Early Prediction and Prevention of Child Abuse: A Handbook

Rating:
Summary: Early prediction and prevention of child abuse
Review: Browne KD, Hanks H, Stratton P, Hamilton C, eds. Early prediction and prevention of child abuse. A handbook. Chichester: John Wiley, 2002, 382 pages. ... (softcover).

This book is a new and updated version of a book published in1988 on the prevention of child abuse and neglect in the early pioneering days of child abuse research. The editors are an all British team from the University of Birmingham and Leeds with 38 contributors from the UK, USA and Australia.
There are 21 chapters devided into four sections: Prevalence and prediction, primary and secondary prevention, tertiary prevention and working with offenders.
In section I it is interesting to note that over the last 25 years, when several countries started to collect data on child abuse cases on a regular basis, there has been observed some evidence that the prevalence of child abuse has decreased. This good information can maybe be attributed to the focus on preventive public health approach that many countries have taken after too many famous cases of fatal child abuse covered by the media over time. Section II is influenced by the 1979 book by Uri Bronfenbrenner on the ecology of human development, but very much relevant still today. In section III and IV the issue is tertiary prevention with focus on not only the child and family, but also the offenders.
Much has happened since 1988 in many countires for a better prevention, intervention and switch to a comprehensive child health policy, but there is still a lot of work to be done.
I especially liked the chapter by David Olds et al from Colorado on his last 24 years of research on nurse home visiting in the prenatal and infant period. Here you will find the evidence base for early intervention of the model of the nurse visitor coming home already during pregnancy and continuing during infancy. This model was implemented in Denmark in 1936 on a national level and used by nearly 100% of all pregnant women in Denmark. David Olds et al in his studies in the Appalachian region of New York State (the Elmira study) and Memphis has shown that intervention early has functional and economic benefits with the greatest impact on families at high risk. Their Nurse Family Partnership now functions in 24 states and over 200 local communities in the United States.
This book has value for a range of professionals, both in research and clinical practice, policy makers and managers working in the field of child protection, child and human development.

Professor Joav Merrick, MD
Director, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and Medical director, Division for Mental Retardation, Box 1260, IL-91012 Jerusalem, Israel, email: [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: Early prediction and prevention of child abuse
Review: Browne KD, Hanks H, Stratton P, Hamilton C, eds. Early prediction and prevention of child abuse. A handbook. Chichester: John Wiley, 2002, 382 pages. ... (softcover).

This book is a new and updated version of a book published in1988 on the prevention of child abuse and neglect in the early pioneering days of child abuse research. The editors are an all British team from the University of Birmingham and Leeds with 38 contributors from the UK, USA and Australia.
There are 21 chapters devided into four sections: Prevalence and prediction, primary and secondary prevention, tertiary prevention and working with offenders.
In section I it is interesting to note that over the last 25 years, when several countries started to collect data on child abuse cases on a regular basis, there has been observed some evidence that the prevalence of child abuse has decreased. This good information can maybe be attributed to the focus on preventive public health approach that many countries have taken after too many famous cases of fatal child abuse covered by the media over time. Section II is influenced by the 1979 book by Uri Bronfenbrenner on the ecology of human development, but very much relevant still today. In section III and IV the issue is tertiary prevention with focus on not only the child and family, but also the offenders.
Much has happened since 1988 in many countires for a better prevention, intervention and switch to a comprehensive child health policy, but there is still a lot of work to be done.
I especially liked the chapter by David Olds et al from Colorado on his last 24 years of research on nurse home visiting in the prenatal and infant period. Here you will find the evidence base for early intervention of the model of the nurse visitor coming home already during pregnancy and continuing during infancy. This model was implemented in Denmark in 1936 on a national level and used by nearly 100% of all pregnant women in Denmark. David Olds et al in his studies in the Appalachian region of New York State (the Elmira study) and Memphis has shown that intervention early has functional and economic benefits with the greatest impact on families at high risk. Their Nurse Family Partnership now functions in 24 states and over 200 local communities in the United States.
This book has value for a range of professionals, both in research and clinical practice, policy makers and managers working in the field of child protection, child and human development.

Professor Joav Merrick, MD
Director, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and Medical director, Division for Mental Retardation, Box 1260, IL-91012 Jerusalem, Israel, email: [e-mail]