A century of sexual abuse victimisation: A birth cohort analysis

This study examined changes in the reported prevalence of adult and child sexual abuse over the last century and explored how changes in social and political circumstances may have affected rates. Data from two population-based face-to-face surveys conducted in New Zealand (samples of 2855 women in 2003 and 1464 women in 2019) were used to produce birth cohort prevalence estimates of three forms of sexual abuse including by an intimate partner (lifetime and 12-month), by non-partners, and child sexual abuse. A timeline of major population influences that might be associated with violence occurrence was developed. There were no changes in reported lifetime intimate partner sexual abuse prevalence estimates found over the past century. The most recent birth cohort reported the lowest rates of 12-month prevalence estimates for intimate partner sexual abuse, lifetime rates of non-partner sexual abuse, and also suggest lower reported rates of child sexual abuse. Macro-social events including feminist movements, changes in legislation, and an increase in public awareness might have contributed to women's awareness about the non-acceptability of violent behaviour, and their ability to leave relationships after violence has occurred. This may have contributed to the small recent decreases in reported 12-month rate of sexual IPV and CSA, as women's ability to leave relationships may be protective for their children. The recent decrease in reported non-partner sexual violence may also be attributed to women's greater awareness of, and agency to avoid sexual abuse. The lack of change for the lifetime prevalence of sexual IPV over the past century highlights the need for ongoing prevention efforts. While recent reductions in reported rates of child and adult sexual abuse are encouraging, even reduced rates are high and warrant sustained implementation of prevention policies and programs

Factors associated with high and low levels of school exclusions:Comparing the English and wider UK experience

This article draws on findings from the first cross-national study of school exclusions in the four jurisdictions of the UK. It sketches factors associated with the past research with reductions in exclusions. It then reports interview data gathered in England in 2018 from five specialist officers working in two Local Authorities and a senior officer working for a national voluntary organisation. The officers describe good practice but also national, local and school level developments contributing to a deteriorating situation. These developments include unhelpful government guidance and regulations; school accountability frameworks affecting curriculum and leading to the neglect of Special Educational Needs; loss of Local Authority powers and funding resulting in reductions in support services. Data gathered for this study in other UK jurisdictions suggests that in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and to a lesser extent in Wales, a practice that avoids school exclusions has persisted more than in England

Pathways to permanence in England and Norway: A critical analysis of documents and data

The English language term ‘permanence’ is increasingly used in high income countries as a ‘short-hand’ translation for a complex set of aims around providing stability and family membership for children who need child welfare services and out-of-home care. From a scrutiny of legislative provisions, court judgments, government documents and a public opinion survey on child placement options, the paper draws out similarities and differences in understandings of the place of ‘permanence’ within the child welfare discourse in Norway and England. The main differences are that in England the components of permanence are explicitly set out in legislation, statutory guidance and advisory documents whilst in Norway the terms ‘stability’ and ‘continuity’ are used in a more limited number of policy documents in the context of a wide array of services available for children and families. The paper then draws on these sources, and on administrative data on children in care, to tease out possible explanations for the similarities and differences identified. We hypothesise that both long-standing policies and recent changes can be explained by differences in public and political understandings of child welfare and the balance between universal services and those targeted on parents and children identified as vulnerable and in need of specialist services

Value/s in early childhood education

Twenty years ago, as an early childhood teacher, I was fortunate to attend a professional development day conference led by the inimitable Professor Tina Bruce. At the conference, Tina asked we early childhood teachers: ‘What one thing would you put your back to the wall for in your job?’ In other words, Tina wanted us to share with one another the values that guide our daily work with young children and their families. An avowed Froebelian, Tina herself subscribes to a very particular set of values (Bruce 2015) and she is not alone. Many early childhood educators over two centuries have been influenced by the principles and philosophy developed by Froebel, the original kindergarten practitioner (Froebel Trust 2018). Indeed, as for so many others, my own initial teacher education was strongly influenced by Froebelian principles which have continued to guide my work in the field for thirty-five years. We live in an era of unprecedented global focus on early childhood development (UNESCO 2017; WHO 2018), in this editorial I revisit Froebel’s principles and I argue that we would be wise to continue to regard them as relevant and valuable touchstones for early childhood education in the twenty-first century

Immaterial boys? A large-scale exploration of gender-based differences in child sexual exploitation service users

Child sexual exploitation is increasingly recognised nationally and internationally as a pressing child protection, crime prevention and public health issue. In the UK, for example, a recent series of high-profile cases has fuelled pressure on policy-makers and practitioners to improve responses. Yet, prevailing discourse, research and interventions around child sexual exploitation have focused overwhelmingly on female victims. This study was designed to help redress fundamental knowledge gaps around boys affected by sexual exploitation. This was achieved through rigorous quantitative analysis of individual-level data for 9,042 users of child sexual exploitation services in the UK. One third of the sample was male and gender was associated with statistically significant differences on many variables. The results of this exploratory study highlight the need for further targeted research and more nuanced and inclusive counter-strategies