Abstract
To scope current knowledge about safeguarding and disabled children, to review social policy and practice in the field in Britain and to pilot a way to seek disabled children's views about safeguarding services. Method: Included:
(a) review of research on child abuse, child protection and disabled children, (b) analysis of safeguarding policies across the UK and how far they address disabled children's needs, (c) 10 'key informant' interviews with senior policy
makers and practitioners, and (d) interviews with 4 disabled children using safeguarding services. Results: Disabled children are 3.4 times more likely to be abused than non-disabled children. There is evidence that disabled children receive less favourable treatment than others in safeguarding services, including lower levels of reporting and registration. Those with ID are among the most vulnerable: this paper will highlight findings about them. Professionals often lack training and experience in communicating with children with ID. They are less likely to be seen as credible witnesses and criminal justice systems often fail to take account of their needs. Very few studies have asked children with ID about their experiences of abuse or safeguarding systems. Conclusions: The research suggests that the rights of children with ID to receive the same level of safeguarding as non-disabled children are not consistently upheld.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 512 |
Number of pages | 1 |
Journal | Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities |
Volume | 23 |
Issue number | 5 |
Early online date | 16 Aug 2010 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 30 Sept 2010 |
Keywords
- children
- intellectual disability
- disabled children
- child abuse