Child Protection: Getting the Most Out of Research (From Symposium on Evidence-based Practice in Child Protection, P 28-36, 2001, -- See NCJ-187318)

• NCJ Number: 187323
• Author(s): Adam Tomison
• Date Published: 2001
• Length: 9 pages
• Corporate Author: Families, Youth and Community Care Queenland; University of Queensland, Dept of Social Work and Social Policy
• Sale Source: Families, Youth and Community Care Queenland
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: Australia
• Note: Paper from the Symposium on Evidence-based Practice in Child Protection, Brisbane, Australia, November 28, 2000.

Annotation

After providing an overview of some of the major areas of research on child protection practice and the methods that have been used in Australia, this paper explores issues that affect the collaboration between researchers and child protection departments and ways to facilitate better partnerships and ensure that policy and practice are informed by research.

Abstract

Australian research into aspects of child protection practice has been hampered for a number of reasons, including a lack of resources; agency culture; and the difficulties associated with investigating such complex, highly sensitive, real-world phenomena. In his overview of some of the major areas of investigation of child protection practice and the methods that have been used to date, the author contends that although evidence-based practice and experimental rigor are appropriate approaches for the investigation of some facets of child protection work, they should not be the only forms of investigation undertaken. The realities and complexities of child protection work require the adoption of methodological flexibility and the use of a variety of approaches in order to better understand the child protection system. These include case tracking, multiple methods, case studies and action research, and the incorporation of multiple perspectives where possible. In the second half of the paper, the author explores issues that affect the collaboration between researchers and child protection departments and ways to facilitate better partnerships and ensure policy and practice are informed by research. Issues identified include access to information; agency defensiveness; the need for a truly collaborative partnership between child protection and research; intellectual property and tailoring research messages for child protection policy and practice; and the effective use of research once it is completed. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of some methods that may facilitate child protection departments' use of existing external research capacity and knowledge. 10 references