Policing child abuse: challenges and opportunities for specialist units
| Pages | 132-141 |
| Published date | 12 June 2017 |
| Date | 12 June 2017 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JCRPP-01-2017-0009 |
| Author | Denise Martin,Lynn Kelly,Sharon Jackson,Sabina Byszko |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology |
Invited paper
Policing child abuse: challenges and
opportunities for specialist units
Denise Martin, Lynn Kelly, Sharon Jackson and Sabina Byszko
Abstract
Purpose –Drawing on the literature from the field and the recent experience of an evaluation into a child
abuse investigation in Scotland, the purpose of this paper is to argue that evidence from the literature
suggests that a more holistic approach drawing on the ideas of communities of practice could improve the
way in which child abuse investigations are conducted.
Design/methodology/approach –This paper has been informed by a recentevaluation of a new national
unit that was set upto investigate suspected child abusein Scotland. This unit was establishedas part of the
transition from eight regional police services in Scotland to a single national police service, Police Scotland.
An importantpart of this evaluation was to considerthe messages from previousresearch into the development
of national policeunits and the role of the police in child protection investigations more generally.
Findings –What was uncovered were the challenges that police officers face in the current context of child
abuse investigation particularly around construction of child abuse investigations, collaborative working, staff
well-being and training.
Practical implications –The practicalimplications of this paperare as follows: police investigations into child
abuse experiencea range of issues, multi-agencyand holistic approachesare more effective, agenciesshould
be encouraged to establish communities of practice and staff need adequate levels of support and training.
Originality/value –This paper contributes towards a growing body of work examiningthe way in which child
abuse investigations are conducted by police and the importance of inter-agency collaboration to support
this. It contributes to academic debates and knowledge of the overall investigation process where, to date,
there has been a paucity of literature and research that has tended to focus on evidence and experiences and
to a boarder literature recognising the need for holistic approaches to tackle child abuse.
Keywords Justice, Policing, Victims, Police, Training/professionalization, Child abuse,
Communities of practice, Special units
Paper type Viewpoint
Introduction
In 2013, the Scottish Government established a national po lice force, replacing eight autonomous
regional police organisations (Terpstra and Fyfe, 2015). The Police and Fire Reform (Scotland)
Act 2012 set out “policing principles”that reinforce the importance of localism. According to these
principles, “the mainpurpose of policingis to improve the safetyand well-beingof persons, localities
and communities in Scotland”(Terpstra and Fyfe, 2015, p. 531). Despite claims that reform must
“strengthen the connections betweenservices and communities”(Scott, 2013, p. 136), the scale of
this reform has raised questions about the nature of the relationship between the police and the
communities that they serve. The reform principles also recognised the need for the police in
Scotland to collaborate with other agencies to “prevent crime, harm and disorder”. It is within the
context of these key principles, that is, to improve the safety and well-being of persons, localities
and communities, police and community relationships and collaborative working that issues of child
abuse investigation will be conceptualised within this paper.
Received 31 January 2017
Revised 23 February 2017
Accepted 23 February 2017
Denise Martin is a Reader in
Criminology and Criminal
Justice at the School of Media,
Culture and Society, University
of the West of Scotland,
Paisley, UK.
Lynn Kelly is a Senior Lecturer
at the School of Education and
Social Work, University of
Dundee, Dundee, UK.
Sharon Jackson is a Senior
Lecturer at the Department of
Psychology, Social Work and
Allied Health Sciences,
Glasgow Caledonian
University, Glasgow, UK.
Sabina Byszko is a Research
Assistant at the School
of Education and Social Work,
University of Dundee,
Dundee, UK.
PAGE132
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JOURNAL OF CRIMINOLOGICAL RESEARCH, POLICY AND PRACTICE
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VOL. 3 NO. 2 2017, pp.132-141, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2056-3841 DOI 10.1108/JCRPP-01-2017-0009
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