Neglect is now recognized as leading to significantly poor outcomes for children in the short and long term. It is a matter of concern for all professionals who work with children. Children who are neglected are not likely to seek help in their own right and are highly dependent on professionals such as health visitors and schoolteachers identifying and responding to their needs for support and protection. In order to carry out the key tasks of prevention, recognition and response to neglect, practitioners require up-to-date evidence-based information about the aetiology and signs of neglect and what works in prevention and response. This book addresses the key themes in child neglect, draws on current research and practice knowledge and sets out the implications for practice. With a joint health and social work focus, this interdisciplinary book is an essential resource for practitioners, academics and policy makers working towards integrated and collaborative childcare services.

In recent years considerable attention has been paid to the subject of abuse in childhood. Less attention has been paid to what happens to the vast number of women and men who have reached adulthood with this experience haunting them. Moira Walker overviews the experience and its implications, dealing with physical, sexual and psychological abuse. An essential part of the content is based on interviews with survivors of child abuse, voicing their views on the effects of the experience and the effectiveness of the help offered. At the same time Surviving Secrets seeks to understand the context in which abuse takes place, the society which itself contains and sustains abuse at various levels. It is a moving account of the experience and effects of childhood abuse and a handbook for those in the caring professions, in voluntary organizations and elsewhere who are helping survivors of abuse.