365 days to go…

365 days to go to the 2018 BASPCAN International Congress

Warwick University campus is looking stunning at the moment: late white daffodils create a panorama of beauty under clear blue skies; in the dappled woods the bluebells are waiting to burst forth with their carpets of indigo; broody moorhens, ducks and geese congregate on the lakes.

And we are getting really excited about the BASPCAN international congress which is now just a year away.

Thinking outside the box: Fragile Credit: Dan Tucker — Thinking outside the box: Fragile
Credit: Dan Tucker

Thinking outside the box: innovative perspectives on protecting children and young people

The theme of the congress is Thinking Outside the Box. This reflects our desire to learn and develop, encouraging participants to be creative and reflective, and to interact with each other.

The congress will include practitioners, academics and experts by experience – survivors of abuse and users of family services, coming together for the first time to learn from each other, reflect and consider how we can improve services to support families and protect children and young people.

We are looking forward to over 800 delegates from across the UK and around the world joining us for this exciting programme.

Inspiring Keynotes

We have an inspiring line up of keynote speakers including:

Shakespeare’s dysfunctional families

Paul Edmondson, Head of research and knowledge, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

Pebbles in the fairy tale: what can child protection learn from children’s literature?

Anne Fine, Author and former Children’s Laureate

Child protection at the edge of chaos

Irene Stevens, Independent child care consultant

Safeguarding in, around and through sport

Daniel Rhind, Senior lecturer in social psychology

Out of the Box

Along with cutting edge research, practice-focused workshops, presentations of personal experience, and engaging discussion forums, we are also planning an inspirational ‘out of the box’ programme, including:

Poet in residence, Clare Shaw
Motionhouse Dance Company
Health and wellbeing programme
Evening chat room with the convenors and keynote speakers

And much, much more.

Presentations and Workshops: Submit an Abstract

The call for abstracts is now open.

If you have a good idea, some original research or innovative practice that you can present, or if you are able to draw on your own experience as a survivor of abuse or someone who has been involved with family support services, we invite you to submit an outline (abstract) of your presentation.

Registrations: Early Bird Bookings are now open

Early Bird bookings are now open, with substantial discounts and special rates for BASPCAN members (including those joining new), and for those from low-income countries, students, the unwaged and those on low family incomes.

Do take a look at our website for more information, regular updates, and to register for the congress or submit your abstract.

www.baspcan.org.uk/baspcan-congress-2018/

March 13, 2017March 13, 2017

Safeguarding and sport

Safeguarding in, around and through sport is the theme of the latest in our lineup of keynote talks for the BASPCAN 2018 international congress.

Daniel Rhind

Dr Daniel Rhind is a chartered psychologist and head of the Brunel International Research Network for Athlete Welfare.

His deep engagement with the issues of safeguarding and sport make him the ideal person to explore this theme.

Safeguarding in, around and through sport

The importance of safeguarding children and young people within organizations has been repeatedly demonstrated in a range of recent high profile media stories. These organizations cover a variety of different contexts such as schools, churches, hospitals, and care homes. Although sport can provide significant physical, social and psychological benefits for children, research evidence over the past 20 years has demonstrated that sport can also be a context in which children can be subjected to different forms of abuse.

This presentation will consider safeguarding in, around and through sport. Safeguarding ‘in’ sport concerns the prevalence of the different forms of abuse along with the factors which may make children more vulnerable to abuse. Safeguarding ‘around’ sport will be discussed with reference to research on how mega sports events can impact children. Safeguarding ‘through’ sport concerns how participation can help to safeguard children beyond the context of sport.

Over the past 5 years, a working group has developed and piloted the International Safeguards for Children in Sport. The International Safeguards set out the actions that all organizations working in sport should have in place to ensure children are safe from abuse. The presentation will outline the development, implementation and evaluation of these International Safeguards. The CHILDREN Pillars (i.e., Cultural sensitivity, Holistic, Incentives, Leadership, Dynamic, Resources, Engaging stakeholders and Networks) which have been found to under-pin an effective safeguarding system in sport will then be discussed.

Thinking Outside the Box: BASPCAN 2018 international child protection congress

Plans for the congress are really coming together well, and it promises to be a really worthwhile programme. Click here to take a look at the congress website to find out more about the programme, the other keynote speakers, and how you can get involved.

The call for abstracts is now open, so do check it out and see whether there is something you might like to present.

February 27, 2017February 27, 2017

Thinking Outside the box: submit an abstract for a presentation or workshop

The call for abstracts for the BASPCAN 2018 International Child Protection Congress is now open.

The congress theme of Thinking outside the box reflects our desire to learn and develop, encouraging all participants to be creative and reflexive, and to interact with each other. A large part of this is the programme of free papers, posters, workshops, symposia, and training events presented by congress participants. We are looking forward to a great programme with lots of engaging presentations by practitioners, researchers, experts by experience and others.

Click here to find out more and submit your abstract.

February 20, 2017

Child Protection at the Edge of Chaos: Irene Stevens at the BASPCAN Congress April 2018

Our second confirmed keynote speaker for the BASPCAN child protection congress, 2018 is Dr Irene Stevens, independent consultant and expert in complexity theory.

Child Protection at the Edge of Chaos

The protection of children takes place in a dynamic and, at times, fast moving environments. Yet many of the models which are used in risk management and decision making are based on linear assumptions. While this has been challenged, particularly in the Munro Review, there may be resistance to thinking outside the usual linear box. I will present some key ideas from complexity theory and explore how the development of a ‘Complexity Imagination’ among those who work with children can contribute to better outcomes for children and staff. The key concepts among others to be explored and related to child protection are bifurcation, emergence, self-organising criticality, dissipative structures and non-linear conceptualisation of issues.

Complexity theory, by its very nature addresses life at ‘the edge of chaos’ in dynamic systems. This is at the very crux of decision making in practice. In order to protect children, we need to think outside the box. Concepts from Complexity theory can add to the toolkit used by practitioners by raising questions about the nature of risk and how we, as human beings, deal with this. By developing some of the concepts from Complexity theory and exploring how they can be put into practice, staff and organisations may be much better prepared to contribute to the protection of children.

Irene Stevens

Dr Irene Stevens was a residential child care worker and manager, and a social care educator from 1984-2000. She then worked at the Scottish Centre of Excellence for Residential Child Care based at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, from 2000-2011, where she carried out training, research and evaluations in residential child care. Since 2011, she has been an independent child care consultant carrying out research and training both nationally and internationally. She has published on the topic of Complexity Theory since 2007 and has presented on the topic of risk and complexity at national and international conferences.

Thinking Outside the Box: Innovative Perspectives on Protecting Children and Young People

BASPCAN 10th International Congress, 8th-11th April, 2018, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

This major Congress will bring together experts by experience – survivors of abuse and users of services – practitioners, researchers and trainers, commissioners and policy makers from around the UK, Europe and beyond, to learn from each other, reflect and consider how we can improve services to support families and protect children and young people.

The theme of Thinking Outside the Box reflects our desire to learn and develop, encouraging participants to be creative and reflexive, and to interact with each other.

Update your knowledge and skills, learning from new and emerging research
Hear innovative and challenging keynote talks from a range of speakers within and outside the child protection fields
Celebrate the good work and progress that has been made in safeguarding children, while acknowledging the ongoing pain experienced by those affected by abuse and neglect, and recognizing the need to continually learn and improve
Network with others who feel passionately about protecting children and supporting families

The call for abstracts and registration opens soon. Keep an eye on the website for further details, for the full programme and details of other keynote speakers.

To register your interest and receive the latest updates as they become available, please email conferences@baspcan.org.uk with your email address and the header ‘Congress 2018 Updates’.

February 15, 2017February 20, 2017

Pebbles in the fairy tale: Anne Fine, children’s author at the BASPCAN 2018 Congress

I am really excited that Anne Fine, celebrated children’s laureate will be a keynote speaker at our BASPCAN 10th International Congress to be held at the University of Warwick in April 2018. Anne is the author of such books as Madame Doubtfire, Flour Babies, and The Tulip Touch. Her keynote talk, Pebbles in the fairy tale will explore what we can learn from children’s literature about protecting children.

Thinking outside the box

The theme of the congress is ‘Thinking outside the box: innovative perspectives on protecting children and young people.’ The theme reflects our desire to learn and develop, encouraging participants to be creative and reflexive and to learn from each other.

The congress will bring together practitioners, survivors of abuse, researchers, trainers and policy makers. We will learn from each other, reflect, and consider how we can improve services to support families and protect children and young people.

Pebbles in the fairy tale: what can child protection learn from children’s literature

Literature has always been the most accessible instrument we have for ethical enquiry and the clearest way to answer Socrates’ great question, “How ought we to live?” But all too often the child’s need for a means to interpret their own experience of childhood is ignored. A young person who cannot bear even to begin to think about his or her own unhappy and stressed situation can often begin, safely, to explore the problems they face through fiction – somebody else’s problem.

In her talk, Anne Fine will show how books can offer shafts of light and comfort to the troubled child. She will show how they can foster self-scrutiny – not just in the young reader him or herself, but also in the (often overly self-protective) adults who deal with them. Anne will show what these fictional avenues of vicarious experience can mean to young readers, what insights they can bring, and what a comfort they can be. She will try to show how the tolerance and understanding offered by particular novels can offer the twenty first century equivalent of the pebbles in the fairy tale, gleaming in the moonlight and showing the way out of the dark forest.

Anne Fine

Anne is a distinguished writer for both adults and children. She has twice won both of Britain’s most coveted awards for children’s literature, the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread (now Costa) Award, along with a Guardian Award, two Smarties/Nestle Awards, and many other national, regional and international prizes.

Anne is known for writing, with sensitivity and often with humour, on many serious subjects that affect the lives of young readers. Madame Doubtfire tackles the topic of access and custody after divorce. Both Goggle-Eyes and Step by Wicked Step delve into the special strains and complications of stepfamily relationships. Flour Babies is a comedy that illuminates for its readers both the joys and the sheer effort and commitment necessary for successful parenting. The Tulip Touch is a novel about a seriously disturbed child from an unsupportive home. The Book of the Banshee delineates teenage upheavals. Blood Family deals with the topic of family brutality and addiction. Up On Cloud Nine is a masterful portrait of an eccentric child’s progress through education. Charm School has been described as ‘Germaine Greer for Juniors’, and Bill’s New Frock unpacks unthinking gender stereotypes.

Anne Fine has also published eight black comedies for adults. She was Children’s Laureate from 2001-3. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and has been awarded an OBE. Her work has been translated into forty five languages.

Registration opens soon

Registration for the congress will open soon. There are special rates for BASPCAN members and for students, the unemployed, those on low incomes and those from low-income countries.

A call for abstracts will open soon. We are looking for presentations from practitioners, researchers and experts by experience (both survivors of abuse and users of family services). So watch this space, or register your interest on the BASPCAN congress website.

Click here to find out about the other exciting keynote speakers, to see the programme, and for more information about the congress.

January 10, 2017January 10, 2017

The Role of Digital Technology in Child Protection: Still Helping and Harming?

Digital technology has developed phenomenally over the past decade, both in terms of the available hardware (with smartphones rendering internet access and mobile communication available almost anywhere and anytime) and software, including the widespread adoption of social networking sites and apps. All this is having a profound impact upon how we communicate and socialise, on our leisure and learning, and in how we are provided with and receive services. With these new opportunities, though, come novel problems: the dark web, revenge porn, sexting and trolling, to name but a few.

In light of this, our latest special issue of Child Abuse Review focuses on the role of digital technology in child protection, with a freely accessible editorial by our guest editor, Bernard Gallagher, a selection of original research and review papers, and a couple of training reviews.

The Role of Digital Technology in Child Protection: Still Helping and Harming? Bernard Gallagher

Technology-Related Sexual Solicitation of Adolescents: A Review of Prevention Efforts Sandy K. Wurtele and Maureen C. Kenny

The Buffering Effect of Parental Mediation in the Relationship between Adolescents’ Cyberbullying Victimisation and Adjustment Difficulties Michelle F. Wright

New Challenges in Family Support: The Use of Digital Technology in Supporting Parents Lauren Lamberton, John Devaney and Lisa Bunting

The Maintenance of Traditional and Technological Forms of Post-Adoption Contact Sarah Greenhow, Simon Hackett, Christine Jones and Elizabeth Meins

The Role of Technology in Managing People Who Have Been Convicted of Internet Child Abuse Image Offences Claire M. Lilley

Training updates

Keeping Children Safe Online: An Online Learning Course for Anyone Working with Children, NSPCC and CEOP, London, 2014. Vera Slavtcheva-Petkova

Staff E-safety INSET Presentation by Childnet International, London, 2016. Emma Bond

December 6, 2016

Safeguarding Child Development

In our 2009-11 biennial review of Serious Case Reviews, Marian Brandon and I highlighted the crucial importance of an understanding of child development to effective safeguarding of children. This is not a new perspective however, and the relevance of such understanding spans a range of areas, including:

recognition of the influence of development on vulnerability towards abuse
recognition of developmental delay as a possible indicator of abuse or neglect
the influence of children’s development on our interpretation of the signs and symptoms of abuse
the long-term impact of abuse and neglect on children’s development and how we may intervene to improve developmental outcomes, and
the particular vulnerability of disabled children.

These are all themes that have been explored within Child Abuse Review over the years.

We have now published a new virtual issue which picks up on some of the themes through a selection of some of the most important papers on the theme, particularly from recent years.

The virtual issue with a full editorial and seven papers is freely available for download from the Child Abuse Review Website

Virtual Issue on Child Development and Safeguarding

Contents

Why Have We Made Neglect So Complicated? Taking a Fresh Look at Noticing and Helping the Neglected Child
(Volume 24, Issue 2, 2015)
Brigid Daniel

Health, Developmental and Support Needs of Vulnerable Children – Comparing Children in Foster Care and Children in Need
(Volume 23, Issue 6, 2014)
Shanti Raman and Sharmishta Sahu

Out-of-Home Care versus In-home Care for Children Who Have Been Maltreated: A Systematic Review of Health and Wellbeing Outcomes
(Volume 25, Issue 4, 2016)
Miriam J. Maclean, Scott Sims, Melissa O’Donnell and Ruth Gilbert

Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect and Improvements in Child Development
(Volume 18, Issue 1, 2009)
Mogens Nygaard Christoffersen and Diane DePanfilis

Child Abuse, Child Protection and Disabled Children: A Review of Recent Research
(Volume 21, Issue 1, 2012)
Kirsten Stalker and Katherine McArthur

The Connections between Disability and Child Abuse: A Review of the Research Evidence
(Volume 1, Issue 3, 1992)
Liz Kelly

November 1, 2016

Evidence – Informed Practice, Practice – Informed Research

Celebrating 25 years of BASPCAN’s Journal

‘Child Abuse Review’

Royal Angus Hotel, Birmingham

Friday 18 November 2016

As one of the editors of Child Abuse Review, I would really like to invite you to join us on the 18th November in Birmingham for our 25th Anniversary conference. It promises to be an exciting and challenging programme, with some great guest speakers and inspiring free papers.

The day will include:

An optional pre-conference breakfast meeting for delegates on how to get published in Child Abuse Review

An opening plenary session setting the theme, with four parallel sessions on the themes:

Child Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse
Domestic Violence and Parenting Issues
Translating Research into Practice
Neglect

Each parallel session will include a keynote lecture, a number of short presentations from submitted abstracts, and a plenary discussion.

Interactive poster presentations will be held at morning coffee and lunchtime. The posters will be up for viewing all day from 9am until 4.30pm

A closing plenary and celebration of 25 years of Child Abuse Review.

Book online at http://www.baspcan.org.uk/booking.php

To see the full programme, click here

4-page-programme-25th-anniversary-flier

Tag: child protection