An analysis of serious case reviews concerning children under one
December 2011
A brief analysis of the serious case reviews held by the NSPCC Library that concern children aged under one year.
Looks at the prevalence of domestic abuse, substance misuse or mental health issues in these cases.
Overview
The NSPCC catalogues and classifies every serious case review (SCR) we find. We regularly scan the news and Local Safeguarding Children's Boards' websites for new reviews, however there will inevitably be cases that we miss.
As part of our research for the All Babies Count campaign, we analysed our collection of SCRs relating to children aged under one year.
Our records are based on the information provided in SCRs' executive summaries which are sometimes very brief and do not necessarily cover all the factors involved in cases. As such all figures should be considered approximations/underestimations.
Despite these limitations our findings do provide an insight into the nature of serious case reviews about babies.
Findings
We undertook an analysis of every serious case review on the NSPCC catalogue published between 1 January 2008 and 12 September 2011 which related to a child aged under one year.
England and Wales
Of the 130 serious case reviews relating to children under one (published since the beginning of 2008, covering England and Wales) at least 94 involved one or more of: domestic abuse, substance misuse or mental health issues.
Of these 130 serious case reviews:
- domestic abuse was a factor in at least 60 of these cases
- substance misuse was a factor in at least 46 of these cases
- parental mental health was a factor in at least 34 of these cases.
Wales
We undertook a further analysis of all serious case reviews relating to infants in Wales held by the NSPCC library, published between 1 January 2008 and 5 October 2011.
The NSPCC collection contained 57 serious case reviews pertaining to Wales published between 1 January 2008 and 5 October 2011.
Amongst these 57 reviews, 23 involved an infant and at least 18 of these cases identified one or more of the following as a factor: parental mental health, domestic abuse and substance misuse.
Of these 23 serious case reviews:
- domestic abuse was a factor in at least 14 of these cases
- substance misuse was a factor in at least 8 of these cases
- parental mental health was a factor in at least 7 of these cases.
Related NSPCC resources
Serious case reviewsOur pages on the case reviews of child deaths and serious injury with guidance, research reports and a list of published case reviews.
Domestic abuseOur pages on domestic abuse on guidance, policy, practice, research and NSPCC services to protect children from domestic abuse.
NSPCC training on families with multiple needs: domestic abuse, parental mental ill-health and substance misuseIntroductory course to help you gain an understanding of the nature and impact of these factors on children and their families.
CASPAR newsView the latest child protection news or sign up to our current awareness email that delivers a bitesize summary of all the new developments in research policy and practice to your inbox every Monday.
Search the NSPCC Library catalogueThe UK's only specialist collection of resources on child protection, child abuse and child neglect. Search using the subject term "official inquiries" to see all the serious case reviews.
Contact the NSPCC Information Service for information on serious case reviews, protecting children under one or any child protection topic
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