The recent history of child protection in Scotland and the impact of intra-familiar child abuse inquiries such as orkney on today's child protection work

Master's Thesis , 2000 , 94 Pages

Social Work

In November 1999 the Sunday Mail ran a story Orkney in new kid-sex scandal. Within the article, the social workers at Orkney were accused of doing nothing because the mother thought that the Orkney inquiry in 1992 damaged them so much they were happier pretending this was not happening. Furthermore, an ‘unnamed insider’ stated “it’s true that sex abuse allegations are handled with kid gloves within the department. It’s only natural after what happened here before.” The purpose of this study is to explore the recent history of child protection in Scotland and the impact of intra-familiar child abuse inquiries on today’s child protection work. The main question hereby is: Are children more at risk? Crystallisation was used as a general research methodology to obtain a wide range of information and to increase the validity of results. The data was derived from social work sources – interviews with two senior social work managers of two local authorities in the West of Scotland as well as a child protection trainer and questionnaires presented to child protection trainers and 32 students of two West of Scotland cohorts currently undertaking a post-qualifying child protection programme. The study was carried out between February and April 2000 and examined the perceptions and attitudes of child protection workers and how recent inquiries into child abuse have influenced today’s protection work and policy. It was found that there has been both a positive and a negative impact on child protection work. All agreed that the partnership approach with parents and children and the inter-agency approach are important for good practice within child protection work. However, most of the respondents felt also a negative impact of the inquiries not necessarily on practice but on the social work profession itself. Furthermore, most agreed that children are not under greater risk owing to the reluctance of social workers to believe children’s...

Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)

• Introduction
• 1. Review of Recent Literature and Research
• The History of Child Protection Work
• From child rescue to child protection
• The rediscovering of child abuse
• Child sexual abuse
• Defining Child Abuse
• The cultural context of child abuse definition
• Definitions of child abuse
• Summary
• 2. Research Design and Methodology
• Specific Aims
• Details of the Research Project
• The Research Process
• Presenting the Findings
• 3. The Research Findings
• The Child Protection Students
• Demographic profile of respondents
• The Attitude Scales
• Responses to Statements Relating to Child Protection Work and Child Sexual Abuse
• Responses to Statements relating to Child Abuse in General
• The Open-ended Questions
• The Child Protection Trainers
• The Attitude Scales
• Responses to Statements Relating to Child Protection and Child Sexual Abuse
• Responses to Statements Relating to Child Abuse in General
• The Open-ended Questions
• The Senior Social Work Managers and Child Protection Trainer
• The social work role within child protection practice
• The impact of child abuse inquiries such as the Orkney inquiry on today's child protection practice
• Specialised and improved training
• Working in partnership
• Guidelines and Procedures
• Negative effects on the social work profession and their practice
• Public information and education about child abuse and the social work role
• Self-image and dilemmas of the social work profession
• 4. Conclusions

Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)

This dissertation examines the impact of intra-familial child abuse inquiries, particularly the Orkney inquiry, on contemporary child protection practices in Scotland. The study aims to understand the perspectives of child protection professionals, specifically student social workers, trainers, and senior managers, on the evolution of child protection practices in response to these inquiries.

• The historical development of child protection in Scotland
• The impact of child abuse inquiries on child protection practices
• The attitudes and perspectives of child protection professionals
• The role of training and partnership in improving child protection work
• The challenges and dilemmas faced by social workers in child protection practice

Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)

• The first chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the history of child protection in Scotland, tracing the evolution from child rescue to the modern child protection system. The chapter also explores the emergence of the concept of child abuse and the significance of child sexual abuse within the broader context of child protection. It concludes by examining various definitions of child abuse and the cultural factors influencing their interpretation.
• The second chapter outlines the research design and methodology employed in the study. This chapter details the specific aims of the research, the research project design, the process involved in data collection, and the methods used for presenting the research findings.
• The third chapter presents the research findings gathered through questionnaires and interviews with student social workers, child protection trainers, and senior social work managers. This chapter analyzes the participants' perspectives on the impact of the Orkney inquiry on child protection procedures, training, and practice, as well as their attitudes towards child abuse, the role of social work, and public perceptions of child protection workers.

Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)

This dissertation focuses on the key concepts of child protection, intra-familial child abuse, social work practice, professional attitudes, and the impact of inquiries such as the Orkney inquiry on contemporary child protection work in Scotland. The study explores the challenges and dilemmas faced by social workers in their efforts to protect children from harm.

• College: Glasgow Caledonian University
• Author: Dr. rer. med. Sven Günther (Author)
• Publication Year: 2000
• Pages: 94
• Catalog Number: V169589
• ISBN (eBook): 9783640880621
• ISBN (Book): 9783640880584
• Language: English
• Tags: scotland, child abuse, Orkney, child protection, social work