No abstract

He has specialized in child protection and childcare research for the past twelve years. During this time he has been responsible for major studies into organized abuse, stranger abuse and the attrition of child abuse cases in the criminal justice system. His publications include Grappling with Smoke-Investigating and Managing Organised Child Sexual Abuse: A Good Practice Guide published by the NSPCC (1998). Prior to embarking upon his research career he was employed as a residential social worker.

In the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development, a prospective longitudinal survey of 411 London males, a vulnerable group of 63 boys from criminogenic backgrounds was defined on the basis of the best nonbehavioral predictors of delinquency at age 8-10 (low family income, large family size, convicted parents, low intelligence, and poor parental child-rearing behavior). These males were followed up to age 32, and the more successful men were defined according to criteria such as the absence of convictions and of other deviant behavior, good relationships with wives and children, and good accommodation and employment histories. Hence, "success" here refers to satisfactory social adjustment. The more successful men were those who had been neurotic at age 10, those who had few or no friends at age 8, those without convicted parents or behavior problem siblings, those with mothers who had a high opinion of their sons, and those who did not spend their leisure time with their fathers. At age 8-10 they were already better behaved and less daring than those later judged as the unsuccessful men. There was some tendency for shyness to act as a protective factor against delinquency for non-aggressive boys but as an aggravating factor for aggressive boys.

Children who have been severely maltreated may be placed in therapeutic children's homes (also known as residential treatment centres) in order that their often acute emotional and behavioural needs can be addressed. There is little data on process within these settings, especially outside the US. This article contains findings from interviews carried out with 16 young adults who had been placed in a therapeutic children's home in England. These former residents were asked for their views concerning the care they had received. The respondents were, in general, positive about their experiences, particularly in terms of their relationships with staff, life story work, leisure activities and the contact they had with staff after leaving the homes. Some of them were also happy with their experiences in relation to therapy, school, friendships and preparations for leaving the placement but others were less contented in these respects. The evidence from this research is that this highly disadvantaged group of children can be provided with a good quality of care within therapeutic children's homes.