Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-18T03:19:30.646Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Concepts of Adversity, Risk, Vulnerability and Resilience: A Discussion in the Context of the ‘Child Protection System’

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2010

Brigid Daniel
Brigid Daniel*
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Social Science, University of Stirling E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper explores the concepts of adversity, risk, vulnerability and resilience in the context of child protection systems with the aim of contributing to the debate about the ways in which risk of ‘harm’ and ‘abuse’ are conceptualised at different stages of the lifespan and in relation to different groups of people. The recent developments in the policy and legislative framework for state intervention on behalf of children in the UK are described and linked with an exploration of the underlying assumptions about abuse and neglect. Concepts of adversity, risk, vulnerability and resilience and the ways in which the complexity of the routes and pathways to ‘harm’ pose a challenge to the current UK state protective system are discussed.

Type
Themed Section on ‘Harm’, ‘Abuse’, Agency and Resilience Across the Lifespan
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , April 2010 , pp. 231 - 241
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Appleton, J. V. and Cowley, S. (2004), ‘The guideline contradiction: health visitors’ use of formal guidelines for identifying and assessing families in need’, International Journal of Nursing Studies, 41, 7, 785–97.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baldwin, N. and Spencer, N. J. (2005), ‘Economic, cultural and social contexts of neglect’, in Taylor, J. and Daniel, B. (eds.), Child Neglect: Practice Issues for Health and Social Care, London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.Google Scholar
Barnard, M. and Barlow, J. (2003), ‘Discovering parental drug dependence: silence and disclosure’, Children and Society, 17, 1, 45–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Browne, K. and Saqui, S. (2002), ‘Approaches to screening for child abuse and neglect’, in Browne, K., Hanks, H., Stratton, P. and Hamilton, C. (eds.), Early Prediction and Prevention of Child Abuse, Chichester: Wiley.Google Scholar
Butler-Sloss, E. (1998), Report of the Inquiry into Child Abuse in Cleveland 1987, London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Cleaver, H. (ed.) (1999), Children's Needs: Parenting Capacity and the Impact of Parental Mental Illness, Problem Alcohol, Drug Use and Domestic Violence on Children's Development, London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Cooper, A., Hetherington, R. and Katz, I. (2003), The Risk Factor: Making the Child Protection System Work for Children, London: DEMOS.Google Scholar
Dalgleish, L. (2003), ‘Risks, needs and consequences’, in Calder, M. and Hackett, S. (eds.), Assessment in Child Care: Using and Developing Frameworks for Practice, Dorset: Russell House Publishing.Google Scholar
Daniel, B., Featherstone, B., Hooper, C. -A. and Scourfield, J. (2005), ‘Why gender matters for Every Child Matters’, British Journal of Social Work, 35, 8, 1343–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daniel, B., Wassell, S. and Gilligan, R. (1999), Child Development for Child Care and Protection Workers, London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.Google Scholar
Department of Health (2000), Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and Their Families, London: The Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Department of Health and Department for Education and Employment (2000), Working Together to Safeguard Children: A Guide to Inter-Agency Working to Safeguard and Promote the Welfare of Children, London: The Stationery Office.Google Scholar
DFES (2004), Every Child Matters: Change for Children, London: The Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Falkov, A. (1996), A Study of Working Together Part 8 Reports: Fatal Child Abuse and Parental Psychiatric Disorder, London: Department of Health.Google Scholar
Gilbert, R., Spatz Widom, C., Browne, K., Fergusson, D., Webb, E. and Janson, S. (2009), ‘Burden and consequences of child maltreatment in high-income countries’, The Lancet, advance publication, http://www.thelancet.com/series/child-maltreatment.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilligan, R. (1997), ‘Beyond permanence? The importance of resilience in child placement practice and planning’, Adoption and Fostering, 21, 1, 12–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glaser, D. (2000), ‘Child abuse and neglect and the brain – a review’, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 41, 1, 97–116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Glaser, D. (2002), ‘Emotional abuse and neglect (psychological maltreatment): a conceptual framework’, Child Abuse and Neglect, 26, 6–7, 697–714.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gore, S. and Eckenrode, J. (1994), ‘Context and process in research on risk and resilience’, in Haggerty, R. J., Sherrod, L. R., Garmezy, N. and Rutter, M. (eds.), Stress, Risk and Resilience in Children and Adolescents: Processes, Mechanisms, and Interventions, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hammen, C. (2003), ‘Risk and protective factors for children of depressed parents’, in Luthar, S. (ed.), Resilience and Vulnerability, New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hester, M., Pearson, C. and Harwin, N. (2000), Making an Impact: Children and Domestic Violence, London and Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley.Google Scholar
Hetherington, E. M. and Mitchell Elmore, A. (2003), ‘Risk and resilience in children coping with their parents’ divorce and remarriage’, in Luthar, S. (ed.), Resilience and Vulnerability, New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
James, A. (2008), ‘Power, participation and citizenship in the lifecourse’, L. C. R. G. K. Seminar, Stirling University, Stirling.Google Scholar
Kempe, C. H., Silverman, F. N., Steele, B. F., Droegemuller, W. and Silver, H. K. (1962), ‘The battered child syndrome’, Journal of the American Medical Association, 181, 1, 17–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Luthar, S. (2005), ‘Resilience in development: a synthesis of research across five decades’, in Cicchetti, D. and Cohen, D. J. (eds.), Development Psychopathology: Risk, Disorder and Adaptation, New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Mullender, A. (1996), Rethinking Domestic Violence: The Social Work and Probation Response, London and New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Munro, E. (2007), Child Protection, London and Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newman, T. and Blackburn, S. (2002), Transitions in the Lives of Children and Young People: Resilience Factors, Edinburgh: Scottish Executive Education Department.Google Scholar
Parton, N. B. (2007), ‘Safeguarding children: a socio-historical analysis’, in Wilson, K. and James, A. (eds.), The Child Protection Handbook, Philadelphia: Bailliere Tindall, Elsevier, pp. 9–30.Google Scholar
Parton, N. (2008), ‘Towards the “preventive-surveillance state”’, in Burns, K. and Lynch, D. (eds.), Child Protection and Practice Perspectives, Dublin: A. and A. Farmer Ltd.Google Scholar
Perry, B. (1997), ‘Incubated in terror: neurodevelopmental factors in the “cycle of violence”’, in Osofsky, J. D. (ed.), Children in a Violent Society, New York: Guildford Publications.Google Scholar
Piper, C. (2008), Investing in Children: Policy, Law and Practice in Context, Uffculme: Willan Publishing.Google Scholar
Rigsby, L. C. (1994), ‘The Americanization of resilience: deconstructing research practice’, in Wang, M. C. and Gordons, E. W. (eds.), Educational Resilience in Inner-City America: Challenges and Prospects, Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Sameroff, A., Gutman, L. and Peck, S. C. (2003), ‘Adaptation among youth facing multiple risks: prospective research findings’, in Luthar, S. (ed.), Resilience and Vulnerability, New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Scottish Executive (2000), Protecting Children – A Shared Responsibility: Guidance for Health Professionals in Scotland, Edinburgh: The Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Scottish Executive (2005), Getting It Right For Every Child, Edinburgh: Scottish Executive.Google Scholar
Scourfield, J. (2003), Gender and Child Protection, Houndsmills: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stainton Rogers, W. (2001), ‘Constructing childhood, constructing child concern’, in Foley, P., Roche, J. and Tucker, S. (eds.), Children in Society, Hampshire and New York: Palgrave with the Open University.Google Scholar
Swift, K. J. (1995), Manufacturing ‘Bad Mothers’: A Critical Perspective on Child Neglect, Canada: University of Toronto Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, J. S., Baldwin, N. and Spencer, N. (in press), ‘Predicting child abuse and neglect: ethical, theoretical and methodological challenges’, Journal of Clinical Nursing.Google Scholar
United Nations (1989), United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, New York: General Assembly of the United Nations.Google Scholar
Waugh, F. (2008), ‘Violence against children within the family’, in Fawcett, B. and Waugh, F. (eds.), Addressing Violence, Abuse and Oppression: Debates and Challenges, New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Werner, E. E. and Smith, R. S. (1992), Overcoming the Odds: High Risk Children from Birth to Adulthood, Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar