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What Are the Risks and Obstacles in Implementing a Public Health Approach to the Well-Being and Protection of Children?

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Re-Visioning Public Health Approaches for Protecting Children

Part of the book series: Child Maltreatment ((MALT,volume 9))

Abstract

In this chapter we critically examine the practical and organisational issues as well as the ideational and procedural ones that challenge policy makers, leaders and those delivering services as they attempt to re-focus child protection service delivery toward earlier intervention and prevention within a public health framework. Combining the knowledge we have gained in practice-led research and policy development, we highlight the challenges we have witnessed as governments and others try to shift the ‘child protection juggernaut’ (Humphreys, Harries, Healy, Lonne, Mendes, McHugh and Sheehan 2009) from being the coercive, residual, investigative one it has become in many parts of the world. In particular, we examine the conceptual and systemic problems people face as they try to re-orient services and build on conventional frameworks for service delivery at the same time as they challenge established ways of working and attempt to ensure new ways of collaboration between agencies and practitioners.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Senior Honorary Research Fellow, Social Policy and Practice Research Consortium (SPPRC), School of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia

    Maria Harries

  2. School of Occupational Therapy, Social Work and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia

    Maria Harries

  3. National Health and Medical Research Fellow, Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia

    Melissa O’Donnell

Authors
  1. Maria Harries
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  2. Melissa O’Donnell
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Harries .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Health, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia

    Bob Lonne

  2. Senior Research Fellow, Monash University, Victoria, VIC, Australia

    Deb Scott

  3. Institute of Child Protection Studies, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Daryl Higgins

  4. Marion Elizabeth Blue Professor of Child and Family, University of Michigan School of Social Work, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Todd I. Herrenkohl

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Harries, M., O’Donnell, M. (2019). What Are the Risks and Obstacles in Implementing a Public Health Approach to the Well-Being and Protection of Children?. In: Lonne, B., Scott, D., Higgins, D., Herrenkohl, T.I. (eds) Re-Visioning Public Health Approaches for Protecting Children. Child Maltreatment, vol 9. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05858-6_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05858-6_15

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-05857-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-05858-6

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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