Experts from the University of Kent’s Centre for Child Protection are sharing research expertise on Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) and parent-infant interventions in a series of two, free thought-provoking webinars.
The webinars offer professionals concerned with child protection and the safeguarding of children an opportunity to update their knowledge and gain insights that will help inform their practice in the field.
Tackling the challenges to investigating and prosecuting crimes of child sexual exploitation in England – What works?
Wednesday 20 October, 10:00 – 11:00
Presenter: Dr Aravinda Kosaraju, Lecturer in Child Protection at the Centre for Child Protection (CCP) and Acting Director of Studies for the MA in Advanced Child Protection Programme
What will it cover? Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) has become popularly recognised as a complex crime and as a ‘national threat’ within policy discourses in England. Yet, prosecutions of these crimes are not proportionate to the number of cases reported.
This webinar briefly explores the challenges to investigating and prosecuting crimes of CSE. Dr Kosaraju will highlight what works in tackling the challenges experienced in providing effective criminal justice responses to crimes of CSE and will draw from her PhD research analysing data from policy texts as well as interviews and focus group discussions with practitioners working to tackle CSE in England.
Who is it for? All are welcome to attend but this thought-provoking webinar is likely to be of particular interest to child protection professionals concerned with the safeguarding of children from sexual abuse. It will be particularly beneficial to practitioners from law enforcement, social care, education, health, prosecution, probation, CSE specialist teams and youth services.
Influencing factors on the outcomes and experiences of parent-infant interventions within Child Protection.
Wednesday 10 November, 10.00 – 11.00
Presenter: Dr Alice Loving, Honorary Lecturer at the Centre for Child Protection
What will it cover? This webinar will include a discussion of the key findings from Dr Loving’s doctoral thesis, which focused on influencing factors on the experience and outcomes of parent-infant intervention within child protection.
The interventions that families took part in included parent-infant psychotherapy, and/or residential placements in assessment units or parent-infant foster placements. For the participants who were successful and returned to the community with their children four ‘change facilitator’ themes were identified:
- ‘Acceptance’
- ‘Determination’
- ‘Mentalization’
- and ‘Connection with past trauma’.
For the group whose babies were removed from their care, the key themes from their interviews comprised three ‘change inhibitors’:
- ‘Denial’
- ‘Low Mentalization’
- and ‘Disconnect with past trauma’.
This webinar will include a detailed discussion of both the ‘Change facilitators’ and the ‘Change inhibitors and the importance of using these findings to help strengthen assessments and, most importantly, provide more effective interventions within child protection.
Who is it for? This webinar is likely to be relevant for any professional working in a child protection setting. It offers practitioners important information to consider within their practice.