NCJ Number
148565
Date Published
1983
Length
286 pages
Annotation
Child abuse and neglect cases in Great Britain are discussed.
Abstract
Based on the most extensive investigation of child abuse and neglect ever carried out in Great Britain, this book follows the course of numerous cases from the first identification of ill-treatment to the resolution of the problem. It carefully observes and records the roles and interactions of health workers, social workers, teachers, doctors, police, and the courts as decisions are made about the best interests of the children. The authors attempt to explain why the English system operates as it does and use this analysis as the basis for specifying a definition of children's rights against which particular institutional arrangements may be evaluated. In the foreword to the book, Richard J. Gelles of the University of Rhode Island cautions that the results of this study are generalizable to the management of maltreatment in Great Britain; that there are important differences between child abuse management in the United States and Great Britain, not the least of which is that mandatory reporting of abuse required in the United States does not exist in Great Britain. These differences, however, should not obscure the fact that there is no objective condition which results in total agreement that the condition of abuse exists and that the entire process of detecting child abuse is conducted under what the authors call "the rule of optimism," where clinical staff are required to think the best of parents. Footnotes, references, index, inquiries, statutes, and case listing are included.