The Progress of 500 Referrals from the Child Protection Response System to the Criminal Court
| Date | 01 August 1998 |
| Published date | 01 August 1998 |
| DOI | 10.1177/000486589803100205 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
The Progress
of
500 Referrals from the
Child Protection Response System to the
Criminal Court*
Mary
Hoodt
and
Christopher
Boltj~
Five hundred concerns about abuse
to
children cases were followed from
the initial report
to
achild welfare system through the intervention process
to
criminal prosecution.
The
sample originated with the Child Protection
Services, aunit based
in
apaediatric hospital
in
the
state
of
South Australia,
and
its links
to
the wider child abuse reporting and intervention system are
described. This study showed only 27.4%
of
cases substantiated at the
welfare/health level were prosecuted
in
criminal courts, and only
17%
achievedaconviction, half
of
those resulting from aguiltyplea.
The
apparent
reasons for this are detailed, including the links
to
the characteristics
of
the
children, the accused and the professional and legal systems.
The
study
suggests non-prosecution does not indicate that cases were too readily
substantiated.
On
the contrary, constraints
in
the legal system lead
to
choices being made
by
all involved about whether
to
proceed which
significantly reduce the likelihood
of
prosecution.
Introduction
The topic
of
child abuse raises strong feelings, but within that debate many
differing opinions are expressed about the best way to respond to allegations
of
child abuse, as well as about the relative success ofdifferent responses. The
systems that hold legal responsibility to intervene in child abuse allegations in
Australia (the child protective system, the health system, the police system or
the legal system) work under different legislative requirements with different
foci and goals. They also develop their own paradigms and perspectives from
the differing professional values
of
those who work within them, values which
can come into conflict through joint work and lead
to
practical dilemmas about
which system's priorities should be paramount. Lloyd and Burman (1996)
comment on similar difficulties between police and social workers in the
Scottish context. Smooth intervention can suffer
as
aresult. But interaction
and joint intervention is necessary because most child protection systems in
Australia have since the late eighties been geared to pursuing criminal
prosecution of child abuse, more particularly child sexual abuse, but also
serious cases
of
physical abuse and neglect. The interaction has been the most
contentious between the child welfare/social work investigation system and
the legal/criminal prosecution system, with numerous criticisms being
exchanged about the processes
of
each.
*Received: 25 September 1997; accepted in revised form: 4February 1998
tBA, BSoc. Admin., PhD, Research Fellow, Social Policy Research Group, University
of
South Australia, St Bernard's Road, Magill, South Australia 5072.
:I:
BSc, Acting Senior Sergeant, Victims
of
Crime Branch, South Australian Police, 1Angus St,
Adelaide, South Australia 5000.
182
To continue reading
Request your trial