Suchergebnisse

Christine Hallett is Professor of Social Policy and Chair of the Department of Applied Social Science, University of Stirling, Scotland. She has written extensively in the area of child protection policy, child inquiries and inter-professional communication. In 1992, in conjunction with Elizabeth Birchall, she completed a major review of the literature on the issue of co-ordination in child protection work. It has formed the basis for a research study funded by the Department of Health Into inter-agency and professional co-ordination in the practice and policies of child protection.This interview was conducted whilst I was on a study tour of Great Britain supported by a Creswick Foundation Fellowship in Family Relations and Child Development and the Department of Social Work, Monash University. In the interview, Christine discusses her views about the efficacy of co-ordination, its drawbacks and the policy implications for emphasising the importance of inter-agency co-ordination in protecting children.

Suzanne Jenkins has had over fourteen years experience in the field of child abuse and perpetrator work. She was employed as Senior Therapist at the Gracewell Clinic in Birmingham, England. The Gracewell Clinic had a world-wide reputation for its successful and innovative approach to working with paedophiles and other perpetrators of sexual violence. Since the clinic's closure in late 1993, Suzanne has developed her own therapeutic and training model for working with sexual abuse based on an integrated approach.The interview was conducted whilst I was on a study tour of Britain supported by a Creswick Foundation Fellowship in Family Relations and Child Development and the Department of Social Work, Monash University.The interview took place during Suzanne's time with the Gracewell Clinic. In the interview, Suzanne discusses ideas that she has found useful in her experience of working with perpetrators of sexual abuse.

Peter Dale is the principal author of Dangerous Families, which was first published in 1986. In it, he described an assessment and therapeutic approach to working with child abuse developed by the Rochdale Special Unit of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) in Britain. In 1986, Peter became the Manager of the NSPCC Child Protection Team in East Sussex. He is also a Visiting Research Fellow in Social Policy and Social Work at Sussex University. He is currently completing a PhD study at the University of Brighton entitled: Clients' and therapists' perceptions of the psychotherapeutic process: A study of adults abused as children.This interview was conducted whilst I worked as part of the East Sussex NSPCC Team for three months in 1993. This experience was made possible with the support of a Creswick Foundation Fellowship in Family Relations and Child Development and the Department of Social Work, Monash University.In the interview, Peter discusses the changes in his thinking and practice since the publication of Dangerous Families.

Last year, the Australian Childhood Foundation celebrated an important milestone. We turned thirty years old. For more than half of this period, we have sought to translate the richness of ideas that the field of neuroscience has offered to those of us taking care of children, young people and adults who have suffered trauma resulting from violation.

In his latest book, Touch - The Science of Hand, Heart and Mind, respected neuroscientist David Linden (2015) elegantly dives into the complexity of the circuitry that connects the body and the brain in integrative processes of experience. Detailing different types of fibres which conduct information from the sensors in our skin to the brain, he describes how the speed of information flow is critical to the way we can discern various forms of touch.
"…Fast A-fibres are necessary to transmit rapidly changing, highly nuanced signals about object shape, texture, vibration…C-fibres, in contrast, are not built to inform the parts of the brain involved in discriminative, factual aspects of touch sensation, but rather function to integrate information slowly and to discern the emotional tone of the particular touch involved….recently it has become clear that some C-fibres convey a special kind of tactile information: they appear to be tuned for interpersonal touch…C-tactile fibres are caress sensors…(p.78)".
Amazingly, the human body has evolved so that it has sensors that are sensitive only to the experience of a caress. For children and families, the questions that arise from this insight are numerous and possibly far reaching. How do these fibres develop? Are they involved in embedding a sense of safety into our bodies? Are there circumstances in which they might be damaged? How does stress impact on their development in infants and children?

In August 2014, the Australian Childhood Foundation ran a conference on childhood trauma using a unique format. We gathered together a range of the world's master knowledge-builders in the field of interpersonal neurobiology. We asked them to explore themes that were relevant to the ways in which those affected by trauma could heal through connection and care.

Thousands of hours of evidence of trauma, pain and culpability presented to the current Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse have left no doubt that organisations have always been and continue to be responsible for enacting a culture that ensures that their own staff and volunteers do not harm, abuse or exploit children who are involved directly or indirectly with the activities or services provided by the organisation. In the past 6 years, through its Safeguarding Children Accreditation Program, the Australian Childhood Foundation has worked with more than 100 organisations nationally and internationally to strengthen their capacity to protect children and young people. Our experience has highlighted that substantial confusion exists about how to construct a child protection policy that frames the expectations and responsibilities of individuals who work, volunteer or use the services/activities of an organisation. In this paper, the authors offer a blueprint for considering the critical elements of a child protection policy that organisations can use to evaluate and possibly reconfigure or formulate their own. The paper outlines the function of the child protection policy in an organisation; the principles for constructing the policy; and an example of content for a child protection policy. The authors conclude that, if constructed with heart and sensitivity, a child protection policy can shape and define the very narrative about what the organisation stands for in relation to the safety of children and the responsibilities of adults to fulfilling the rights of children and young people more broadly.