It is not difficult, when working in child protection or in research into the various types of child abuse, to become disillusioned and disheartened with the human spirit. Accounts of abhorrent things done to children and the frenzy of the media can leave you feeling like David fighting Goliath, each swing leaving only the smallest of marks. It is refreshing, then, to find someone then who, despite working in the field for over 30 years, remains optimistic about the progress that has been achieved.

David Finkelhor’s most recent book, Childhood Victimization: Violence, Crime, and Abuse in the Lives of Young People, suggests that there is plenty to be pleased about. Rates of sexual abuse and child homicide have fallen dramatically since the mid-1990s. What is more, over the course of Finkelhor’s own career there has been an enormous increase in the visibility of the topic among both professionals and the public. The child as a victim of abuse and violence is not as hidden as it used to be.

For those of you wondering where “victimisation” begins and ends, a review of Finkelhor’s publications may not help. It could be said that Finkelhor has had something to say about almost every kind of child ill-treatment conceptualised to date. He has researched bullying, child maltreatment, partner violence, neglect, sexual abuse, community violence and online exploitation. But that review is to do him a disservice. It suggests a breadth of focus at the expense of depth or synthesis. The reality could not be more different.

Finkelhor and colleagues at the Crimes Against Children Research Center and the Family Violence Laboratory in New Hampshire have been at the heart of efforts to integrate often disparate fields of enquiry, such as child abuse, violence and exploitation, under the umbrella of victimisation. They have also argued for the importance of understanding the experiences of a substantial number of children who they call “poly-victims”, those who are subject to multiple forms of victimisation in a single year.

It is this kind of work which led recently to Finkelhor being awarded a New Hampshire University Professorship, one of only three professors to receive the award. It recognizes his “international stature… because of significant contributions to the advancement of knowledge or aesthetic understandings”.

Perhaps the most significant advance is that the field of developmental victimology makes a case for taking into account the child’s stage of development in understanding both the risks which victimization poses to them and the impact of child’s response to being victimized.

So, a younger child may be more vulnerable to physical abuse from their parents than an older child, because they spend more time at home with parents and are more likely to be physically disciplined. Older children have different cognitive abilities than younger children to process their experiences of victimisation. They may be more likely to translate their anger or hurt into anti-social behaviour while a young child may display emotional distress or anxiety.

In many ways the perspective resembles theories of developmental psychopathology (See: How gene research is entering the child protection arena), but its claim is that the experiences of a child’s victimisation are sufficiently distinct from other stressors or traumas in their life to warrant independent study.

A sociologist by training (he obtained his PhD in 1978) Finkelhor has pioneered, alongside Murray Straus, Richard Gelles and others, the use of survey research and large community samples to be able to understand, representatively, the prevalence and impact of important social problems like family violence and child abuse.

But what difference has his research or that of colleagues made to the services available to children and their families? Finkelhor’s view is that the impact has been phased. Initially, research was important in highlighting the size and reach of the problem. This led to a greater availability of services and professionals. Latterly, the evidence has been pushing for certain kinds of policy and practice approaches to be taken, rather than others. For example, it has indicated the need for more rigorous and systematic interventions.

It has not all been smooth sailing. Finding out and convincing others that “it is possible to conduct experiments and research with social agencies like the police or social services in an ethical way” has been a significant hurdle to jump. But advances have brought new challenges. “There are too many competing child and family problems”, says Finkelhor. “We have overlapping but, as yet, uncoordinated approaches, which are all competing for scarce resources. We need a single prevention strategy’.

So which direction do we go from here? According to Finkelhor, the focus of future research should be on the design of child welfare systems: “We need to know what the most effective strategies are for responding to child maltreatment. We have huge bureaucracies, most established without any systematic research.”

Like many commentators, Finkelhor supports a ban on corporal punishment, as has been achieved in Sweden, Norway and elsewhere. In these countries, the use of physical tactics to discipline children typically signals the need for supportive interventions to assist the family to find more appropriate ways of resolving conflict, rather than punitive measures aimed at punishing them for this behaviour.

But Finkelhor is also curious about other strategies or policy changes that might be tried: 'Perhaps we should do studies to see if in certain situations highly trained practitioners can improve families without reporting and triggering a child protection investigation... or use modern technology to provide a lot more help that parents can access in their own homes?”

Sadly, in contrast to the biblical legend, it is likely to take more than a single slingshot to deal with social problems like abuse and violence in childhood. There will not be a panacea. But a reminder of the significant progress that has been made and the possibilities that still exist to better understand how to intervene appropriately, do show that efforts in this field can make a difference to the lives of children.

Reference:

Finkelhor, D (2008) "Childhood Vicitimizatio; Violence, Crime, and Abuse in the Lives of Young People" Oxford University Press, USA.