Lack of research on child abuse

THERE is a dearth of child protection-focused research on the factors that cause and perpetuate child abuse, such as homelessness, addiction, parental mental illness and domestic violence, a Trinity College Dublin audit of research on child protection has found.

Published by the Children Acts Advisory Board, the study reveals, in general, there was a shortage of “good quality and robust research” in relation to all statutory child protection practices.

The study, led by Dr Helen Buckley, highlights the fact that although the most frequently reported type of concern is child neglect, only 3% of research materials focused on this.

It also finds a serious lack of research in respect of social work, which is acknowledged to be central to child protection, and says that responsibility for carrying out research has been left largely to the academic sector.

The study also showed that the child protection data collected on child abuse by the HSE has several significant shortcomings, including a lack of information on sources of reports, the gender and ages of the children involved, the causal or associated factors (such as addiction and domestic violence) and the numbers of children that die from child abuse.

“The statistics reveal no epidemiological trends such as the prevalence and recurrence of abuse, and the performance indicators give little scope for analysis,” the report states.

“Available statistical data on child protection, which are vital for planning services and allocating resources, require further development and analysis to improve accuracy and to provide a more comprehensive picture of child protection issues and activities. For instance, the source of referrals, the type of adversities being experienced by families, the interventions being made and their impact on children.”

The vast majority of the research audited, which includes PhD theses and peer-reviewed articles, was conducted and published within academic institutions.

Research commissioned by statutory bodies, including the HSE and the Department of Health, that have responsibility for child protection, represented only 23% of the total material available. The audit also shows the majority of the Irish research material is not publicly accessible beyond abstract formats.