Neglect is now recognized as leading to significantly poor outcomes for children in the short and long term. It is a matter of concern for all professionals who work with children. Children who are neglected are not likely to seek help in their own right and are highly dependent on professionals such as health visitors and schoolteachers identifying and responding to their needs for support and protection. In order to carry out the key tasks of prevention, recognition and response to neglect, practitioners require up-to-date evidence-based information about the aetiology and signs of neglect and what works in prevention and response. This book addresses the key themes in child neglect, draws on current research and practice knowledge and sets out the implications for practice. With a joint health and social work focus, this interdisciplinary book is an essential resource for practitioners, academics and policy makers working towards integrated and collaborative childcare services.
Forward. Olive Stevenson. Introduction. Brigid Daniel & Julie Taylor. 1. The Social and Cultural Context of Neglect. Nick Spencer, University of Warwick and Norma Baldwin, University of Dundee. 2. Evidence-based Practice in Child Neglect: Issues for Consideration. David Gough, University of London. 3. The Emotional Causes and Consequences of Neglect. Brian Minty, University of Manchester. 4. Assessment of Neglect: A Joint Operational Approach. Om Prakash Svrivastava, Edwin Lobo Child Development Centre, Luton. 5. Interdisciplinary Issues in Neglect. Olive Stevenson. 6. Neglect: No Monopoly on Expertise. Helen Buckley, University of Dublin. 7. Is this Child Neglect? The Impact of Differences in Perception of Child Neglect on Social Work Practice. Jan Horwath, University of Sheffield. 8. Neglect: Learning the Lessons from Serious Case Reviews. Renuka Jeyaraja Dent and Christine Cocker, Bridge Child Care Development Service, London. 9. What is Weight Faltering ('Failure to Thrive') and When Does it Become a Child Protection Issue? Charlotte Wright, PEACH Unit, Glasgow. 10. The Theoretical and Practical Issues in Attachment and Neglect: The Case of Very Low Birth Weight Infants. Gill Watson and Julie Taylor, University of Dundee.
This book is a very welcome addition to the Best Practice in Working with Children series. It is a mine of information and importantly draws on the most up to date research as well as practice knowledge... The sequence of the chapters allows the reader to cover the general issues, the theoretical and evidential grounding, the implications for health and social care and finally messages for practice. It is the capacity of the contributors to illustrate their text with both complex research information and case studies that makes this book for me so valuable and accessible. It would be invidious to select any one chapter as the best, there are so many! I really enjoyed them all and the topical issue of whether children from substance abusing families should be removed from home will benefit from the debates within this book. It provides a measured approach to what has become a very emotive topic... Certainly a book well worth reading and referring back to time and time again.
