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Child sexual abuse: A critical analysis of social workers' role in recognising and responding to it

02 March 2020
Volume 1 | British Journal of Child health · Issue 1

Abstract

The role of social workers in safeguarding and child protection has received much critical attention in recent years, in an evolving political and social arena, where policy and practice has shifted following both public outcry of serious case reviews and subsequent policy and practice changes concerning the profession and how it services the needs of the most vulnerable in society. This article seeks to critically examine the current methodology for identifying suspected child sexual abuse signs and indicators, the evolving spectrum of abuse, including critical evaluation of current perspectives on child sexual exploitation.

The role of social workers in safeguarding and child protection has received much critical attention in recent years, in an evolving political and social context, where policy and practice has shifted following both public outcry of serious case reviews (Munro, 2011) and subsequent policy and practice changes concerning the profession and how it services the needs of the most vulnerable in society (Corby, 2006; Department for Education [DfE], 2017a). This article seeks to critically examine the current methodology for identifying suspected child sexual abuse (CSA) signs and indicators, the evolving spectrum of abuse, and to evaluate current perspectives on child sexual exploitation (CSE) (DfE, 2017a). Research in this area has shown that a history of abuse increases the risk for individuals of being further exploitated or becoming an exploiter themselves; alongside child trafficking, this is an area of current concern (Davies, 2012; Melrose and Pearce, 2013; Hallett, 2015; 2017). The article will also provide a critical evaluation of the current policy and practice for professionals engaged in child protection social work, eliciting current perspectives from this field (Broadhurst et al, 2009; Melrose and Pearce, 2013), with evidence drawn from serious case reviews and subsequent changes to policy on the back of these.

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