NCJ Number
134161
Journal
British Journal of Social Work Volume: 21 Dated: (1991) Pages: 373-379
Date Published
1991
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Fifty-one cases of child sexual abuse in Scotland were studied to determine the way in which familial child sexual abuse was identified and responded to by social workers and police officers in the early investigative stage.
Abstract
The research focused particularly on the nature and extent of interagency cooperation, expectations, and the problems encountered. The cases were selected randomly from the child protection files of four local government social work departments in 1987. Information came from the case records and from 100 interviews with the police officers and social workers involved in the cases. Sixty percent of the referrals came from the child or a family member, 28 percent from health or education providers, and 12 percent from other welfare agencies. Social workers or police officers detected the problem on their own in only 10 percent of the cases. Ninety-four percent of the victims were female, with 49 percent of the cases involving abuse of adolescent females between ages 12 and 16. In the majority of cases, it was unclear whether or not sexual abuse had occurred. Delays in communicating, competing professional objectives, and other problems occurred in interagency communication in 20 percent of the cases. Interagency cooperation ranged from perfunctory to innovative. Findings indicated the need for efforts to improve interagency responses and to address the occupational stress that social workers experience. 8 references