Domestic abuse continues to be a growing concern across the globe where the overwhelming majority of victims are women. Women also tend to experience more severe forms of violence, which includes murder. There is growing recognition that children who live in households where domestic abuse exists are directly harmed and often show psychological…

Couple-based interventions that address domestic abuse are an emerging area of practice within the UK. These interventions require a detailed assessment process that can clarify risk and needs and screen out couples for whom such intervention is unsuitable. Steps to Safety is a new intervention, grounded in attachment and trauma theory, for…

Many children who enter the care system and are subsequently adopted have had exposure to a range of potentially traumatising experiences including domestic violence, abuse, neglect and loss of key caregivers. There are also an increasingly high number of adopted children presenting with the impact of intrauterine exposure to alcohol, drugs and…

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…

Protecting an unborn baby from abuse and neglect presents particular challenges for professionals due to the uncertainties about appraising future harm and functioning of family relationships. This systematic narrative review synthesises studies of professional decision making by health and social care professionals regarding child protection of…

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…

Until relatively recently, the focus of research, policy and intervention responses to abuse and violence within families has been almost exclusively on the behaviour of adults rather than on the violence within families carried out by children and adolescents. As a consequence, the aggressive and violent behaviour of children and adolescents at…

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…

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…

Children who witness domestic violence may have impaired educational attainment as well as facing other challenges such as struggles with self-esteem and forming relationships. This qualitative study set in Northern Ireland explored the perceptions of Education Welfare Officers, child protection social workers and teachers in post-primary schools…

In 2009 the National Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Children published "Partner Exploitation and Violence in Teenage Intimate Relationships". This publication reports on the first major study in the United Kingdom to systematically document the incidence rates and dynamics of intimate partner violence in the lives of young…

The Child Care Policy Directorate has responsibility within the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety for the development and review of policy and legislation relating to the health and social care of children and young people in Northern Ireland. The Directorate aims to ensure that a broad policy and operational perspective is…