A study of errors that can occur when weighing infants

When infants are weighed at well baby or infant welfare clinics, the weight change from one visit to the next is used as a guide to the welfare of the child. Infant welfare clinic nurses are expert clinicians who use weight measurements as a rough indicator of well-being only, as it is well known by them that these measurements are fraught with error. This paper calculates the amount of error which was found in repeated tests of weights of infants, and in the weight changes brought about by biological variation. As a result, it is recommended that babies under nine months of age be weighed at clinic visits no less than a fortnight apart, and older infants, at least one month apart. If they are weighed more often, then the weight changes detected will be less than the amount of error which affects the measurements.

Working Ethically in Child Protection

Rather than a single focus on assessing risk and diagnosing deficit, this book recognises that our child protection systems bear down disproportionately on those from disadvantaged and marginalised communities and argues that what is needed is real support and practical assistance for poor and vulnerable parents and children. It uses real-world case examples to illustrate the relevant ethical and practice principles, and ways in which students and practitioners can practise ethically when dealing with complex, multi-faceted issues.

Child sexual abuse: Raising awareness and empathy is essential to promote new public health responses

Child sexual abuse is a major global public health concern, affecting one in eight children and causing massive costs including depression, unwanted pregnancy and HIV. The gravity of this global issue is reflected by the United Nations’ new effort to respond to sexual abuse in the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals. The fundamental policy aims are to improve prevention, identification and optimal responses to sexual abuse. However, as shown in our literature review, policymakers face difficult challenges because child sexual abuse is hidden, psychologically complex, and socially sensitive. This article contributes significant new ideas for international progress. Insights about required strategies are informed by an innovative multidisciplinary analysis of research from public health, medicine, social science, psychology, and neurology. Using an ecological model comprising individual, institutional and societal dimensions, we propose that two preconditions for progress are the enhancement of awareness of child sexual abuse, and of empathic responses towards its victims.

Child sexual abuse and access to justice for civil claims: Time to reform the Limitation of Actions Act 1974 (Qld)

In 2015, Victoria passed laws removing the time limit in which a survivor of child sexual abuse can commence a civil claim for personal injury. The law applies also to physical abuse, and to psychological injury arising from those forms of abuse. In 2016, New South Wales made almost identical legal reforms. These reforms were partly motivated by the recommendations of inquiries into institutional child abuse. Of particular relevance is that the Australian Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommended in 2015 that all States and Territories remove their time limits for civil claims. This presentation explores the problems with standard time limits when applied to child sexual abuse cases (whether occurring within or beyond institutions), the scientific, ethical and legal justifications for lifting the time limits, and solutions for future law reform.