Suchergebnisse

This paper, drawing on UK and international experiences, suggests that the key components of an effective national system of services to safeguard children from being maltreated have to not only be in place but also functioning effectively in an integrated manner if they are to achieve their aims. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) provides a common international framework for all governments, organisations and professionals to work within. It should be incorporated into domestic legislation, which is supported by national frameworks and protocols that are underpinned by a commitment to multi-disciplinary, multi-agency working. Effective implementation of services that are based on the most up to date evidence requires the allocation of adequate resources, both human and financial. Organisations providing services to children and families require competent staff who have opportunities for training at all levels, including continuing professional development. All staff, no matter how senior, benefit from good quality, regular professional supervision and consultation. Effective data collection systems are required to collect information to support planning the allocation of adequate services to meet the needs of children and families both locally and nationally as well as the evaluation of these services. Research and ongoing evaluation are essential to enhance practitioners, managers and politicians understanding of whether the services being provided are preventing abuse and neglect and protecting children from further harm. The voices of children help keep key stakeholders fully informed about the quality of service provision, and their views provide the best indicators of how well the system is meeting their needs and upholding their rights. Above all it is important that all parts of the system work effectively together and maintain their focus on improving outcomes for children.

7. Hope for Children and Families: Developing a Resource Pack Targeting Abusive Parenting and the Associated Impairment of Children8. Application of the Hope for Children and Families Resource Pack to the Green Family; 9. Child Sexual Abuse: The Possibilities of Prevention; 10. Review; List of Contributors; Subject Index; Blank Page; Author Index.

Possums and rats are both found in large numbers in the city of Melbourne, Australia. The two species share much in common, including an ability to flourish among humans and a predisposition for building nests in houses and eating food and plants intended for humans. Yet despite numerous similarities possums and rats are afforded strikingly different levels of protection before the law. The death of a possum must be justified and carried out painlessly. The same does not apply to rats, who may be exterminated freely and in ways that are painful. Considered from the perspective of the principle of "unnecessary suffering" we find that such inconsistent treatment is difficult to justify. We find that the rat's historical association with disease may account for some of our animosity towards the species. Popular culture, which accords favorable treatment to possums and adopts contradictory attitudes to rats, appears to influence our attitudes in important ways. Our study does not demonstrate one way or the other whether rats are often used to represent undesirable characteristics because many humans have an aversion to them, or whether we have an aversion to them because of the cultural messages that encourage us to perceive of rats as abject. Rather, our conclusion is that human cruelty to animals is contradictory and irrational and that when another species potentially threatens human lives and human self-interest we react brutally and without due consideration.