Why the voices of children and young people go unheard in cases of child abuse and neglect

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Why the voices of children and young people go
unheard in cases of child abuse and neglect

• Professor Stan Tucker
• Newman University College
• Every Child Matters
• 30th March 2009
• Birmingham VSC

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Listening to Children the Research

• Barriers and Challenges We know from research
  literature that
• Children who are physically and sexually abused
  often hide their situation from others.
• The stories they tell are frequently designed
  to protect others (family members, siblings,
  family friends etc).
• They tell stories to hide the extent of their
  physical or sexual abuse.
• They sometimes invent a world very different from
  their own to enable them to survive.
• They believe speaking out will precipitate their
  removal from the family home.

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• They think nobody will believe them.
• Abusers can often be persuasive and manipulative
  presenting abuse as a special feature of a
  relationship.
• Abuse can go on for so long that it begins to
  feel normal.
• Speaking out is difficult whatever the age of the
  child.
• The difficulty of disclosure often begins from
  early experiences in the family.

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Through my own research into the views of

• Over 100 children who experienced circumstances
  that have potentially put them at risk of abuse
  and/or neglect.
• 23 interviews with adults who were the victims of
  abuse and/or neglect in their childhood.
• I am attempting to increase understanding of why
  children and young people arent effectively
  communicated with in the reporting of abuse and
  neglect.

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The research attempted to

• focus on how children and young people look at
  their own world, their conditions and themselves.
• how adults can better understand the perspectives
  of young people.
• Involved discussion of emerging data and the
  construction of the typology of risk with a
  monitoring group of young people.
• All young people involved were between the ages
  of 18 26.
• They were located through a variety of groups,
  projects and by snowball sampling.
• The adults involved came through similar routes.

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Typology of Disbelief
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Report to the UN 2007

• The United Kingdoms commitment to implementing
  the Convention remains unwavering. Since the
  last report, our commitment to delivery has been
  reflected by an increased policy focus on
  children and young people, set in the context of
  our recognition of our diversity, with genuine
  devolution within the UK and its overseas
  territories offering flexibility for different
  locations to respond to the particular needs of
  their children and young people, whilst keeping
  steadfast to the principles of the Convention.
• (Ref HM Government (July 2007) The Consolidated
  3rd and 4th Periodic Report to the UN Committee
  on the Rights of the Child. P5)