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NSPCC Research findings

The NSPCC undertakes and commissions national research to influence child protection practice and policy and help gain a better understanding of child abuse.

2010 - 2009 - 2008 -2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 - 2002 - 2001 - 2000 - 1999 - 1998 - 1997 - 1996

2010

• Children and families experiencing domestic violence: police and children’s social services’ responses
  Nicky Stanley, Pam Miller, Helen Richardson Foster and Gill Thomson
  NSPCC, 2010.

2009

• Attitudes towards child protection in Northern Ireland: a survey by the four Area Child Protection Committees (ACPCs) and the NSPCC
  Regional Health and Social Care Board ACPCs and the NSPCC, 2009.
  
  
• Breaking the wall of silence: practitioners’ responses to trafficked children and young people
  Jenny J. Pearce, Patricia Hynes and Silvie Bovarnick
  NSPCC, 2009.
  
  
• Children talking to ChildLine about sexual abuse
  NSPCC, 2009.
  
  
• Children talking to ChildLine about suicide
  NSPCC, 2009.
  
  
• Head and spinal injuries in children
  NSPCC and CORE-INFO (Welsh Child Protection Systematic Review Group)
  NSPCC, 2009.
  
  
• Measuring up? Evaluating implementation of Government commitments to young witnesses in criminal proceedings
  Joyce Plotnikoff and Richard Woolfson
  NSPCC, 2009.
  
  
• Partner exploitation and violence in teenage intimate relationships
  Christine Barter, Melanie McCarry, David Berridge and Kathy Evans
  NSPCC, 2009.
  
  
• Sexual abuse and therapeutic services for children and young people: the gap between provision and need
  Debra Allnock et al
  NSPCC, 2009.
  
  
• Sexual abuse and therapeutic services for children and young people in Northern Ireland: the gap between provision and need
  Lisa Bunting, Paulene Anderson and Debra Allnock
  NSPCC, 2009.
  
  
• Sexually harmful behaviour in young children and the link to maltreatment in early childhood (PDF, 44KB)
  Conclusions from a UK study of boys referred to the National Clinical Assessment and Treatment Service (NCATS), a specialist service for sexually harmful behaviour.
  Colin Hawkes
  NSPCC. 2009.
  
  
• Teenagers at risk: the safeguarding needs of young people in gangs and violent peer groups
  Kate Fitch
  NSPCC, 2009.
  
  
• The relationship between child maltreatment, sexual abuse and subsequent suicide attempts
  Fiona Colquhoun
  NSPCC, 2009.
  
  
• Towards safer organisations: selection and recruitment procedures to help safeguard children
  Marcus Erooga
  NSPCC, 2009.
  
  
• What boys talk about to ChildLine
  NSPCC, 2009.

2008

• Children talking to ChildLine about bullying
  NSPCC, 2008.
  
  
• Children talking to ChildLine about family relationship problems
  NSPCC, 2008. 
  
  
• Developing an effective response to neglect and emotional harm to children
  Ruth Gardner
  University of East Anglia (UEA) and NSPCC, 2008.
  
  
• “I can't tell people what is happening at home”: domestic abuse within South Asian communities: the specific needs of women, children and young people
  Shayma Izzidien
  NSPCC, 2008.
  
  
• Results of the NSPCC/ICM Fatherhood: being a Dad survey (April 2008) (PDF, 46KB)
  NSPCC, 2008.
  See also: The struggle to be a dad - NSPCC press release 29 April 2008.
  
  
• The ‘smacking debate’ in Northern Ireland: messages from research
  Lisa Bunting, Mary Anne Webb and Julie Healy
  Barnardo's Northern Ireland, NICCY and NSPCC Northern Ireland, 2008.
  
  
• Thermal injuries on children
  NSPCC and CORE-INFO (Welsh Child Protection Systematic Review Group)
  NSPCC, 2008.
  
  
• You feel like you're nothing: the UN study on violence against children
  Children's Rights Alliance for England and the NSPCC
  NSPCC, 2008.
  

2007

• An examination of local, national and international arrangements for the mandatory reporting of child abuse: the implications for Northern Ireland
  Isla Wallace and Lisa Bunting
  NSPCC Northern Ireland Policy and Research Unit, 2007.
  
  
• Animal abuse and child maltreatment: a review of the literature and findings from a UK study
  Simon Hackett and Emma Uprichard
  NSPCC, 2007.
  
  
• Calls to ChildLine about depression and mental health
  NSPCC, 2007.
  
  
• Calls to ChildLine about running away and homelessness
  NSPCC, 2007.
  
  
• Calls to ChildLine about sexual abuse
  NSPCC, 2007.
  
  
• Cumbria's working youngsters: making the legislation work
  Jim McKechnie, Seonaid Anderson and Sandy Hobbs
  NSPCC, University of Paisley and Cumbria County Council, 2007.
  
  
• Findings of the NSPCC/Guardian emotional abuse survey
  NSPCC/Guardian, 2007.
  
  
• Have your say: a report of the consultation event with black and minority ethnic young people from different religious groups
  NSPCC, 2007.
  
  
• Launching Safe Communities: a report on the local conferences for the Safe Communities Project (PDF, 95KB)
  Richard Cotmore and Paul Whalley
  NSPCC Evaluation Department, 2007.
  
  
• Living with hardship 24/7: the diverse experiences of families in poverty in England
  Carol-Ann Hooper, Sarah Gorin, Christie Cabral and Claire Dyson
  London: Frank Buttle Trust, 2007.
  ISBN 9780955561405
  

• Oral injuries and bites on children
  NSPCC and CORE-INFO (Welsh Child Protection Systematic Review Group)
  NSPCC, 2007.
  
  
• Protecting children from sexual abuse in Europe: safer recruitment of workers in a border-free Europe
  Kate Fitch with Kathleen Spencer Chapman and Zoe Hilton
  NSPCC, 2007.
  
  
• Protecting powers: emergency intervention for children's protection
  Judith Masson with Deborah McGovern, Kathy Pick and Maureen Winn Oakley
  Chichester: Wiley, 2007.
  
  
• Schools, social services and safeguarding children: past practice and future challenges
  Mary Baginsky
  NSPCC, 2007.
  
  
• Towards a public service agreement on safeguarding (PDF, 1.8MB)
  Jeff Mesie, Ruth Gardner and Lorraine Radford for the Department for Education and Skills
  Nottingham: DfES, 2007
  ISBN 9781844788910. Research Report RR829.
  Towards a public service agreement on safeguarding - executive summary (PDF, 163KB)
  
  
• Unexpected death in childhood: a handbook for practitioners
  Peter Sidebotham and Peter Fleming
  Chichester: Wiley, 2007.
  
  
• Your shout too!: a survey of the views of children and young people involved in court proceedings when their parents divorce or separate
  Judith E. Timms, Sue Bailey and June Thoburn
  NSPCC, 2007.
  
  
  

2006

• Alcohol and teenage sexual activity (PDF, 877KB)
  NSPCC, 2006.
  
  
• Beyond refuge: supporting young runaways
  Catherine Macaskill
  NSPCC, 2006.
  
  
• Calls to ChildLine about sexual orientation, homophobia and homophobic bullying (PDF, 920KB)
  NSPCC, 2006.
  
  
• Children and families in communities: theory, research, policy and practice
  Jacqueline Barnes, Ilan Katz, Jill E. Korbin and Margaret O'Brien
  Chichester: Wiley, 2006.
  
  
• Fractures in children
  NSPCC and CORE-INFO (Welsh Child Protection Systematic Review Group)
  NSPCC, 2006.
  
  
• I think it's about trust: the views of young people on information sharing
  Zoe Hilton and Chris Mills for the Office of the Children's Commissioner
  London: Office of the Children's Commissioner, 2006.
  
  
• Independent schools counselling - does it work?: the effectiveness of NSPCC's Independent Schools Counselling in promoting positive change in the emotional health and wellbeing of children and young people at school in Northern Ireland (PDF, 206KB)
  Gary Adamson, Aisling McElearney, Brendan Bunting, Mark Shevlin, Ann Tracey and Sandra Williams
  Belfast: NSPCC Northern Ireland, 2006.
  An impact evaluation into the effectiveness of the NSPCC's Independent Schools Counselling in promoting positive change in the emotional health and wellbeing of children and young people at school in Northern Ireland.  Carried out by the Modelling, Evaluation and Measurement Research Unit, University of Ulster at Magee and NSPCC Northern Ireland
  
  
• Megan's Law: Does it protect children? (2). An updated review of evidence on the impact of community notification as legislated for by Megan's Law in the United States
  Kate Fitch
  NSPCC, 2006.
  
  
• Old heads on young shoulders: helping children and young people whose family circumstances force them into adult roles
  ChildLine and the NSPCC
  NSPCC, 2006.
  This report highlights the reasons that lead children to take on responsibilities beyond their years - such as parental illness, disability, alcohol or drug dependency, or bereavement - and demonstrates that many young people are often reluctant to seek help because of a determination to protect their parents from trouble and to keep their family together .
  
  
• Responding to change: a survey of local education authorities' responses to the changing policy context of child protection
  Mary Baginsky
  NSPCC, 2006.
  
  
• What children and young people tell ChildLine about physical abuse (PDF, 905KB)
  NSPCC, 2006.
  
  
• Women who sexually abuse children
  Hannah Ford
  Chichester: Wiley, 2006.
  
  
• Young men who have sexually abused: a case study guide
  Andrew Durham
  Chichester: Wiley, 2006.

2005

• Child protection assessment following serious injuries to infants: fine judgements
  Peter Dale, Richard Green and Ron Fellows
  Chichester: Wiley, 2005.
  
  
• Children talking to ChildLine about alcohol (ChildLine briefing paper) (PDF, 1.71MB)
  ChildLine, 2005.
  
  
• Children talking to ChildLine about the internet (ChildLine briefing paper) (PDF, 1.83MB)
  ChildLine, 2005.
  
  
• Barriers to action: survey results (PDF, 35KB)
  NSPCC and Careandhealth magazine, 2005.
  Barriers to Action was jointly commissioned by the NSPCC and Careandhealth magazine. The survey questioned social care professionals about how they reacted to possible child protection issues outside of the work environment. 
  

• Bruises on children
  NSPCC and CORE-INFO (Welsh Child Protection Systematic Review Group)
  NSPCC, 2005.
  
  
• Evaluation of the network of investigation and referral support co-ordinators
  Mary Baginsky
  London: Department for Education and Skills, 2005.
  
  
• Females who sexually offend against children: responses of the child protection and criminal justice systems
  Lisa Bunting
  NSPCC, 2005. [NSPCC Policy Practice Research Series].
  
  
• Living with significant harm: a follow up study
  Marian Brandon, June Thoburn, Sacha Rose and Pippa Belderson
  Norwich: Centre for Research on the Child and Family, 2005.
  
  
• NSPCC Inspection Unit: improving the quantity and quality of user views and involvement in inspection (PDF, 785KB)
  Jill Cannings
  NSPCC Inspection Unit, 2005.
  This NSPCC report considers how best to involve service users in inspection and how to obtain the views of children and young people.
  
  
• Supporting families: child protection in the community
  Ruth Gardner
  Chichester: Wiley, 2005.
  
  
• Taking action to safeguard a child: public opinion research conducted by BMRB Social Research for the NSPCC, June-August 2005 (PDF, 134KB)
  NSPCC (and BMRB)
  NSPCC, 2005.
  
  
• Understanding the links: child abuse, animal abuse and domestic violence: information for professionals
  NSPCC, 2005.
  
  
• Who can I turn to? A summary of responses from schools regarding young people's views about support and advice services (PDF, 175KB)
  NSPCC, 2005.
  
  
• Young people displaying sexually harmful behaviour (ChildLine briefing paper) (PDF, 1.76MB)
  ChildLine, 2005.

2004

• Assessment of children in need in Northern Ireland (PDF, 215KB)
  Lisa Bunting
  NSPCC Northern Ireland Policy and Research Unit, 2004.
  
  
• Can I talk to you again? Restoring the emotional and mental well-being of children and young people (PDF, 428KB)
  Carole Easton and JD Carpentieri
  ChildLine, 2004.
  
  
• Children experiencing maltreatment: who do they turn to?
  Brid Featherstone and Helen Evans
  NSPCC, 2004.
  
  
• Emergency protection orders: court orders for child protection crises (PDF, 574KB)
  Judith Masson, Maureen Winn Oakley and Kathy Pick
  Warwick: Warwick University, School of Law, 2004.
  ISBN: 0902683721
  Research funded by the NSPCC and Nuffield Foundation.
  Emergency protection orders: court orders for child protection crises - executive summary (PDF, 103KB)
  

• In their own words: the experiences of 50 young witnesses in criminal proceedings
  Joyce Plotnikoff and Richard Woolfson 
  NSPCC, 2004.
  
  
• Peer violence in children's residential care
  Christine Barter, Emma Renold, David Berridge and Pat Cawson
  Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan 2004.
  
  
• Problems at home, problems at school: the effects of maltreatment in the home on childrens functioning at school: an overview of recent research
  Chris Mills
  NSPCC, 2004.
  
  
• The relationship between child death and child maltreatment: a research study on the attribution of cause of death in hospital settings
  Corinne May-Chahal, Stephen Hicks and Jo Tomlinson
  NSPCC, 2004.
  
  
• Safeguarding disabled children in residential special schools  
  Alina Paul, Pat Cawson and Joni Paton
  NSPCC, 2004.
  
  
• Someone to turn to? Who can children and young people trust when they are worried and need to talk? (PDF, 204KB)
  NSPCC, 2004.
  ISBN: 1842280449
  Full report available from NSPCC Publications
  
  
• Stigmatised, marginalised and criminalised: an overview of the issues relating to children and young people involved in prostitution
  Abigail Levy
  NSPCC, 2004.
  
  
• Understanding what children say: childrens experiences of domestic violence, parental substance misuse and parental health problems
  Sarah Gorin.
  National Children's Bureau in association with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2004.

2003

• Boys allowed: what boys and young men tell ChildLine about their lives (PDF, 760KB)
  ChildLine, 2003
  
  
• Child protection is no accident: views on current practice in Northern Ireland from senior medical and nursing staff in A&E (PDF, 404KB)
  NSPCC Northern Ireland and Barnardo's Northern Ireland, 2003.
  
  
• Counselling in schools: a survey of the views of school staff and pupils in Northern Ireland (PDF, 266KB)
  William Baginsky
  Belfast: NSPCC North Ireland, 2003
  
  
• Evaluating family support: thinking internationally, thinking critically
  Ilan Katz and John Pinkerton (eds.)
  Chichester: Wiley, 2003.
  
  
• Family Alcohol Service: evaluation of the pilot (PDF, 771KB)
  Mental Health Research & Development Unit (MHR&DU) of the Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health NHS Partnership Trust (AWP) and the University of Bath
  Bath: University of Bath, 2003
  

• Family Alcohol Service: evaluation of the pilot - summary (PDF, 78KB)
  Richard Velleman, Lorna Templeton, Andy Taylor and Paul Toner
  Bath: University of Bath, 2003
  
  
• Finding the balance: young people's views on parental employment (PDF, 516KB)
  NSPCC, 2003.
  
  
• Getting it right: improving work-life balance in your business (PDF, 484KB)
  British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and NSPCC
  NSPCC, 2003.
  
  
• I'm in control: calls to ChildLine about eating disorders (PDF, 540KB)
  Brigid McConville
  ChildLine, 2003.
  
  
• Images of abuse: a review of the evidence on child pornography  
  Emma Renold and Susan J. Creighton with Chris Atkinson and John Carr
  NSPCC, 2003.
  
  
• "It doesn't happen to disabled children": child protection and disabled children
  National Working Group on Child Protection and Disability
  NSPCC, 2003.
  ISBN: 1842280406
  
  
• It's OK to see the counsellor (PDF, 545KB)
  Billy Burnison
  Belfast: NSPCC Northern Ireland, 2003
  The NSPCC Northern Ireland Schools Counselling Evaluation Report 22 May 2003.
  
  
• Let them have their childhood again: a report from a young people's consultation weekend, September 27/28 2003 (PDF, 481KB) Children's Rights Alliance for England (CRAE)
  CRAE, 2003
  In 2003, CRAE with the NSPCC held a consultation weekend for children with experience of child protection procedures. This report of the weekend was used by the NSPCC and the DfES in the development of Safeguarding children: a shared responsibility - a multi-agency training pack to support 'What To Do If You're Worried A Child Is Being Abused'.
  
  
• Mapping and exploring services for young people who have sexually abused others
  Simon Hackett, Helen Masson and Sarah Phillips
  Durham: University of Durham, 2003.
  
  
• The national study of parents, children and discipline in Britain: key findings (PDF, 47KB)
  Deborah Ghate, Neal Hazel, Susan Creighton, Steven Finch and Julia Field
  Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), 2003.
  
  
• The NSPCC review of legislation relating to children in family proceedings (PDF, 437KB)
  Barbara Esam
  NSPCC, 2003.
  ISBN: 1842280414
  Full report available from NSPCC Publications
  
  
• Responsibility without power?: local education authorities and child protection
  Mary Baginsky
  NSPCC, 2003.
  
  
• Which of you did it?: problems of achieving criminal convictions when a child dies or is seriously injured by parents and carers
  NSPCC, 2003.
  ISBN: 1842280422
  
  
• Young men surviving child sexual abuse: research stories and lessons for therapeutic practice
  Andrew Durham
  Chichester: Wiley, 2003.
  
  
• Your shout! a survey of the views of 706 children and young people in public care (PDF, 308KB)
  Judith E. Timms and June Thoburn
  NSPCC, 2003.
  ISBN: 1842280341
  Full report available from NSPCC Publications

2002

• Child maltreatment in the family: the experience of a national sample of young people
  Pat Cawson
  NSPCC, 2002.
  ISBN: 1842280139
  
  
• Equal protection for children: an overview of the experience of countries that accord children full legal protection from physical punishment (PDF, 497KB)
  Rowan Boyson. Edited by Lucy Thorpe 
  NSPCC, 2002.
  ISBN: 1842280317
  
  
• "I think I might need some more help with this problem...": responding to children and young people who display sexually harmful behaviour
  Elizabeth Lovell
  NSPCC, 2002.
  
  
• What really happened? child protection case management of infants with serious injuries and discrepant parental explanations
  Peter Dale, Richard Green and Ron Fellows
  NSPCC, 2002.

2001

• Counselling and support services for young people aged 12-16 who have experienced sexual abuse: a study of the provision in Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom
  Edited by Mary Baginsky
  NSPCC, 2001.
  
  
• Saving young lives: calls to ChildLine about suicide (PDF, 3.5MB)
  Brigid McConville and Hereward Harrison
  ChildLine, 2001.

2000

• Child maltreatment in the United Kingdom: a study of the prevalence of child abuse and neglect
  Pat Cawson, Corinne Wattam, Sue Brooker and Graham Kelly
  NSPCC, 2000.
  
  
• Child protection and education
  Mary Baginsky
  NSPCC, 2000.
  
  
• Official friends and friendly officials: support, advice and advocacy for children and young people in public care - summary of research and findings (PDF, 39KB)
  Maureen Winn Oakley and Judith Masson
  NSPCC, 2000.
  ISBN: 1842280007
  
  
  

1999

• The abuse of adolescents within the family
  Gwyther Rees and Mike Stein
  NSPCC, 1999.
  
  
• Out of hearing: representing children in care proceedings - summary of research and findings (PDF, 115KB)
  Judith Masson and Maureen Winn Oakley
  Chichester: Wiley, 1999.
  
  
• Protecting children from racism and racial abuse: a research review
  Christine Barter
  NSPCC, 1999.
  
  
• School councils: the views of students and teachers
  Mary Baginsky and Derry Hannam 
  NSPCC, 1999.

1998

• Assessing risk in child protection
  Hedy Cleaver, Corinne Wattam and Pat Cawson
  NSPCC, 1998.
  The pack includes a separate booklet  - Ten pitfalls and how to avoid them: what research tells us (PDF, 366KB)   - which summarises the main research findings and takes social workers through the stages of the crucial first interview with a family when an allegation of abuse or neglect has been made.
  
  
• Child neglect: practitioners perspectives
  Bill Stone
  NSPCC, 1998.
  
  
• Investigating institutional abuse of children: an exploration of the NSPCC experience
  Christine Barter
  NSPCC, 1998.

1997

1996

• Childhood matters: summary of key findings and recommendations of the report of the National Commission of Inquiry into the Prevention of Child Abuse
  National Commission of Inquiry into the Prevention of Child Abuse
  London: National Commission of Inquiry into the Prevention of Child Abuse, 1996.

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