Child Abuse Review: Rising to new heights with our 2017 Impact Factor

I’m not usually one to boast, but as a co-editor of Child Abuse Review I’m feeling really pleased with the latest news from the journal.

2017 Thomson Reuters Journal Impact Factor

The 2017 Thomson Reuters Journal Impact Factors were released this week, and I’m really proud to report that our impact factor for Child Abuse Review has shot up from 1.543 to 2.253!

This is particularly encouraging as we had set our target, in our 2014-19 business plan to increase it to 1.2 by 2017.

The result places the journal 4th out of 42 social work journals and 9th out of 46 in family studies.

Publishing high quality research that has an impact on practice

While journal impact factors have their limitations, I think this is a recognition of the fact that we are managing to publish really important, high-quality research in child protection, and that this research does have an impact on practice.

This was also reflected in the 2018 Wiley prizes for the best papers published in Child Abuse Review, which were announced at the BASPCAN congress in April:

First Prize – Beyond the Physical Incident Model: How Children Living with Domestic Violence are Harmed By and Resist Regimes of Coercive Control by Emma Katz (Liverpool Hope University) – Published in Volume 25 Issue 1 (2016)

Second Prize – The Prevalence of Child Maltreatment across the Globe: Review of a Series of Meta‐Analyses by Marije Stoltenborgh, Marian J. Bakermans‐Kranenburg, Lenneke R.A. Alink and Marinus H. van IJzendoorn (Leiden University) – Published in Volume 24 Issue 1 (2015)

Third Prize – Risk and Protective Factors for Physical and Emotional Abuse Victimisation amongst Vulnerable Children in South Africa by Franziska Meinck (University of Oxford), Lucie D. Cluver (University of Oxford, and University of Cape Town), Mark E. Boyes (University of Oxford), Lodrick D. Ndhlovu (Tintswalo Hospital) – Published in Volume 24 Issue 3 (2015).

All three of these papers are freely available online for the next year, as are all our editorials and many other papers, so do take a look.

All this could only have been achieved through the hard work of our editorial team, Diane Heath, our editorial manager, the publishing team at Wiley, and, of course, our authors, reviewers and readers. Thank you all.

November 25, 2016

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

Today, 25th November, has been designated by the UN as an international day for the elimination of violence against women.

“Violence against women and girls is a human rights violation, public health pandemic and serious obstacle to sustainable development. It imposes large-scale costs on families, communities and economies. The world cannot afford to pay this price.” — Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General

In my work in the field of child abuse, I have increasingly become aware of the huge tragedy of violence against women, the awful scars it causes to the women themselves, and to their children. It is also a scar across the whole of humanity – something Elaine Storkey has explored in her powerful book, Scars Across Humanity. We must do more to stop it.

Violence against women harms their children too.

In the three years from April 2011 to March 2014, Local Safeguarding Children Boards in England carried out a total of 293 Serious Case Reviews (SCRs) (1). Each one of these concerned a child or children who had died or been seriously harmed as a result of abuse or neglect. In a review of these SCRs, we found that in 54% of cases, there was documented evidence of domestic violence in the parents’ relationship. This included 70 children who had died within a context of domestic violence in the family.

It is now abundantly clear from research that living with domestic abuse is always harmful to children. This was emphasised in a recent special issue of the journal Child Abuse Review (2). At its extreme, this may result in the death of a child, the risks for which may continue even after separation. However, far more children continue to live in households where domestic violence is a part of ‘normal’ family life. The myth that because the children are in a different room and so don’t witness any actual violence, they aren’t harmed by it, has been very clearly shown to be a myth. Children pick up on the stress their parents feel; they experience the fear and terror when their mother is being hit or shouted at; they suffer from the controlling, threatening behaviour, the isolation and intimidation that are imposed on their mothers (for the reality is that, in most of these cases, it is the mother who is the victim).

Over the past few years, there has been huge progress in how we as a society, and as child welfare professionals, recognise and respond to domestic violence, including a growing recognition of the impact on children of living with domestic violence. However, there is still much to do. In our research we identified the importance of police, health and social care professionals carefully considering the needs of children in a family whenever there is evidence of domestic violence; of recognising that domestic violence should not be seen solely in terms of violent incidents, but also within the context of ongoing coercive control and the impact of this on the parent and children; and that controlling behaviour may continue to pose risks to mothers and children, even following separation.

By recognising these risks, and taking action to protect women and children from domestic violence, perhaps we could prevent some of those 70 deaths and many more of the cases of serious harm and children and women living in fear.

The full research report, Pathways to harm, pathways to protection, is freely available for download from Research in Practice: http://seriouscasereviews.rip.org.uk

The special issue of Child Abuse Review is available via the BASPCAN website: http://www.baspcan.org.uk/child-abuse-review/

Sidebotham P, Brandon M, Bailey S, Belderson P, Dodsworth J, Garstang J, et al. Pathways to harm, pathways to protection: a triennial analysis of serious case reviews 2011 to 2014. London: Department for Education; 2016.
Humphreys C, Bradbury-Jones C. Domestic Abuse and Safeguarding Children: Focus, Response and Intervention. Child Abuse Review. 2015;24(4):231-4.

July 11, 2016

Adolescent harm from abuse and neglect

New research from the University of Warwick reveals an increase in the number of adolescents who died or were seriously harmed as a result of abuse or neglect.

The research was commissioned by the Department for Education and is based on an analysis of 293 serious case reviews (SCRs) carried out in England between 2011-2014.

Serious Case Reviews

The research was led by Dr Peter Sidebotham, Associate Professor of Child Health of Warwick Medical School and Professor Marian Brandon, Professor of Social Work and Director of the University of East Anglia’s Centre for Research on Children and Families of the University of East Anglia.

The study Pathways to Harm, Pathways to Protection: A Triennial Analysis of Serious Case Reviews 2011-2014 is the fifth consecutive analysis of serious case reviews in England undertaken by the same research team dating back to reviews from 2003-2005. A serious case review (SCR) takes place after a child dies or is seriously injured and abuse or neglect is thought to be involved. It looks at lessons that can help prevent similar incidents from happening in the future

Adolescents

Their research showed a small but significant increase in fatalities and non-fatalities among two age groups 11-15 year olds and 16-17 year olds. In the current review 28% of SCRs were within the two older age groups compared to previous years when the figure was 22-25%.

Dr Sidebotham said: “Often people don’t associate abuse and neglect with adolescents and most cases involve infants and younger children, but people don’t recognise that there is a second peak in risk during adolescence.

“The increase in SCRs involving adolescents is a worrying trend. By adolescence the impact of long-standing abuse or neglect may be present in behaviours which place the young person at increased risk of harm.”

Professor Marian Brandon commented: “We found that the vulnerability of adolescents was often overlooked because they were considered to be already adult or thought to be resilient when taking time to listen to them or to understand their behaviour would have revealed the extent of their difficulties. This was often the case with the young people who were sexually exploited and also of many of the young people who took their own lives”

Drug and alcohol misuse

The research highlighted that almost two thirds of the young people aged 11-15 and 88% of the older adolescents had mental health problems. Some responded to adversity by engaging in risk-taking behaviour including drug and alcohol misuse and offending. Others were placed at risk of sexual exploitation.

Dr Sidebotham added: “This group of adolescents may find themselves particularly vulnerable to online grooming. On a positive note we found that being at school can promote good overall development and a buffer against adversities. Children not regularly in school due to poor attendance, home schooling or exclusion can be vulnerable due to their ‘invisibility’ and social isolation.”

The research has been reported in Science Daily and other online news sources.

The full report and other resources are available on the Research in Practice Serious Case Review website

July 6, 2016

Continuity and change in child protection: challenges in research and practice

I am pleased to announce that the latest issue of Child Abuse Review is now published and available online. Six research papers and a freely accessible editorial focus on continuity and change in child protection.

Last year’s special issue on domestic abuse and safeguarding children generated an unprecedented number of submissions to the journal. This emphasises just how crucial the issue is for children’s safety and wellbeing. In their editorial for that issue, Cathy Humphreys and Caroline Bradbury-Jones identified seven key principles in relation to safeguarding and domestic abuse, relating to focus, response and intervention (Humphreys and Bradbury-Jones 2015). In this issue of Child Abuse Review we pick up on those, with two papers exploring interventions with violent fathers, drawing on Humphreys and Bradbury-Jones’ assertion that risk assessment and risk management of the perpetrator should be a focus of intervention.

To reduce the prevalence and impact of domestic violence, we need to engage both with those affected by it (the women and children) and with the perpetrators

We include two papers which consider some specific vulnerable situations for young people: those who run away or go missing from home; and those who are involved in gang membership. They present some challenging and perhaps surprising results. We include an analysis of national data on under 5 mortality rates in the former Soviet Union, and a nationwide survey of teams providing medical evaluations for possible sexual abuse in the USA.

Young people consistently cited family difficulties as the main issue influencing their decision to run away from home, including difficulties in parental that management of their child’s behaviour, and significant family stresses. They also identified problems at school and the young person’s own emotional health as key underlying factors.

Young people who go missing want to be heard, to be treated with respect, to be able to exercise autonomy, and to feel that someone cares (Taylor, Bradbury-Jones et al. 2014).

Read the full editorial here.

List of Contents

Gray “I’m working towards getting back together”: Client accounts of motivation related to relationship status in men’s behaviour change programmes in New South Wales, Australia

McConnell and Taylor Evaluating programmes for violent fathers: challenges and ethical review

Hill ‘No-one runs away for no reason’ Understanding safeguarding issues when children and young people go missing from home

Cepeda et al Childhood Trauma among Mexican-American Gang Members and Delinquent Youth: A Comparative Exploratory Study

Pritchard and Mirza Under-fives Child Mortality and Child-Abuse-Related-Deaths in the former USSR: Is there an under-reporting of abuse related deaths?

Greeley et al A Nationwide Survey of Peer-Review Practices on Child Maltreatment Teams

Book reviews: Critical Perspectives on Child Sexual Exploitation and Related Trafficking edited by M. Melrose and J. Pearce; Child Maltreatment and High Risk Families by J. Taylor and A. Lazenbatt; Safeguarding and Protecting children, Young People and families: A Guide for Nurses and Midwives by Gill Watson and Sandra Rodwell

References

Humphreys, C. and C. Bradbury-Jones (2015). “Domestic Abuse and Safeguarding Children: Focus, Response and Intervention.” Child Abuse Review 24(4): 231-234.

Taylor, J., C. Bradbury-Jones, H. Hunter, K. Sanford, T. Rahilly and N. Ibrahim (2014). “Young People’s Experiences of Going Missing From Care: A Qualitative Investigation using Peer Researchers.” Child Abuse Review 23(6): 387-401.

May 4, 2016

What Helps Children and Young People Move Forward Following Child Maltreatment?

‘It is known that some young people show remarkable resilience to very negative experiences. For others, however, alongside a broad range of multiagency interventions, appropriate individual/family psychological support and therapeutic approaches are desirable and/or necessary to facilitate recovery and prevent a severe impact on the function and quality of victims’ lives.’ – Catherine Hamilton-Giachritsis

Our latest, themed, issue of Child Abuse Review focuses on a number of different interventions for children and young people following child maltreatment, and presents a positive picture of what can be done to help them move forward. Central to any effective intervention is an approach that learns from and engages with the ‘experts by experience’: both children and young people affected by abuse and neglect, and their parents. As Catherine Hamilton-Giachritsis points out in her accompanying editorial, two themes coming across in the included papers are ‘the role of parents, including communication style, warmth, sensitivity and responsiveness’ and ‘hearing the voices of young people’.

While the full articles are only available to BASPCAN members and subscribers to the journal, all abstracts can be accessed freely online.

Themed Issue on Interventions following child maltreatment. Child Abuse Review, 2016, 25:2

Table of Contents

Editorial: What helps children and young people move forward following child maltreatment? Catherine Hamilton-Giachritsis

Intervening with severely and chronically neglected children and their families: The contribution of trauma-informed approaches. Tristan Milot, Diane St-Laurent, Louise S. Éthier

Predictors of group treatment outcomes for child sexual abuse: An investigation of the role of demographic and abuse characteristics. Atara Hiller, Craig Springer, Justin Misurell, Amy Kranzler, Shireen Rizvi

Turning it around: What do Young women say helps them to move on from child sexual exploitation? Philip Gilligan

Head Start’s impact on cognitive outcomes for children in foster care. Kyunghee Lee

When preschool is not enough: Head Start and foster care (Invited Comment). Adam J Zolotor

Interrupting the intergenerational transmission of violence. Keri L.M. Pinna

Book Reviews and Training Updates

Practitioner toolkit: Getting it right for children and families affected by parental problem alcohol and drug use (Training Update)

FGM aware: Sara’s story (Training Update)

Attaching through love, hugs and play: simple strategies to help build connections with your child by Deborah D Gray (Book Review)

Treatment of child abuse: Common ground for mental health, medical and legal practitioners (2^nd Edition) edited by R. M. Reece, R. F. Hanson and J. Sargent (Book Review)