Learning Lessons from Child Abuse Research Highlighted at Seminar
Posted on: 22 April 2014
Learning lessons from child abuse research and practice was the focus of a seminar hosted by the School of Social Work and Social Policy at Trinity College Dublin recently.
Entitled Lessons from Research and Practice, the event heard from Dr Geoffrey Shannon, Special Rapporteur on Child Protection. The event also marked the launch of the of the first multi professional body for child protection in Ireland. The Irish branch of the British Association of the Study and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (BASPCAN) will support the development of an Irish network for professionals and academics working in the area of child protection.
At the event, Dr Helen Buckley, Associate Professor in Social Work at Trinity, presented findings from a recent study on the development of effective recommendations from child abuse inquiries.
Drawing on evidence from research, reviews and inquiries she focused on the different dimensions of child maltreatment and the range of services required to make a response. She outlined some of the challenges to a multi professional approach to the issue in the current Irish policy context and also drew on research and case studies to illustrate what a holistic response would look like. Also at the event, Dr Emma Curtis, Consultant Paediatrician at the National Children’s Hospital in Tallaght, presented on Lessons from Practice.
Speaking about the seminar Dr Stephanie Holt, Assistant Professor in Social Work at Trinity, commented: “The launch of the Irish Branch of BASPCAN – the Association for the Study and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect – is a truly unique event being the first such multi-professional body for child protection within Ireland. This initiative has the potential to progress further educational and collaborative opportunities between all professionals working in the area of child protection.”
“This formation of this new association shows the desire for professionals to come together as leaders in the field of child protection, and, to borrow a phrase from President Higgins, to strive to work within our capacities of the present and to imagine the things we can do together in the future.”
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