Arsenic residues in predatory birds from an area of Britain with naturally and anthropogenically elevated arsenic levels

Birds of prey forage over large areas and so might be expected to accumulate contaminants which are elevated but heterogeneously distributed in the general environment. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that arsenic levels in raptors from a region with elevated environmental arsenic concentrations were higher than those in birds from an uncontaminated part of Britain. Arsenic concentrations in the liver, kidney and muscle of kestrels, Falco tinnunculus, sparrowhawks, Accipiter nisus, and barn owls, Tyto alba, from south-west (SW) England, an area with naturally and anthropogenically (through mining) elevated environmental arsenic concentrations, were compared with those in birds from SW Scotland, where no such geochemical anomaly exists. Arsenic residues in kestrels from SW England were approximately three times greater than those in birds from SW Scotland for the three tissue types analysed. This was not the case for the other species in which arsenic residues were similar in birds from both regions. It is suggested that differences between species in both diet and arsenic metabolism could explain why kestrels have elevated arsenic tissue burdens in response to general environmental contamination but sparrowhawks and barn owls do not.

Diagnosing child sex abuse: A research challenge.

Child sex abuse increasingly is recognised as a societal problem that can no longer be ignored. In this paper definitions, prevalence, trends, assessment, and available diagnostic procedures are described and critically evaluated. It is argued that the lack of reliable diagnostic procedures remains one of the main difficulties in dealing effectively with the detrimental effects of CSA on the child or adult. The research challenge to find effective alternative procedures is outlined.

The Influence of Child Protection Orientation on Child Welfare Practice

This article reports the findings of the second part of a two-part research project examining the potential for social workers to make changes in their work with families and children. While social workers in the United Kingdom have been encouraged to shift from a child protection to a child welfare orientation in their practice, such changes have been hampered by professional and organisational concern to manage risk. The research explores the influence of a child protection orientation on practice in child welfare cases. The findings, from two file analyses and interviews with twenty-six social workers, indicate that such an influence is indeed apparent. This is evidenced in two ways; firstly patterns of practice in child welfare cases are similar to those in child protection cases. Secondly, while the majority of social workers express an attitudinal desire to move towards a child welfare orientation, they still prioritise the management of risk in their practice. It is argued that social workers need permission from their employing organisations to make changes in their practice. This, in turn, requires such organisations to state clear goals in line with a child welfare orientation and develop holistic strategies to achieve these.

Determinants of Child-Parent Agreement in Quality-of-Life Reports: A European Study of Children With Cerebral Palsy

OBJECTIVES: The differences between child self-reports and parent proxy reports of quality of life in a large population of children with cerebral palsy were studied. We examined whether child characteristics, severity of impairment, socioeconomic factors, and parental stress were associated with parent proxy reports being respectively higher or lower than child self-reports of quality of life. METHODS. This study was conducted in 2004–2005 and assessed child quality of life (using the Kidscreen questionnaire, 10 domains, each scored 0–100) through self-reports and parent proxy reports of 500 children aged 8 to 12 years who had cerebral palsy and were living in 7 countries in Europe. RESULTS: The mean child-reported scores of quality of life were significantly higher than the parent proxy reports in 8 domains, significantly lower for the finances domain, and similar for the emotions domain. The average frequency of disagreement (child-parent difference greater than half an SD of child scores) over all domains was 64%, with parents rating their child’s quality of life lower than the children themselves in 29% to 57% of child-parent pairs. We found that high levels of stress in parenting negatively influenced parents’ perception of their child’s quality of life, whereas the main factor explaining parents’ ratings of children’s quality of life higher than the children themselves is self-reported severe child pain. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that the factors associated with disagreement are different according to the direction of disagreement. In particular, parental wellbeing and child pain should be taken into account in the interpretation of parent proxy reports, especially when no child self-report of quality of life is available. In the latter cases, it may be advisable to obtain additional proxy reports (from caregivers, teachers, or clinicians) to obtain complementary information on the child’s quality of life.

Child Welfare Interventions: Patterns of Social Work Practice

Some 10 years ago one of the authors embarked on a research study examining the potential for social workers to shift from a child protection to a child welfare practice orientation (Spratt, 2000; 2001; Spratt and Callan, 2004). The research reported here develops that work; examining how social workers respond to ‘child care problems’ (CCPs). The results indicate that Northern Irish Health and Social Services Trusts (equivalent to Local Authorities in England and Wales) have responded to social policy goals to balance the protection of a lesser number of children whilst meeting the welfare needs of the greater by reducing the number of referrals designated ‘child protection investigations’ (CPIs) and increasing the number of CCPs. Closer analysis reveals, however, that a filtering system has been developed by social workers to address perceived child protection risks within CCP cases. Paradoxically, this leads to early closure of the more concerning cases, with service provision largely confined to the least concerning. The authors argue that the ways in which social workers balance social policing and supportive functions in practice may indicate possible responses to an increase in referred families anticipated within Every Child Matters (Chief Secretary to the Treasury, 2003).

Macro impacts on caseworker decision-making in child welfare: a cross-national comparison

This paper focuses on the factors impacting on decision-making in child and family social work through a cross-national comparison. In doing so, the larger arena of the political and social contexts of both the United States and Northern Ireland are examined. For each of the countries we describe the historical and political context of child welfare, particularly the tension between child safety and family support, and how children’s rights are attended to and interpreted in each country. This discussion also examines the extent to which decision-making in each jurisdiction is influenced by constitutional imperatives, with particular reference to the US Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights. From this general comparison we conclude with observations about child welfare decision-making within the national context and offer suggestions for further theoretical development in this area whilst also examining where the practices in each jurisdiction may benefit from review.

‘Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2009—An attempt to arbitrate on a system’s logic.’

The Child Care (Amendment) Bill was passed by the Seanad on 6th May 2010 and will shortly be enacted as legislation as the Child Care (Amendment) Act, 2010. The Bill, consisting of six Parts amends existing legislation relating to secure or ‘special care’ and makes some further amendments to the Child Care Act, 1991. The Act also provides for the dissolution of the Children Acts Advisory Board, a statutory body established in 2003, whose function was to advise the Minister on policy relating to specialist residential services (specifically Special Care Units) . This article examines the provisions of the Child Care Bill (2009) setting these in the context of current policy and previous legislation. It outlines that while the legislation outlines a detailed process for the application and administration of Special Care Orders, the provisions are weakened by the removal of external oversight mechanisms and the limitations placed on the role of the Guardian ad Litem.

Inquiring into Non-Accidental Child Deaths: Reviewing the Review Process

There is significant public and professional interest in the non-accidental death of children where abuse and neglect are suspected of being contributory factors. Systems for reviewing these deaths have been developed in each of the four jurisdictions within the UK. The main aims are to ensure that individuals and professionals are held to account if practice falls below the expected standard, whilst also seeking to strengthen the systems for protecting children through reflecting on what lessons, if any, can be learnt from the death of a child through abuse or neglect. Recently, the benefit of such inquiries and the quality of serious case reviews have come under scrutiny. In this paper, the authors report the findings of a Delphi study that sought to explore how the process of conducting reviews following the death of a child could be improved through seeking the views of experienced professionals responsible for child protection in Northern Ireland. The authors conclude that the system does command professional support, but could be improved through greater attention to process issues and a stronger emphasis on translating learning into action. In common with research looking at other recent practice developments, there is a need to focus on process indicators as a means to ensuring that well intentioned policies are translated into workable and functioning practices.

Exploring Innovative Methodologies in time and place to analyze child protection documents as elements of practice

This paper aims to demonstrate how a derived approach to case file analysis, influenced by the work of Michel Foucault and Dorothy E.Smith, can offer innovative means by which to study the relations between discourse and practices in child welfare. The article explores text-based forms of organization in histories of child protection in Finland and in Northern Ireland. It is focused on case file records in different organizational child protection contexts in two jurisdictions. Building on a previous article (Author 1 & 2: 2011), we attempt to demonstrate the potential of how the relations between practices and discourses –a majorly important theme for understanding child welfare social work – can be effectively analysed using a combination of two approaches This article is based on three different empirical studies from our two jurisdictions Northern Ireland (UK) and Finland; one study used Foucault; the other Smith and the third study sought to combine the methods. This article seeks to report on ongoing work in developing, for child welfare studies, ‘a history that speaks back’ as we have described it.

Effectiveness of child protection training for pre-service early childhood educators

International evidence confirms that early childhood educators can enter professional practice unprepared for child protection due to inadequate pre-service preparation. This paper makes an original contribution by using the Child Protection Questionnaire for Educators (CPQE) to examine the pre- and post- intervention child maltreatment and protection knowledge of early childhood and primary teaching students. While students’ knowledge increases significantly after participating in a child protection training programme, Pastoral Pathways, as part of their undergraduate study, post-intervention scores vary between groups. The study provides evidence of programme effectiveness and future training needs of pre-service educators. Findings are relevant to teacher educators and child care training providers in relation to programme content development and evidencing knowledge and skills acquisition.

Military Service Pensions for public and civil servants in independent Ireland

In 1924 the Cumann na nGaedheal government introduced the first Military Service Pensions Act to provide monetary compensation for those who fought for Irish independence between 1916 and 1923. Pensioners who were in receipt of remuneration from the state as civil and public servants had a portion of their pension deducted commensurate with their state income. This controversial provision was criticised by all political parties as representing a mean-spirited attitude towards veterans of the independence campaign and treating civil and public servants differently from those in private employment. It was eventually modified in the 1940s and abolished in the 1950s. This article provides a case study that highlights the parsimonious attitude of Irish governments towards veterans of the independence campaign and shows how the treatment of public and civil servants reflected tensions between the government and the civil service in the early years of the state.

Predicting the impacts of climate change on the distribution of threatened forest-restricted birds in Madagascar

The greatest common threat to birds in Madagascar has historically been from anthropogenic deforestation. During recent decades, global climate change is now also regarded as a significant threat to biodiversity. This study uses Maximum Entropy species distribution modeling to explore how potential climate change could affect the distribution of 17 threatened forest endemic bird species, using a range of climate variables from the Hadley Center's HadCM3 climate change model, for IPCC scenario B2a, for 2050. We explore the importance of forest cover as a modeling variable and we test the use of pseudo-presences drawn from extent of occurrence distributions. Inclusion of the forest cover variable improves the models and models derived from real-presence data with forest layer are better predictors than those from pseudo-presence data. Using real-presence data, we analyzed the impacts of climate change on the distribution of nine species. We could not predict the impact of climate change on eight species because of low numbers of occurrences. All nine species were predicted to experience reductions in their total range areas, and their maximum modeled probabilities of occurrence. In general, species range and altitudinal contractions follow the reductive trend of the Maximum presence probability. Only two species (Tyto soumagnei and Newtonia fanovanae) are expected to expand their altitude range. These results indicate that future availability of suitable habitat at different elevations is likely to be critical for species persistence through climate change. Five species (Eutriorchis astur, Neodrepanis hypoxantha, Mesitornis unicolor, Euryceros prevostii, and Oriola bernieri) are probably the most vulnerable to climate change. Four of them (E. astur, M. unicolor, E. prevostii, and O. bernieri) were found vulnerable to the forest fragmentation during previous research. Combination of these two threats in the future could negatively affect these species in a drastic way. Climate change is expected to act differently on each species and it is important to incorporate complex ecological variables into species distribution models.