Bibliography

History of child abuse

A league table of child maltreatment deaths in rich nations.
Florence, Italy: UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, 2003, 40p, figures, tables (Innocenti report card no.5 Sept 2003), tables, figures, and Online (PDF 268K)
http://www.unicef-icdc.org/publications/pdf/repcard5e.pdf

This publication is the fifth in a series of Innocenti Report Cards, designed to monitor the performance of the industrialised nations in meeting the needs of their children. This publication presents and analyses league tables ranking the performance of rich nations against critical indicators of child well being. The number of children dying as a result of child abuse are analysed according to the age at which the risk is greatest. Information is also given about countries with both very low and high incidences of death as a result of maltreatment. Inconsistencies of classification and a lack of common definitions and research methodologies mean that little internationally comparable data exist and that the extent of child maltreatment is almost certainly under represented by the statistics.

Available from: UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre. Email florence@unicef.org Internet http://www.unicef-icdc.org

Australia. Parliament. Senate. Community Affairs References Committee.
Forgotten Australians: a report on Australians who experienced institutional or out-of-home care as children.
Canberra, ACT: Community Affairs References Committee, The Senate, 2004, 410p, tables, figures, illus., and Online
http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/clac_ctte/inst_care/report/

This is the first report from the Senate Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care. Its focus is on children who were in institutional and out of home care, mainly from the 1920s until the 1970s and the beginning of deinstitutionalisation. The second report will cover foster care, including information from earlier times but with its main focus on contemporary foster care issues, children in care with disabilities and the contemporary government and legal framework in which child welfare and protection issues operate. The first report includes background information on institutions and the governments' and churches' roles in placing children in care, the treatment of children in care and the long-term effects of experiences while in care. It also canvasses the issues of responsibility, acknowledgement and reparation; access to records and information; and the provision of wide ranging services for care leavers. A central theme of the report relates to abuse of children in institutions, including emotional, physical and sexual abuse and neglect, much of which constituted criminal physical and sexual assault. An appendix sets out legislative provisions governing children in institutions.

Available from: The Senate, Parliament House, Canberra ACT 2600. Internet http://www.aph.gov.au/senate_ca

Barrington, John.
A voice for children: the Office of the Commissioner for Children in New Zealand 1989-2003.
Wellington, NZ: Dunmore Press, 2004, 131p, ill.

New Zealand's Office of the Commissioner for Children was created in 1989 to protect children's rights and welfare. The author tells the story of its creation and development under Commissioners Ian Hassall 1989-1994; Laurie O'Reilly 1994-1997; Roger McClay 1998-2003; and Cindy Kiro 2003- present. He discusses formative influences and several issues along the way including: the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act; getting started; autonomy for the Office; the education sector; abuse; no hitting of children; the health sector; reviewing child deaths; the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child; the legal and justice system; research; fathers; child mortality; advocating for children; Children's day; monitoring and reviewing the 1989 Act; films, videos, television and publications; international links; greater independence; and current and future directions.

Available from: The Dunmore Press Ltd

Bessant, Judith.
Professional credibility and public trust in those working with young people.
Children Australia v.29 no.2 2004: 5-13

The author argues that restoring public trust in the institutions and services where child abuse has taken place, and may still be occurring, is an issue of considerable importance. She critically reviews the conditions necessary for restoring public trust. Those conditions include improved governance and systematic improvements in the intellectual and professional education of youth workers to ensure that they have the requisite capabilities such as critical insight, advocacy skills and political resolve. The value of establishing a code of professional practice ethics is also considered. Finally it is argued that advocating for young people's rights is another means of securing their well being and workers' professional standing. The author points out, however, that the rights option is somewhat limited because, although it obligates, it does not specify who owes the obligation, and for this reason, rights talk too often remains ineffectual because it is abstracted. The author suggests that the identification of obligations is also necessary for securing public trust and young people's well being because, unlike rights, they specify who is bound and to whom the obligation is owed. (Journal abstract, edited)

Available from: Oz Child: Children Australia, PO Box 7020, Dandenong Vic 3175. Email ChildrenAustralia@latrobe.edu.au.

Bessant, Judith, ed.; Hil, Richard, ed.; Watts, Rob, ed..
Violations of trust: how social and welfare institutions fail children and young people.
Aldershot, England: Ashgate, 2005, 153p (Welfare and society)

The violation of trust of children under state care, through various types of child abuse, is explored in this book. All chapters have been selected for individual indexing. They are: Power and knowledge: the making and managing of the 'unfit' by Susanne Davies; Dangerousness, surveillance and the institutional mistrust of youth by Peter Kelly; Trust, liberal governance and civilisation: the Stolen Generations by Robert van Krieken; Trust us: Indigenous children and the state by Ruth Webber and Sharon Lacey; 'White Australia and the Third Reich: the history of child welfare, trust and racial government, 1930 - 1945 by Robb Watts; Abuse of young people in Australia and the conditions for restoring public trust by Judith Bessant and Richard Hil; The lost children: child refugees by Moira Rayner; The myth of ADHD: Psychiatric oppression of children by Bob Jacobs.

Biron, Dean.
Preventing shaking injuries in infants: a brief communication.
Children Australia v.29 no.4 2004: 34-35

Fifty-two cases of infant abusive head trauma, investigated by the Queensland Police Service over a ten year period, were examined for information on victim and offender demographics. The mean age of victims was 2.6 months. The study demonstrated that abusive injuries was most likely to be caused by a primary caregiver, such as a biological or step parent. It was hypothesised that to assist in prevention, some form of written caution on the dangers of infant shaking should be provided to all parents immediately prior to their child's departure from the maternity ward. (Journal abstract, edited)

Available from: Oz Child: Children Australia, PO Box 7020, Dandenong Vic 3175. Email ChildrenAustralia@latrobe.edu.au.

Blackstock, Cindy; Trocme, Nico.
Community-based child welfare for Aboriginal children: supporting resilience through structural change.
Social Policy Journal of New Zealand no.24 Mar 2005: 12-33, tables, and Online
http://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/journals-and-magazines/social-policy-journal/spj24/24-community-based-child-welfare-for-aboriginal-children-supporting-resilence-through-structural-change-p12-33.html

Available data suggest that First Nations children, youth and families in Canada continue to experience multiple and disproportionate human rights violations stemming from colonialism. First Nations child and family service agencies began developing in the 1970s to affirm community based systems of care and stem the tide of children being placed in non Aboriginal homes. Although these agencies have demonstrated significant success there are key barriers which limit their efficacy, such as the imposition of Euro western legislation, inadequate access to financial resources and the continued marginalisation of Indigenous knowledge within Euro western social work. This paper describes the contemporary lived experience of First Nations children, youth and families in Canada. It identifies the conditions that support First Nations child and family service agencies to implement community based responses to child maltreatment that honour the strength, wisdom and resiliency embedded in Indigenous ways of knowing and being. Future directions, such as mobilising a movement of reconciliation in child welfare as a means of dislocating Euro western social work values, policies and practice that aggress Indigenous ways of caring for children, will be discussed. (Journal abstract)

Available from: Ministry of Social Development, PO Box 12-136, Wellington, New Zealand. Internet http://www.msd.govt.nz/

Bromfield, Leah; Higgins, Daryl.
Chronic and isolated maltreatment in a child protection sample.
Family Matters no.70 Autumn 2005: 38-45, and Online (PDF 169KB)
http://www.aifs.gov.au/institute/pubs/fm2005/fm70/lb.pdf

Researchers and practitioners in the field of child maltreatment often consider child abuse and neglect as a single or repeated series of isolated events. However, such an approach fails to acknowledge that some children's development is characterised by repeated incidents of maltreatment over a prolonged period of time. It also fails to address the cumulative impact of repeated victimisation on children's physical, psychological and developmental outcomes. In this paper, the experience of maltreatment is explored using data from a statutory child protection service, and a new conceptual approach for describing chronic maltreatment is proposed.

Available from: Australian Institute of Family Studies, Level 20, 485 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, Vic 3000. http://www.aifs.gov.au/

Cunneen, Chris.
Legal and political responses to the Stolen Generation: lessons from Ireland.
Indigenous Law Bulletin v.5 no.27 Sept 2003: 14-19

In Ireland political and legal actions have been taken since the 1990s to provide compensation to victims of the formerly widespread child removal practices and associated child abuse. The author describes the historical and legal background to these claims for compensation, the role of the Church, and the response of the government and the courts. While not suggesting that the Irish situation is directly comparable with that of the Stolen Generation, nor that the Irish response could be directly applied in Australia, the author does applaud the Irish government's commitment to acknowledging a past institutionalised wrong and addressing the concept of reparation.

Available from: Indigenous Law Centre, Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052. Email ilbsubscriptions@unsw.edu.au. Internet http://www.ilb.unsw.edu.au/

Gordon, Sue.
Cultural conceptualisation of child abuse and responses to it: an Aboriginal perspective.
Social Policy Journal of New Zealand no.28 Jul 2006: 18-35, and Online
http://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/journals-and-magazines/social-policy-journal/spj28/28-cultural-conceptualisation-of-child-abuse-and-responses-to-it-an-aboriginal-perspective-p18-35.html

Although there is widespread concern about the prevalence of child abuse in Indigenous Australian communities, the problem has been hidden under the false assumption that violence and abuse are culturally ingrained. Differing responses to family violence among Indigenous and non Indigenous Australians perpetuate the systemic cycles of violence plaguing many Indigenous communities. This article says that family and child abuse must be seen within the broader context of historical and present factors, and that the underlying issues that shape Indigenous experiences of abuse must be addressed in order to achieve any real outcomes in protecting Indigenous children. The article addresses the issue of child abuse and neglect within the context of cultural conceptions of the problem and responses to it.

Available from: Ministry of Social Development http://www.msd.govt.nz/

Harries, M; Clare, M.
Mandatory reporting of child abuse: evidence and options: report for the Western Australian Child Protection Council.
Perth, WA: Department for Community Development, 2002, 67p, figures

The Minister for Community Development via the Western Australian Child Protection Council commissioned this analysis of the evidence that exists to support or otherwise mandatory reporting as an optional mechanism for addressing child abuse in Western Australia. The identified aim of the project was to present an appraisal of various methods of reporting suspected child abuse and their outcomes in terms of improving child protection in WA. The report includes an introduction to the project, the methodology used, the social and policy context, the history of mandatory reporting in Australia and internationally, various analyses and arguments regarding mandatory reporting, and appraisal of options. The report concludes with recommendations regarding future developments towards the implementation of mandatory reporting of child abuse and some reasons why various groups support it.

Hil, Richard; Penglase, Joanna; Smith, Gregory.
Closed worlds: reflections on institutional care and child slavery in Australia.
Children Australia v.33 no.1 2008: 12-17

This article deals with various implications arising from evidence of slavery experienced by children placed in orphanages and children's homes between 1910 and 1974. Slavery was an integral part of the day-to-day realities of many of these children who also experienced forms of sexual, physical and emotional abuse in institutions that were supposedly responsible for their care. It is argued that slave labour in care settings contravened various provisions contained in welfare legislation of the period and was used to supplement the incomes of care institutions. The end result was that children were often compelled to work rather than receive the education to which they were entitled, rendering them ill-prepared to deal with various challenges in later life. This largely hidden story of slavery among the 'Forgotten Australians' is one of crude exercise of self-serving authority over children - authority aimed at serving the interests of institutions rather than the children they were meant to help. (Journal abstract)

Available from: Oz Child: Children Australia http://www.ozchild.org.au

Irenyi, Mel; Bromfield, Leah; Beyer, Lorraine; Higgins, Daryl.
Child maltreatment in organisations: risk factors and strategies for prevention.
Melbourne, Vic: National Child Protection Clearinghouse, Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2006, 23p, (Child abuse prevention issues no.25, Spring 2006), and Online
http://www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/issues/issues25/issues25.html

This paper investigates recent literature on child maltreatment in organisational settings. The paper begins with a discussion of Senate inquiries investigating the history and current concerns of organisational child maltreatment in Australian institutions before outlining some risk factors for children. The problematic notion of seeking to profile perpetrators of organisational child maltreatment in order to identify actual or potential high-risk individuals is then explored. The paper outlines some of the common myths and facts about perpetrators before considering organisational risk factors. This is followed by an outline of positive strategies to increase child safety in the context of organisations. Special attention is given to the development of current theoretical models, and strategies for responding to disclosure of past or current abuse. (Author abstract)

Available from: Australian Institute of Family Studies http://www.aifs.gov.au/

Jewell, Pat.
Can parent education still be called 'the cornerstone of child abuse prevention' when neither the voices of the parents or children are heard?
In: Ninth Australasian Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect, November 2003: Many Voices, Many Choices - ACCAN papers and presentations. Sydney, NSW: Department of Community Services, 13p, Online only (PDF 164K)
http://www.community.nsw.gov.au/docswr/_assets/main/documents/accan/papers/3s2d-1.pdf

How can the aims of a parent program be achieved if it has not explored the parents' needs, experiences and beliefs or even heard the parents' stories? This paper discusses changes in the development and meaning of parent education, and argues that for too long parent education has worked from a deficit model that helped parents identify what they were doing wrong. The content and delivery of 'prescriptive parent education programs' and of 'inclusive programs' are discussed and compared, and it is argued that the prescriptive program need to be reevaluated in the context of new research, and of the many changes to community and family life in the last century. The family is struggling to hold itself together in an ever changing and challenging world. The family needs support to stay a family and to parent the next generation. Parent education needs, in fact, to be parent support. This support needs to have a strengths based, solution focused philosophy, which allows families to recognise, and build on, their emotional strengths and connectedness. Only when 'prescriptive' programs become 'inclusive' programs can parent education 'support' programs still be acknowledged as 'a cornerstone of child abuse prevention', the paper concludes.

Available from: NSW Department of Community Services, Locked Bag 28, Ashfield NSW 1800. Internet http://www.community.nsw.gov.au/html/contact/contact.htm

Jokovich, E.
Breaking the silence on abuse.
Rattler no.65 Autumn 2003: 11-14

Child abuse was highlighted during 2002 with allegations that a number of churches and institutions had covered up incidents of child sexual abuse. In this article the author examines the history of child abuse in Australia and welcomes the end of Australia's period of silence.

Available from: Community Child Care Co-operative, Locked Bag 19, Newtown NSW 2042. Email info@ccccnsw.org.au. Internet http://www.ccccnsw.org.au/

MacDonald, Helen.
Into the archives: child sexual abuse, Van Diemen's Land, 1838.
Domestic Violence and Incest Resource Centre Newsletter no.2 Winter 2005: 9-13

This article recounts a case of child abuse that occurred in Tasmania in 1838, highlighting important similarities and differences to our understanding of child abuse over time and drawing attention to implications for service provision and intervention in the present day.

Available from: Domestic Violence and Incest Resource Centre, 292 Wellington Street, Collingwood Vic 3066. Email dvirc@vicnet.net.au. Internet http://www.dvirc.org.au

Muller, Lorraine.
De-colonisation: reflections and implications for social work practice.
Communities, Children and Families Australia v.3 no.1 Dec 2007: 80-87

Colonisation and decolonisation are complex processes of a personal and social nature. Using as a framework the 'five stages of decolonisation' of Burgess, after Enriques' five stages of colonisation, the author analyses the current situation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and discusses the implications of the five stage decolonisation process for social work practice. The discussion includes the Federal Government's 'emergency response' in the Northern Territory, and questions the relationship between changes to land tenure, the Community Development Employment Program (CDEP) and protection of children. The aim of the paper is to offer non Indigenous social workers a way of understanding and acknowledging the process of colonisation and of collaborating with Indigenous peoples in the decolonisation process.

Available from: Australian College for Child and Family Protection Practitioners Inc PO Box 1401, Mackay Qld 4740

Osborn, Alexandra; Delfabbro, Paul J.
An analysis of the social background and placement history of children with multiple and complex needs in Australian out-of-home care.
Communities, Children and Families Australia v.1 no.1 Jul 2006: 33-42, tables

Previous Australian research conducted at a state level has shown that approximately 15 - 20 percent of children in out of home care have significant emotional and behavioural problems that make it very difficult for them to achieve placement stability in conventional family foster care. In order to enhance national awareness of the complex needs of this population of children, a national comparative study of 364 children with a history of significant placement disruption was conducted across Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland. This paper summarises the complex and multifaceted social and family background factors contributing to these children's involvement with the care system, and their subsequent placement histories. The results highlight the strong coincidence of early trauma and abuse and subsequent placement instability, as well as the need for ongoing multidisciplinary interventions to deal with the very high prevalence of psychological, social and educational difficulties within this population. (Journal abstract, edited)

Available from: Australian College for Child and Family Protection Practitioners Inc PO Box 1401, Mackay Qld 4740

Scott, D; Swain, S.
Confronting cruelty: historical perspectives on child protection in Australia.
Carlton South, Vic: Melbourne University Press, 2002, 221p, tables

In recent years child abuse has received a great deal of attention in the media. This book argues that contrary to the impressions created by the media, child abuse has a long history. Using case records from the Children's Protection Society and examining the changing understanding of what cruelty is, this book traces the last 100 years of child abuse, and describes the struggle between philanthropists, social workers and other professional groups for the right to identify and treat children who are abused. Chapters are: The image of the child; The cry of the children has finally been heard; Launching the great crusade; Poverty is a factor but not an excuse; Civilisation hangs in the balance; Neglect in the midst of plenty; The second wave of the child rescue movement - the 'battered baby syndrome'; Child protection: whose rights? whose responsibilities? Child sexual abuse: from Freud to feminism and beyond; and, The pendulum swings: a century of child protection ends.

Available from: Melbourne University Press, PO Box 278, Carlton South Vic 3053. Internet http://www.mup.com.au

Scott, Dorothy.
Child protection: a public health model.
In: Summit on child abuse: toward a national policy for child abuse and recovery. Canberra, ACT: AMA Child and Youth Health Committee, 2004, p14-24

A summary of the history of the child protection movement is presented in this paper. The paper covers the first wave in the latter part of the 19th century and the second wave, which began in the 1960s. It discusses the incidence of child abuse and neglect, the nature of child maltreatment, weaknesses in the current system, where the system is, and should be heading, the role of maternal and child health services, early childhood education, primary schools, general practitioners and specialist services for adults. The paper expresses a wish that the third wave of the child rescue movement can be one based on public health and prevention.

Available from: Australian Medical Association

Stretch, R.
The duty to report child abuse in France, lessons for England?
Child and Family Law Quarterly v.15 no.2 2003: 139-154

While professionals in England are expected to cooperate to prevent child abuse and to report criminal offences, reporting is not mandatory under English criminal law. The author examines the experience of mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse in France, United States and Australia, with a view to examining whether the English rejection of mandatory reporting is justified. She explains the development and details of the duty to report child abuse in the French Penal Code, who should have a duty to report and how this would fit in with the tradition of duties under English criminal law. She looks at the types of punishment awarded for failure to report in France and addresses the argument that mandatory reporting would be ineffective, citing examples from France, Australia and the United States.

Available from: Child and Family Law Quarterly, 21 St Thomas St, Bristol BS1 GJS UK. Email familylaw@jordanpublishing.co.uk. Internet http://www.cflq.com

Swain, Shurlee.
Traces in the archives: evidence of institutional abuse in surviving child welfare records.
Children Australia v.32 no.1 2007: 24-31

The 2004 Forgotten Australians report is the most recent in a series of enquiries highlighting the prevalence of abuse in Australian child welfare institutions. The final report was heavily reliant on oral evidence from survivors and called for ongoing historical research to investigate the conditions which allowed such abuse to exist This paper is a preliminary response to that call. Drawing on the records of a range of Victorian child welfare organisations, it argues that there is evidence in the archives both for the existence of institutional abuse and of individual and systemic responses to the problem. However, the evidence is not always found in the obvious places, nor does it support a simplistic explanation of the prevalence and tolerance of abuse in such settings. (Journal abstract)

Available from: Oz Child: Children Australia http://www.ozchild.org.au

Tomison, A M.
Preventing child abuse: changes to family support in the 21st century.
Melbourne, Vic: National Child Protection Clearinghouse, Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2002, 22p (Child abuse prevention issues no.17 Summer 2002), and Online (269K)
http://www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/issues/issues17/issues17.html

Increased demand for assistance from families and communities has led to a substantial reinvestment in a rapidly changing family support sector. The author provides an historical overview of child protection, and explores a number of central themes in the development and provision of family support, particularly as they apply to the prevention of child abuse and other family violence in the twenty-first century. He notes that there has been a dearth of information available on the role and nature of family support services operating across Australia, and the need to integrate statutory child protection services within the wider family support system.

Available from: Australian Institute of Family Studies, Level 20, 485 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, Vic 3000. http://www.aifs.gov.au/ nch/nch_menu.html

Western Australia. Department for Community Development.
Western Australian Department for Community Development submission to Senate Community Affairs References Committee Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care.
Perth, WA: Department for Community Development, 2003, 51p, Online (PDF 340K)
http://web.archive.org/web/20040329081836/http://fcs.wa.gov.au/pdfs/senate.pdf

This document includes an overview of the Department's role and activities in out-of-home care during the twentieth century, commencing with a short account of historical antecedents, an outline of major policy events and implications, and a description of the main modes of care. It then provides responses to terms of reference which enquired, for example, about unsafe, improper or unlawful care or treatment of children; whether any serious breach of relevant statutory obligation occurred at any time when children were in care or under protection; the extent and impact of the long term social and economic consequences of child abuse and neglect on individuals, families and the Australian society as a whole, and the adequacy of existing remedies and support mechanisms; the nature and cause of major changes to professional practice compared with past practice; measures of reparation; the need for policy to be reviewed to ensure an effective and responsive framework to deal with child abuse matters.

Available from: Department for Community Development, PO Box 6334, East Perth WA 6892. Internet http://www.fcs.wa.gov.au/

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