The COVID-19 pandemic created new challenges and barriers for the work of child protection professionals (CPPs) and intensified existing hardships for families and children, increasing the risk of ...child maltreatment. As new restrictions and precautions were implemented by governments worldwide to stop the virus from spreading, CPPs had to adapt to a new reality of working remotely. However, limited research has investigated how remote work impacted CPPs and child protection work and how CPPs handled this alternative work style.
This review aims to address gaps in the research to reveal the creative and effective approaches CPPs developed to overcome the challenges presented by COVID-19, defined as the ‘positive legacy’ of CPPs, particularly in adapting to remote work challenges.
This review was conducted using a scoping review, followed by two rounds of thematic analysis. The scoping review was conducted in six languages: Hebrew, Arabic, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and English.
The first round of thematic analysis found 18 articles relevant to this review. The second round extracted two main themes: 1) the challenges of remote work and 2) overcoming the challenges of no contact.
The findings of this review may be used to inform future strategies for child protection during a pandemic. They also provide an opportunity to rethink the relationship child protection work has with technology to systematically reform current and future protection policies and practices, including outside of a pandemic.
This study examined the patterns and correlates of the types of maltreatment experienced by adolescents aged 9–12, participating in an ongoing longitudinal study on the impact of neglect on ...children's development. Using case record ion, the study compared the child protection classification and findings from the case record ion with regard to the rates of four types of maltreatment (i.e. physical, sexual, emotional abuse and neglect) as well as co‐occurrence across multiple types of maltreatment. Next, the study examined the frequently observed patterns of child maltreatment. Finally, the study investigated whether aspects of caretaker functioning and the detailed incident characteristics in the cases of neglect differed by the number of different types of maltreatment the children experienced. Results showed significant discrepancies between the Child Protective Service classification and case record ion. Child Protective Service classification considerably underestimated the rate of co‐occurrence across multiple types of maltreatment. Neglect accompanied by physical and emotional abuse was the most common form. Some of the caretaker functioning variables distinguished the number of types of maltreatment. Based on the findings, future‐research directions and practice implication were discussed.
Determination of The Sharia Court Of Banda Aceh Number 2/Pdt.P/2021/MS.Bna, which determines the biological mother as the guardian of her biological child, causes a legal conflict. On the one hand, ...based on the provisions of Article 47 of the Marriage Law, the biological mother, as the parent, represents the child in carrying out legal actions. On the other hand, based on this determination, the biological mother as guardian represents the child in legal actions. This research explains the method of legal discovery and legal considerations in determining guardianship. This research is normative legal research. Secondary data sources come from books, texts, journals, magazines, newspapers, documents, laws and regulations, etc. Research findings show that in the Determination Of The Sharia Court Of Banda Aceh Number 2/Pdt.P/2021/MS.Bna, the judge has carried out a legal construction of analogous arguments, namely Article 47 of the Marriage Law, which cannot resolve the case. However, the events faced in substance it is similar to other regulations related to guardianship, so when Article 47 of the Marriage Law cannot resolve the problem, this provision can be waived. An applicant who is able and has good faith in taking care of himself and the assets of the child who will be under his guardianship in the best possible way and solely for the benefit or benefit of the child, in the perspective of child protection theory, is entitled to be granted guardianship rights. In the Determination Of The Sharia Court Of Banda Aceh Number 2/Pdt.P/2021/MS.Bna there is benefit and harm, what becomes madarat is that if the petition is rejected, the child is abandoned because there is no one to take care of themselves and their property, while what becomes maslahah is if the petition is granted by appointing the Petitioner as the guardian of their children, then the objectives of the Shari’a can be fulfilled, namely take care of the soul of the child and protect the property of the child.
In recent decades, typologies have been developed to better understand the way in which different countries create systems to protect the interests of vulnerable children and their families. A child ...protection system typology is a classification of a set of characteristics that capture and define different approaches to child protection. Typologies are helpful in enabling comparisons of systems across international contexts, helping also to illuminate the various strengths and weaknesses of child protection systems. Typologies can also guide or redirect the development of a system, as they illustrate the varied ways in which children might be better protected. They explain how a cultural value base underpins approaches to child protection and can suggest alternative ways in which a system might evolve, based on the experiences of other countries. This article builds upon early typology building work and presents an international child protection system typology that has universal application. Country examples are used to illustrate the development of systems across two dimensions: whether they are oriented towards an individual or community focus; and whether systems are more, or less, regulated.
Key Practitioner Messages
There are a number of different legitimate approaches to developing an effective child protection system, and countries develop their system according to their own circumstances, values and beliefs. No one way is necessarily the right way.
Typologies of child protection systems can: help us to understand and compare the strengths and weaknesses of systems; guide or redirect the development of systems; and suggest alternative ways of developing systems to those already in existence.
Typologies explain how a cultural value base underpins approaches to child protection and can suggest alternative ways in which a system might evolve, based on the experiences of other countries.
Child Sexual Abuse Mathews, Ben; Collin-Vézina, Delphine
Trauma, Violence, & Abuse,
04/2019, Volume:
20, Issue:
2
Journal Article, Book Review
Peer reviewed
Open access
The problem of defining “child sexual abuse” (CSA), and the need to define this concept, has been recognized by major policy bodies and leading researchers since the 1970s. Recent demands for a more ...theoretically robust, explicit definition of CSA show this challenge remains urgent. In this article, we identify problems caused by variance in definitions of CSA for five domains: research and knowledge formation, legal frameworks and principles, prevention efforts, policy responses, and the establishment of social norms. We review and analyze definitions used in leading international epidemiological studies, national and international policy documents, social science literature, and legal systems in the United States, Canada, and Australia to demonstrate the continuing use of different concepts of CSA and identify key areas of conceptual disagreement. Informed by our literature review, we use a methodology of conceptual analysis to develop a conceptual model of CSA. The purpose of this model is to propose a more robust, theoretically sound concept of CSA, which clarifies its defining characteristics and distinguishes it from other concepts. Finally, we provide operational examples of the conceptual model to indicate how it would translate to a classificatory framework of typologies of acts and experiences. A sound conceptual model and classificatory system offers the prospect of more appropriate and effective methods of research, response, regulation, and prevention. While total consensus is unattainable, this analysis may assist in developing understanding and advancing more coherent approaches to the conceptual foundation of CSA and its operationalization.
Indigenous Australian children are overrepresented in the out-of-home care (OOHC) system, with numbers and rates on an upward trajectory. There is now serious concern that this overrepresentation is ...creating a second Stolen Generations in Australia, noted within policy campaigns such as Family Matters-Kids Safe in Culture, not in Care, and Grandmothers Against Removals. While placement in OOHC is designed to protect children's long-term safety and wellbeing, it threatens cultural connection, which is fundamental to Indigenous identity and wellbeing. Some government policies that aim to foster cultural connection have not been effective, while others, such as the 2014 permanency legislation in Victoria, arguably threaten cultural connection. This article highlights the vital importance of cultural connection for Indigenous child development, arguing that for Indigenous children, family connection strengthens cultural connection. We argue that family needs to be recognised as a critical component of cultural connection that is equally as important as placement stability in OOHC. Consequently, statutory and community organisations responsible for Indigenous children in OOHC must focus on facilitating and strengthening family relationships, not only to foster cultural connection, but also to explore reunification possibilities.
IMPLICATIONS
Cultural connection is fundamental to Indigenous identity and wellbeing, but requires family connection if it is to be fostered and strengthened.
When Indigenous children live in out-of-home care, social workers in child and family welfare need to ensure that children are connected to culture.
Contact with child protection systems are a key site of the expression of social inequalities, yet research into the size and nature of this relationship remains sparse in the Aotearoa New Zealand ...system context. This article reports on a study of the relationships between child protection system contact and small area-level deprivation. Using a national linked dataset including all children with system contact in 2013–14, (n = 13,851 children) it found there is a marked relationship between deprivation and system contact, and significant differences between regions for all three outcomes of interest. Compared to children living in the least deprived quintile of small areas, children in the most deprived quintile had, on average, 13 times the rate of substantiation, 18 times the rate of a family group conference, and 6 times their chance of placement in foster care. There was limited evidence for the ‘inverse intervention law’ that proposes that children in similarly deprived small areas have higher rates of child protection system contact if they live in less deprived regions (larger areas). The pattern of placements showed the strongest support for this law, with children in similarly deprived small areas having, on average, almost twice the rate of placement if they lived in less deprived regions compared to more deprived regions. These findings have implications for policy, as they suggest a need to apply an inequalities perspective to child protection similarly to health inequities. Specifically, action is needed to address the causes of deprivation, provide services that respond to families living in poverty, address biases, and undertake further research to examine the interactions between demand and supply of services between similar deprivation levels.
•Contact with child protection systems may reflect social inequalities similar to health inequities.•This article reports on a study of relationships between child protection system contact and deprivation.•There was a strong relationship between deprivation and all types of system contact, showing evidence of a marked social gradient in contact patterns.•There was limited evidence for the ‘inverse intervention law’, showing a small increase in the chances of care for equally deprived children in different regions.•Implications are that more policy attention is required to address the causes of social inequalities in system contact.
The study aims to shed light on the reconciliation justice system in the Palestinian legal system by studying the text of Article 23 of the Decree-Law on the Protection of Juveniles and related to ...the mediation system in cases of children who have committed acts in violation of the law in accordance with the the decision by law under study. The study took the analytical approach as a method of study, in addition to a comparison with some legal systems in the Arab countries in the field of conciliation justice in general, and especially in cases related to juvenile laws. The study concluded that what the parties to justice police, prosecutors and judiciary do in this field takes them out of their familiar image into a social role instead of the well-known policing role. We are tackling a social referral in this matter, which is the true international trend for the protection of juveniles and is also in line with our view of the juvenile children as a victim who must be cared for and protected in accordance with their age and does not detract from the rights of the abused. The study recommended specialized training on mediation in order to ensure the quality of mediation and not limit the use of mediation to the pre-trial stage, but must be provided during legal proceedings, and even during the legal enforcement stage, in addition to training lawyers and encouraging them to find friendly solutions and assess the validity of mediation in each case independently. تهدف الدراسة إلى تسليط الضوء على نظام الوساطة في النظام القانوني الفلسطيني من خلال دراسة نص م 23 من القرار بقانون بشأن حماية الأحداث والمتعلقة في القضايا المرتكبة من قبل الأطفال الذين ارتكبوا أفعالا مخالفة للقانون وفقا لنص القرار بقانون محل الدراسة. واتخذت الدراسة المنهج الوصفي التحليلي منهجا، إضافة إلى المقارنة مع بعض النظم القانونية في الدول العربية في مجال العدالة التصالحية بشكل عام وخصوصا تلك المتعلقة بقوانين الأحداث، وخلصت الدراسة إلى أن ما تقوم به أطراف العدالة في هذا المجال من شرطة ونيابة وقضاء يخرجنا من الصورة المألوفة لهذه الجهات ويدخلهم في دورهم الاجتماعي بدلا من الدور البوليسي المعروف، فنحن أمام إحالة اجتماعية في هذا الموضوع وهو التوجه الدولي الحقيقي لحماية الأحداث، كما أنه يتميز بالتوافق مع منظورنا للطفل الجانح بأنه ضحية يجب رعايتها وحمايتها بما يتوافق مع سنه ولا ينتقص من حقوق المعتدى عليهم. وأوصت الدراسة بالتدريب المتخصص على الوساطة وذلك لضمان جودة الوساطة وعدم قصر الاستفادة من الوساطة على مرحلة ما قبل المحاكمة، بل يجب توفيرها خلال الاجراءات القانونية، وحتى أثناء مرحلة الانفاذ القانوني. إضافة إلى تدريب المحامين وتشجيعهم على الحلول الودية. وإجراءات عملية الفحص لتقييم صلاحية استخدام الوساطة في كل قضية بشكل مستقل.
The COVID-19 pandemic increased the likelihood of child maltreatment and made already difficult circumstances for children and their families much worse. This increased the significance of the child ...protection system's role in responding to child maltreatment and ensuring children's rights, including their right to a safe life without violence. Unfortunately, accumulating evidence has indicated that the rates of child maltreatment increased during the pandemic.
The current study sought to identify the gaps within child protection responses in various countries during the COVID-19 pandemic and to discover how we can respond to crises in the future while preserving children's rights, including their right to protection from maltreatment.
Five focus groups with a total of 47 professionals working with children from various countries were conducted via Zoom and analyzed using a thematic approach.
Three main themes were identified: 1) gaps in policies, 2) gaps in practice, and 3) professionals' messages to improve policy and practice.
This study emphasizes what was missed in child protection policy and practice, highlighting the continuous neglect of children's needs and voices within policies, practices and guidelines worldwide during the pandemic. Professionals' recommendations for policy and practice are also discussed.
COVID-19 significantly worsened already challenging circumstances for children and their families and globally increased the likelihood of child maltreatment. This risk heightened the urgency of ...child protection professionals in preventing child maltreatment and defending children's rights. The vast and growing body of research on protecting children from child maltreatment during COVID-19 has emphasized practitioners' tremendous difficulty in this arena.
The current international study sought to identify the experiences and responses of child protection professionals to child maltreatment during COVID-19.
Five real-time, virtual focus groups were conducted among professionals who work with children from countries around the globe.
Reflexive thematic analysis was employed to analyze the focus group transcripts.
The participants identified their experiences and challenges in performing their role of protecting children. Additionally, they shared context-adapted and innovative responses to child maltreatment, while emphasizing self-care and their mental health.
The results highlighted that child protection was significantly more challenging during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, they underlined the importance of establishing practices and policies for child protection in crisis times as well as ensuring both children's and professionals' well-being and mental health.
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