Child Death Reviews : Learning the Lessons - Differently

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Leslie, Alyson and Black, Sue (2013) Child Death Reviews : Learning the Lessons - Differently. Scottish Universities Insight Institute. (https://app.dundee.ac.uk/pressreleases/2012/august...)

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Abstract

This project stemmed from recognition across many disciplines that the processes set up to learn lessons from child maltreatment deaths were not producing the desired outcomes in terms of reduction of maltreatment fatalities and levels of child abuse. Each year in the UK around 260 children die or are seriously harmed and £5 million is spent "learning the lessons". The same "lessons" have been emerging since the first UK child death inquiry in 1945 without noticeable impact on child fatalities. Different processes apply across the UK and there had never been an opportunity for people working in this area to come together. Additionally there was little evidence of knowledge exchange amongst professionals from different disciplines involved in the investigation and review of child fatalities. Some longstanding problems were widely accepted (e.g. the challenges of running parallel criminal and review processes) but there had been little opportunity for professionals and experts to come together to address these. The opportunity to bring experts and professionals together from a range of disciplines had long been sought and was welcomed by people working in this field, though it has to be noted that child fatality review is not a well-defined, recognised academic or professional field but rather an informal grouping of individual experts and agencies. Key figures, who have traditionally worked separately in their fields were keen for an opportunity to come together to hear fresh perspectives, opportunities to resolve problem areas and develop collaborations which will support Government policy and public interest in the protection of children. Ideas emerged for a series of knowledge-exchange events bringing together the disparate professions along with experts in the field of learning ( e.g. design, psychology, education) and experts from disciplines which who might bring a different perspective to the old challenges and approaches to reviewing maltreatment deaths (e.g. statistics).

CORE (COnnecting REpositories)