Good Practice in Child Protection: A Manual for Professionals

Good Practice in Child Protection is a timely practical handbook for use by all professionals who work with child abuse cases as they get to grips with the new legislation on child protection. The contributors come from a wide range of backgrounds, including the social services, medicine, the legal professions and the police force. The book is soundly based on theory, but its main emphasis is on practice, and it includes exercises to improve practice in specific areas of child protection work, enabling workers to achieve the high standards now demanded.

The subjects covered include:

The Children Act and child protection

Recognizing abuse

Preventing female genital mutilation

Communicating with children about abuse

Child protection case conferences

Promoting inter-professional understanding

Victims of child abuse

The police perspective

Supervision and support of workers

Hilary Owen is Assistant Child Protection Co-ordinator at Sheffield Family and Community Services Department. Jacki Pritchard is a qualified social worker who has worked as a practitioner and manager in both fieldwork and hospital settings. She is currently working as a trainer, consultant and researcher focusing on abuse, risk and violence.