This pilot study explored the experiences and understanding of clinical psychology practices and services of children and adolescents attending clinical psychology outpatient appointments. Fifteen young participants took part in the study. A content analysis indicated that young children and adolescents have an appropriate understanding of the…

The trend in adoption since the 1960s has been away from secrecy and towards greater openness; contact through an intermediary, and direct contact by letter, is now widely accepted. More controversial is the challenge of face-to-face contact with birth parents, and social workers involved in the decision-making process find themselves having to…

To date there is limited research examining the use of the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales for Children and Adolescents (HoNOSCA) with adolescents in secure care. The aim of this article is to examine the inter-rater reliability, concurrent validity and clinical utility of HoNOSCA in an adolescent secure psychiatric unit. Twenty-four…

This article evaluates the results of a Norwegian trial scheme involving free half-day day care for all four and five-year-olds in a district of Oslo with a large immigrant population. Although the scheme applied to all children in this age group, the target group was children whose parents came from non-Western countries. The evaluation, which is…

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…

Forty-nine caregivers in eight daycare centres were interviewed about their daycare experiences, their own childcare decisions and practices, and their views of how their profession is perceived by society. Results suggest that: caregivers comment positively on the process elements of their work, such as their enjoyment and love of children, and…

The methodological and empirical literature on measuring the need of child populations is sparse. What does exist is more orientated towards children in receipt of non-universal or specialist services, overlooking those children with similar needs who are not in contact with such services. Further, there is a tendency often for need analyses not…

The present review summarises literature on the needs of disabled children and their families and draws on research identifying promising service provision. The review took 1997 as its starting point to build on two thorough reviews that were written prior to that time. The findings of the current review largely echo earlier work in terms of what…

The present paper describes a developmental tool (Inclusion Analysis) that enables schools to identify how inclusive or otherwise they are in a relatively straightforward way with a minimal time commitment. The developmental background to the creation of the tool is outlined in terms of inclusion in Northern Ireland and the implementation of the…

This paper examines the findings from a recent study investigating how children's interests and their rights are safeguarded through the representation of social workers in reports prepared for Court following parental separation disputes. A small-scale research study describes the views of family and childcare social workers on how children's…

Families represent the primary setting in which most children's lives are shaped and determined. Increasingly, children experience ongoing change in family formation and structure, and such fluctuation may threaten or diminish their feelings of security with regard to established family roles, relationships and routines. A number of studies have…

Research on children who have been internationally adopted provides many strong examples of resilience. This paper discusses what counts as resilience in intercountry adoption and includes new data from the first study in this area conducted in Ireland. As with studies conducted in other jurisdictions, the Irish data indicate a remarkable capacity…

"Your Shout Too!" reports on a National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children survey of the views of 141 children and young people involved in private law court proceedings following the separation of their parents. All of the children who responded had either been the subject of a Welfare Report prepared under the provisions of…

In Europe and in America there is a growing recognition of the need for theory, research, and applied programs that contribute to both community and youth resiliency. This article seeks to build on previous theory and literature to provide a conceptual framework for understanding the mechanisms for linking community and youth resiliency. Included…