Anne Lawrence Principles of Child Protection P r i n Management and Practice c i p This book offers a detailed analysis of the issues and challenges in the theory le and practice of child protection. It is based on the author’s research carried out s in the United Kingdom and Australia and arose out of a recognized need to o enhance co-operation among the major agencies involved in children’s welfare f today. Governments across the world are radically reviewing policy in the child C welfare field. In the midst of these new initiatives it is the managers and h practitioners who must understand the context of change in order to do their work il d effectively. P This book examines: r (cid:2) The social and cultural definitions of child abuse and child sexual abuse o (cid:2) Social constructions of childhood t e (cid:2) The origins of child protection practice c (cid:2) Contemporary multi-agency approaches to child protection management t i (cid:2) Organizational perspectives in social work practice o Principles of n The author critically examines the social factors that have led to the rise in the incidence of child abuse, as well as the expansion of definitions of child abuse and child sexual abuse. The book concludes with recommendations for the future development of child welfare services. Child Principles of Child Protectionis important reading for child protection practitioners, managers, policy makers and students on qualifying and post-qualifying courses in social work, social policy, sociology and child Protection protection. Anne Lawrenceis a qualified social worker and counsellor. She is currently a L private social work consultant in the United Kingdom and has twenty-five years a experience as a practitioner and manager in England, Australia and the United w r States. Her research interests include child protection, parent education, e n professional development and quality assurance programmes. c e Management and Practice Cover design Hybert Design •www.hybertdesign.com www.openup.co.uk BL2088 Prelims 26/08/2004 7:20 PM Page i Principles of Child Protection: Management and Practice BL2088 Prelims 26/08/2004 7:20 PM Page ii BL2088 Prelims 26/08/2004 7:20 PM Page iii Principles of Child Protection: Management and Practice Anne Lawrence Open University Press BL2088 Prelims 26/08/2004 7:20 PM Page iv Open University Press McGraw-Hill Education McGraw-Hill House ShoppenhangersRoad Maidenhead, Berkshire England SL6 2QL email: [email protected] world wide web: www.openup.co.uk and Two Penn Plaza, New York, NY 1012–2289 USA First published 2004 Copyright © Anne Lawrence 2004 All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited. Details of such licences (for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited of 90 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 4LP. A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library ISBN 0 335 21463 0 (pb) 0 335 21464 9 (hb) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data CIP data has been applied for Typeset by BookEns Ltd, Royston, Herts. Printed and bound in Great Britain by Bell & Bain Ltd, GlasgowMP????G Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall BL2088 Prelims 26/08/2004 7:20 PM Page v To Patrick BL2088 Prelims 26/08/2004 7:20 PM Page vi BL2088 Prelims 26/08/2004 7:20 PM Page vii Contents Preface xi Acknowledgements xiii Introduction 1 1 The evolving social construction of child abuse and child sexual abuse 7 Introduction 7 Definitions of child abuse 8 Reification of the term ‘child abuse’ 11 The broadening of the dimensions of child abuse 12 Why the need to define child abuse? 14 The evolving social construction of child sexual abuse 16 The development of contemporary concerns about child abuse and child sexual abuse 18 The rediscovery of child sexual abuse 19 Problems stemming from societal recognition of child sexual abuse 21 Definitions of child sexual abuse 23 The influence of special interest groups on definitions of child sexual abuse 25 The sociological perspective 25 The feminist perspective 25 The systems perspective 26 The public health perspective 26 The psychiatric perspective 26 The interactionist perspective 27 Incidence and prevalence of child sexual abuse 28 Defining incidence and prevalence 28 Difficulties in the interpretation of incidence and prevalence studies 29 The epidemiological value of incidence and prevalence studies 30 Statistical estimations of incidence and prevalence 32 Summary 33 BL2088 Prelims 26/08/2004 7:20 PM Page viii 2 The evolving social construction of childhood 35 Introduction 35 Constructions of childhood 36 Sociological construction of childhood 36 Sociology of the body 37 Periodization of childhood 39 Contemporary social constructions of childhood 44 The modern child as scientifically measured 45 The late/advanced modern child and consumer culture 47 The contemporary welfare child 52 Notions of childhood innocence, social anxiety and protectionism 56 Children’s rights 59 Summary 64 3 The child protection discourse 66 Introduction 66 Periodization of the professional regulation of child abuse and child sexual abuse 67 The development of the child protection discourse 70 The legal model 71 The backlash against child protection 75 Challenges to child protection practice 76 Secondary victimization 76 Impediments to partnership 77 The ‘at risk’ discourse and assessment paradigm 78 Defensive practice 79 Identification of chronic child abuse 80 Summary 81 4 Interagency multidisciplinary work 84 Introduction 84 The interagency multidisciplinary approach to child protection 85 The Baglow multidimensional model 86 Inherent difficulties of interagency multidisciplinary work 89 Level 1: surface problems in the interagency multidisciplinary approach 90 Tensions and stresses 90 Practice conflicts 91 Communication difficulties 92 Barriers to cooperation 93 Level 2: underlying theoretical problems 94 Objectivity and decision-making 94 Organizational systems in child protection 99 BL2088 Prelims 26/08/2004 7:20 PM Page ix Key criticisms of current interagency multidisciplinary work 101 The need for subjectivism 101 Gaps in services 102 Eligibility criteria for services 103 Imbalance in the system 104 Research and evaluation considerations 105 Summary 106 5 Organizational perspectives of contemporary social work 108 Introduction 108 What is an organization? 109 Organizational perspectives 109 Bureaucratic organization 110 The human relations school perspective 110 The systems perspective 110 The feminist perspective 111 The anti-racist perspective 112 Contemporary social influences on child protection organization 113 Postmodern influences on organizations involved in child protection 113 Pluralism 114 Participation 115 Power 116 Performance 118 Critical perspectives for social work 120 The ecological model 120 A version of critical theory for social work 121 Summary 122 6 Implications for the future 124 Introduction 124 A broader welfare perspective for children and families 124 The preventative approach to child welfare services 125 More reflexive practice 126 A Commissioner for Children and a Minister for Children 127 7 Conclusions 129 References 131 Index 146