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This paper is based on literature review on the legal, political and social context of Malaysia regarding child welfare and social work. Children are an asset and younger generations will become the leaders of the country in future. In the Malaysian context, a variety of factors impact on how children are defined. These include the Islamic perspective, local cultural practices, approaches based on biological growth and relevant legislation. Such varying definitions can cause confusion in the application of law and could result in injustice. When talking regarding the social problems concerning children in Malaysia, there include abuse, neglect, abandonment of babies, street children, children beyond parental control, children involved with crime, underage marriage, prostitution and child trafficking. However, the shortage of professional social workers who can effectively manage abuse and child neglect cases is a serious problem.

This paper describes the technique of participative case planning, a tool developed and used by the author for working with families who have had their children removed because of abuse and/or neglect. This technique seeks to assist families and practitioners to work together in an empowering way to return children home quickly and safely. The particular model draws on theoretical principles and perspectives of empowerment, case management, case planning, crisis intervention, task centred therapy and contracting.The paper outlines the steps involved in participative case planning pom preparation for the meeting to its end. It also addresses a number of issues, including the role of the chairperson, involvement of children and non-return of children.

This study investigated the impact of type of out-of-court disclosure in a child sexual assault case involving a 6-year-old alleged victim. Community participants read a fictional criminal trial summary of a child sexual assault case in which the alleged victim's out-of-court disclosure of the assault was: (a) complete on two occasions or (b) incomplete at first, but later included the full account of the incident. The results showed that there were more guilty verdicts, higher ratings of the defendant's guilt, and greater belief of the alleged victim when there was full disclosure on two occasions compared to when there was a delay in full disclosure. These results are discussed in terms of the impact the nature of out-of-court disclosure can have when a child testifies in a sexual assault case.

The cognitive distortions of sexual offenders are considered to be influential in the etiology and maintenance of deviant sexual behavior and are commonly accepted as valid predictors of treatment potential and success, despite the lack of systematic research to support these assumptions. Contributing to this gap in the research is the shortage of psychometrically sound assessment techniques to measure these cognitive distortions. The present paper describes the development and validation of two distinct measures, the MOLEST and RAPE Scales, designed to respectively assess the cognitive distortions of child molesters and rapists. Results indicate that the MOLEST and RAPE Scales are promising clinical and research measures, demonstrating strong internal consistency and reliability, convergent and discriminative validity, freedom from a socially desirable response bias, and utility in assessing the efficacy of a cognitive restructuring treatment component. Furthermore, sexual offenders' cognitive distortions as assessed by the MOLEST and RAPE Scales were found to be related to the number of victims and duration of sexually assaultive behavior.

Differences in self-reported victimization and outcomes for residential (n=114) vs. outpatient (n=73) substance abuse treatment samples were examined. Repeated measures MANOVAs for victimization level by level of care were performed on days of alcohol and marijuana use and substance-related problems. Residential treatment participants reported higher prevalence of victimization and higher levels of general victimization but did not differ on acute (high) victimization at intake. Analyses revealed a significant interaction between follow-up outcomes and level of care for adolescents with acute intake victimization. Adolescents placed in residential treatment were more likely to reduce their days of alcohol and marijuana use and past month substance-related problems at follow-up. Adolescents with low intake levels of victimization did not differ by level of care. Findings suggest that clinicians must carefully weigh placement recommendations for adolescents with maltreatment histories and that researchers should study ways to increase outpatient treatment effectiveness for these adolescents.

This longitudinal population-based study examines the association between maltreatment victimization experiences and the likelihood of intergenerational (dis)continuity of maltreatment. Our data include all individuals born in 1983/1984 in Queensland (QLD), Australia who are registered as parents via birth records and who experienced system contacts for maltreatment victimization in childhood ( n = 2906). Child safety data on system contacts as a child victim and person responsible for harm to a child were obtained from the Department of Children, Youth Justice and Multicultural Affairs. Out-of-home care experiences and maltreatment frequency, timing, and type were examined. Results indicated that childhood maltreatment experiences significantly differed between parents who were not subsequently responsible for harm to a child (cycle breakers) and parents who were subsequently responsible for harm to a child (cycle maintainers). Different patterns of association were observed across sex. These findings highlight the importance of recognizing the heterogeneity of victim maltreatment experiences and associated risk of maltreatment for their children, and can inform effective and targeted interventions by tailoring these by sex and developmental period.

From the fourth to the sixth grades, Charles V. Sords suffered traumatic sexual abuse by Catholic clergy. He suppressed these memories, yet the pain of what happened impacted every aspect of his life. As an adult, several strong, sensory experiences brought the truth of his childhood into focus. He confronted the Church—and the system that protected clerical criminals. This memoir is an account of childhood sexual abuse, the particularly shameful nature of being raped by priests, and how the Catholic Church's method of handling this and similarly horrifying revelations has re-traumatized survivors.

Every child, for a full and harmonious development of his/her personality, has the right to grow up in a family environment, in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding. This principle is one of the main pillars of foster care service. InAlbania,familyfoster careservice is one of the new forms of social services as an indicator of taken responsibilities by the wellfare state to protect children including children with disabilities, who are deprived of parental care. Foster Care, or as it is called in Albanian Family Code "foster family", is a form of alternative care for children who are not provided with family care by their families.Throughout human history, there are constantly encountered phenomenas of neglect, abuse, intentional murder, sale and abandoning children mainly from ptheir parents.Foster care service was firstly a spontaneous response and then anoficial one, to support children who were vulnerable and deprived of family care. The models of providing foster care services are different from temporary service, the emergency ones, or long-term, and specialized ones. Currently, the Court is the only institution that takes decisions for child guardianship, for his accomodation in asocial care institution or in an alternative family. Basic international obligations in the field of protection of children deprived of parental care are setby the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Albania became party in the CRC on March 28 1992 and in its Optional Protocols "On the involvement of children in armed conflicts" and "On sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography"2 in 2007, these acts being in accordance with the constitutional provisions are now part of the Albanian legal system. In Albania foster care is a special service offered as protection measure for juvenile in the conditions when their parents are unable to exercise their parental responsibility. The reason for this can be the situations when both parents have died or are not known, are declared missing, lack the legal capacity to act, poverty and for any other reason accepted by the court. The goal is that the child be offered a family environment and conditions for the upbringing, such as physical care and emotional support. Such an alternative service was adopted in Albania as a new form of service to improve and increase the efficiency of the delivery of social services in addition to services in social care institutions which provide basic services for each juvenile. By reforming the Social Protection program the Albanian government had two priorities: Prevention of institutionalization of children and the provision of services in a family environment.This service is being extended throughout Albania creating the appropriate environment to treat the children in new forms of care as closed as possible to the family. The state is leading this service supporting it as an alternative to institutionalization to guaranty child upbringing. DOI:10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n19p286

ABSTRACTChildren in the protection and care system are highly vulnerable and need more than protection and physical care. This paper outlines elements of an innovative therapeutic programme, Take Two, which combines trauma and attachment‐informed practice with a clinical outcomes focus. An important feature was the embedding of a research and evaluation partnership between the programme and a university. The paper discusses the challenges of implementing a research approach into a highly sensitive 'messy' or non‐routine environment. The paper portrays the value of a trauma and attachment perspective within a developmental and ecological framework to guide understanding and intervention with these children and their network. A description of the client group is followed by analysis of outcome measures: the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children and the Social Network Map. Findings include the significant reduction of trauma‐related symptoms, an increase in the percentage of friends identified and an increase, albeit not significant, in the percentage of people described as very close. The results point to the importance of family in the lives of these children. This study explores this type of research in situ and its value in building knowledge and strengthening practice.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Preface -- 1 Introduction: The Problem of Violence -- Part I: General Issues -- 2 The Numbers: How Common Is Violent Behavior Today? -- 3 Sodal Causes of Violence -- 4 Biological and Psychological Bases of Violent Behavior -- 5 Developmental Factors and Social Learning -- 6 Media Exposure and Violence -- 7 The Biosocial Model -- Part II: Special Issues -- 8 Substance Abuse and Violent Behavior -- 9 Youth Violence -- 10 Sexual Assault -- 11 Spouse Homicide -- 12 Child Abuse and Physical Punishment -- 13 Victims: The Consequences of Family Violence -- 14 Epilogue: Preventing and Controlling Violence -- References -- Author Index -- Subject Index

"Understanding Animal Abuse and How to Intervene with Children and Young People offers a positive, compassion-based and trauma-informed approach to understanding and intervening in animal abuse. It provides an accessible cross-disciplinary synthesis of current international evidence on animal abuse, and a toolkit for professionals working with people and/or animals to help them understand, prevent, and intervene in cases of animal abuse. With contributions from experts in the field, this essential text offers ten user-friendly chapters with questions for reflection and key summary points. It offers a definition of animal abuse, synthesises the latest research on children, young people and animal abuse, and explores the link between animal abuse and other forms of abuse, and legal perspectives on animal abuse. The second half of the book presents a practical toolkit for professionals, offering guidance and strategies for prevention of and intervention in cases of animal abuse. It provides multidisciplinary perspectives on interventions; from teachers' and social workers roles in detection and intervention of childhood animal abuse, to the roles of enforcement agencies and veterinarians in legal cases of adult animal abuse. Together with a final chapter proposing new directions for research, policy, and practice, this guide is for all who work with children, young people and/or animals, including psychologists, social workers, veterinarians, education professionals, and animal welfare educators. It is also key reading for those involved in legal and policy issues relating to animal welfare"--