This article describes a strengths-based approach to supervised visitation within the child welfare system of the United States. Supervised visitation gives parents accused of abuse or neglect the opportunity to spend time with children temporarily removed from their care. Although supervised visitation has the potential to be a tool for promoting…

Child maltreatment remains a serious social problem, with neglect arguably the most pernicious manifestation. Neglect is characterised by a chronic failure to provide for a child's basic needs and often co-exists with other forms of maltreatment. It usually occurs in a complex social environment where socio-economic disadvantage is rife and…

Although child maltreatment due to abuse or neglect is pervasive within our society, less is known about fabricated or induced illness by carers (FII), which is considered to be a rare form of child abuse. FII occurs when a caregiver (in 93% of cases, the mother) misrepresents the child as ill either by fabricating, or much more rarely, producing…

Psychiatric emergency services for children and adolescents vary in process, structure and outcome. There are few systematic studies on the type and prevalence of psychiatric problems encountered, related circumstances or resulting interventions. Evidence in these areas is important in evaluation of the function of mental health services in the…

Discourses of child development hold that the experience a child gains from being at school is crucial to the child's development and well-being. The option of home education challenges such discourse. There is little practice-related literature specific to home-educated children. This article first describes a context and then reviews aspects of…

It is widely acknowledged that, across the United Kingdom and the USA, childcare practitioners often struggle with cases of child neglect, because of the difficulties involved in attempting to define the problem at hand, and balancing these cases with others in the caseload that may appear more pressing, such as physical abuse. Consequently, in an…

Drawing on a three-year Irish research study, this paper focuses on the decision-making process in child contact, specifically the assessment and management of risk of continuing abuse to young people previously exposed to domestic abuse. A mixed methodological approach involved the completion of survey questionnaires by 219 mothers and the…

This article presents findings from a study that investigated child protection policies and practices, and focuses on data gathered in a child protection agency located in Quebec, Canada. This research project draws upon a qualitative case-study methodology, involving a documentary analysis of both national and local child protection policies, as…

Children's right to participate as enshrined in Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is increasingly evident in the rhetoric of policy documents as well as in practice and research with children and young people. Children's participation in research is being facilitated in a range of creative ways, including as…

The 40 substantive rights contained within the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 1989, have applied, without discrimination, to all children in the United Kingdom since 1992. However, recurrent tragedies starkly highlight the potential vulnerability of some children when their parents experience mental health…

The main aim of this article is to explore the association between mental health problems in children placed out-of-home and family risk factors reported as reasons for placement. The sample consisted of 109 Norwegian children aged 6-12 years. Mental health problems were assessed by the Revised Rutter scales reported by the parents and the…

This article discusses the wider implications of a pattern of behaviour in which a parent, usually the mother, persistently presents a false story of illness or disability in the child. Such behaviour can be harmful to the child. The parent may deliberately produce symptoms of illness; the child may be exposed to unnecessary but painful and…

This article debates the issues involved in safeguarding and protecting children in maternity services and offers implications for professional practice. Midwives and other staff who work as members of the maternity team have a safeguarding role to play in the identification of babies and children who have been abused, or are at risk of abuse, and…

The present paper provides an overview of child sexual exploitation in Northern Ireland and related issues. It focuses on Barnardo's response to the problem of sexual exploitation and sets it in both a historical and a contemporary context. The paper considers the importance of recognising exploitation as child abuse and addresses specific myths…

There has been considerable interest in recent years in comparing the operation of social work services for children and families internationally, particularly between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Reviewing the respective policy environments and drawing on recent research experience in these three nations, the author…