimate partner violence (IPV) and risk for child physical abuse Evolution of child maltreatment prevention Complementary dynamic prevention approach Child Physical Abuse sets out the scope of this ongoing crisis for a wide audience including healthcare providers, child advocates, clinical social workers, public health officials, mental health providers, legislative staff professionals, and members of the lay public, with clear guidelines for effective long-term solutions.

This book presents a model of supervision that is based on both contemporary theory and research, which is strongly contextualized to child and family social work. It draws directly from analysis of in-depth interviews with experienced and post graduate qualified supervisors and supervisees about 'what works' in supervision. These findings bring 'news of difference' in relation to social work supervision offering hope, inspiration and a contemporary model of supervisory practice.

Supporting Bereaved Students at School provides educational professionals with essential information to support bereaved students. The book specifically targets helping children and adolescents cope with their emotional, physical, and social reactions during the period of grief, lasting for months or years, following a significant death in their lives. Chapters focus on foundational knowledge and offer a range of evidence-based intervention strategies, integrating school-based best practices throughout. This contemporary and informative guide provides tools that can be easily integrated into daily practice and will be especially useful for school-based professionals and graduate students in the fields of school psychology, school counseling, school social work, and clinical child psychology.

Most slave trades were abolished during the 19th century, yet there remain millions of people in slavery today, including approximately 210 million children - trafficked, in debt bondage, as well as other forms of forced labor. Set to be the definitive text on the subject, this groundbreaking book - drawing on global experiences - shows how children remain locked in slavery, the ways in which they are exploited, and how they can be emancipated. Child Slavery Now includes international contributors who remind us that we all - as consumers - are implicated in modern childhood slavery, and we need both to understand its causes and act to stop it.

Child and Youth Caracross Sectors aims to reflect the changing field by capturing a diverse array of themes and issues through an inclusive framework. In Volume 2, the contributors continue the discussion on sectors and contexts of child and youth care, with an emphasis on giving space and voice to different ways of thinking about and describing the field. Focusing on acknowledging and confronting the complex issues within child and youth care, this new volume includes groundbreaking chapters on pertinent topics from homelessness to immigration, antiracism, African-centred praxis, and Indigenous ways of being. Expanding from the first volume, this text explores additional settings of child and youth care, including hospitals, schools, day treatment programs, and the complicated youth criminal justice sector. As the field of child and youth care continues to evolve, this timely and thought-provoking text will be vital for students, scholars, and practitioners in child and youth care, in Canada and abroad. Features: Incorporates discussions on Canada's northern provinces and territories,specifically Labrador and Nunavut, in child and youth care contexts and regions typically neglected in the field. Includes chapters centering Indigenous ways of being and thinking, written by Indigenous scholars.

This highly topical report provides much-needed evidence to inform the reconfiguration of services for children and young people. Focusing on the Connexions Strategy and service in England, it explores the effectiveness of interagency working in this area. contrasting Connexions Partnerships and around 300 hours of interviews with key stakeholders, young people's Personal Advisers and young people themselves. It examines the interagency strategies developed by the Partnerships and, most importantly, what impact they have had on the interventions made with young people facing acute and complex needs. development; examines interagency work in depth; provides detailed case studies to examine the interface of interagency work with young people's daily lives; analyses key issues in interagency work such as referral, assessment of need, roles, responsibilities and protocols, brokerage of services, advocacy, information sharing and management; draws out the implications of the findings for policy and practice. others involved in partnership working, those involved in the development and implementation of Children and Young People's Strategic Partnerships and Children's Trusts, as well as youth researchers and policy makers.

Providing an exploration of the key issues, this book offers practical advice on how to improve the safeguarding and welfare of black children and young people in need. With contributions from academics, researchers and practitioners, it promotes an understanding of the particular cultural and social issues that affect black children in relation to child protection. It highlights how race and racism, as well as culture, faith and gender, can influence the ways need and risk are interpreted and responded to. Drawing on insights from research evidence, case examples and practice guidelines, it outlines the range of factors that contribute to the vulnerability of black children and describes how to improve techniques of working with minority ethnic families. The book covers issues such as the effects of parental mental health problems, living with domestic violence, child maltreatment, and demonstrates how these might be understood differently for black children and young people. There are also chapters on topics such as female genital mutilation, witchcraft and forced marriage. Essential reading for all social workers and child protection workers, as well as students and support managers, Safeguarding Black Children provides the tools and understanding needed to better support these children.