Child Psychiatry and Child Protection Litigation
Published on 1. October 2001
Book
Hardback
134 pages
978-1-901242-66-9 (ISBN)
Description
What do the courts require of a clinical expert in child and adolescent psychiatry?
How can clinical expert opinion be developed to improve family justice? In the decade following the Children Act 1989 two issues have emerged as indisputable. First, care proceedings are a multi-disciplinary exercise and second, child and adolescent psychiatrists are key players providing the majority of expert evidence. This book is based upon a study that is the first to analyse and digest the views and practice of these clinicians after more than a decade's experience with the Children Act. The text examines the Act itself and what courts require of experts; the institutional and contractual base from which these clinicians approach medico-legal work; their own views of their added value to proceedings; and how this field of work should be taken forward, both by the family justice system and by the clinical community. In a policy environment in which multi-disciplinary and multi-agency approaches to child abuse and neglect are vital and where evidence-based practice increasingly dictates clinical approaches, this book provides vital information for setting a new agenda for current practice and future policy developments. It addresses complex and controversial issues in this field and the text will be central to future education and training initiatives for:
new and established child and adolescent psychiatrists
lawyers, and academics in law, social work and socio-legal studies
judges, magistrates and court clerks
guardians and court welfare officers in CAFCASS
social workers, team managers and heads of children and families services in local authorities.
Features of this volume include:
a thorough examination of the Children Act 1989
detailed discussion of what the courts require of a clinical expert
discussion of how clinical opinion can be developed to improve family justice
How can clinical expert opinion be developed to improve family justice? In the decade following the Children Act 1989 two issues have emerged as indisputable. First, care proceedings are a multi-disciplinary exercise and second, child and adolescent psychiatrists are key players providing the majority of expert evidence. This book is based upon a study that is the first to analyse and digest the views and practice of these clinicians after more than a decade's experience with the Children Act. The text examines the Act itself and what courts require of experts; the institutional and contractual base from which these clinicians approach medico-legal work; their own views of their added value to proceedings; and how this field of work should be taken forward, both by the family justice system and by the clinical community. In a policy environment in which multi-disciplinary and multi-agency approaches to child abuse and neglect are vital and where evidence-based practice increasingly dictates clinical approaches, this book provides vital information for setting a new agenda for current practice and future policy developments. It addresses complex and controversial issues in this field and the text will be central to future education and training initiatives for:
new and established child and adolescent psychiatrists
lawyers, and academics in law, social work and socio-legal studies
judges, magistrates and court clerks
guardians and court welfare officers in CAFCASS
social workers, team managers and heads of children and families services in local authorities.
Features of this volume include:
a thorough examination of the Children Act 1989
detailed discussion of what the courts require of a clinical expert
discussion of how clinical opinion can be developed to improve family justice
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 220 mm
Width: 144 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
378 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-901242-66-9 (9781901242669)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Content
Contents
List of tables, boxes and figures
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Background *? The sample *? The structure of the book
1. The Children Act 1989: a new landscape for the work of expert witnesses
The Act - a milestone in family proceedings *? The principles that guide the courts *? A new court structure for family proceedings *? Local authority support for children and families *? Proceedings for care and supervision applications *? A new landscape for experts *? The use of experts following the Children Act 1989
2. NHS structures and contracts: the context in which child psychiatrists meet the needs set by care proceedings
Introduction *? From welfare state to welfare markets? Medico-legal work during the NHS reforms at the beginning of the 1990s *? Custom and practice or contractual obligation? The work of the child psychiatrist in child protection litigation *? Waiting lists for medico-legal work *? Working practices: working alone or in a multi-disciplinary team *? Ethical dilemmas: doctor to the family and an adviser to the court? *? Numbers of cases, numbers of appointments and length of experience in clinical and legal arenas *? Conclusions
3. The bearers of gifts? What do child psychiatrists consider they bring to child care proceedings?
Introduction *? Presenting problems *? What do parties generally want from child psychiatrists? *? Ethical dilemmas: making recommendations as to children's future therapeutic needs *? The risk assessment - a multi-professional exercise *? Social work assessments *? `Added value': what do child psychiatrists consider they bring to the task of assessing families that is different from that of a social worker? *? Underpinning theoretical perspectives and techniques *? Assessing children and parents from Black and other ethnic minority households *? `Gilding the lily': using psychiatrists to add status and power *? More `added values' from child psychiatrists *? Conclusions
4. The new legal agenda: those `on the receiving end'
Introduction *? `On the receiving end': letters of instruction after the Act *? Joint letters of instruction - time for clinicians to debate? *?Writing reports for courts *? The content of reports and the language of recommendations *? Using research in court reports - `evidence-based practice' and strategic planning *? `On the receiving end': improvements to the work of experts following the 1989 Children Act
5. A new clinical agenda: challenges for child protection litigation
Introduction *? The `forensic' exercise and children's future therapeutic needs: a need for debate *? Competing expert opinions *? The `texture' of expert evidence *? The failures of the 1989 Children Act *? Conclusions
6. Child psychiatrists and the family justice system: a multi-disciplinary, multi-agency agenda
Introduction *? Service provision for the twenty-first century *? The tasks of the child psychiatrist: legal and welfare discourses
Appendix
The sampling procedure
References
Index
List of tables, boxes and figures
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Background *? The sample *? The structure of the book
1. The Children Act 1989: a new landscape for the work of expert witnesses
The Act - a milestone in family proceedings *? The principles that guide the courts *? A new court structure for family proceedings *? Local authority support for children and families *? Proceedings for care and supervision applications *? A new landscape for experts *? The use of experts following the Children Act 1989
2. NHS structures and contracts: the context in which child psychiatrists meet the needs set by care proceedings
Introduction *? From welfare state to welfare markets? Medico-legal work during the NHS reforms at the beginning of the 1990s *? Custom and practice or contractual obligation? The work of the child psychiatrist in child protection litigation *? Waiting lists for medico-legal work *? Working practices: working alone or in a multi-disciplinary team *? Ethical dilemmas: doctor to the family and an adviser to the court? *? Numbers of cases, numbers of appointments and length of experience in clinical and legal arenas *? Conclusions
3. The bearers of gifts? What do child psychiatrists consider they bring to child care proceedings?
Introduction *? Presenting problems *? What do parties generally want from child psychiatrists? *? Ethical dilemmas: making recommendations as to children's future therapeutic needs *? The risk assessment - a multi-professional exercise *? Social work assessments *? `Added value': what do child psychiatrists consider they bring to the task of assessing families that is different from that of a social worker? *? Underpinning theoretical perspectives and techniques *? Assessing children and parents from Black and other ethnic minority households *? `Gilding the lily': using psychiatrists to add status and power *? More `added values' from child psychiatrists *? Conclusions
4. The new legal agenda: those `on the receiving end'
Introduction *? `On the receiving end': letters of instruction after the Act *? Joint letters of instruction - time for clinicians to debate? *?Writing reports for courts *? The content of reports and the language of recommendations *? Using research in court reports - `evidence-based practice' and strategic planning *? `On the receiving end': improvements to the work of experts following the 1989 Children Act
5. A new clinical agenda: challenges for child protection litigation
Introduction *? The `forensic' exercise and children's future therapeutic needs: a need for debate *? Competing expert opinions *? The `texture' of expert evidence *? The failures of the 1989 Children Act *? Conclusions
6. Child psychiatrists and the family justice system: a multi-disciplinary, multi-agency agenda
Introduction *? Service provision for the twenty-first century *? The tasks of the child psychiatrist: legal and welfare discourses
Appendix
The sampling procedure
References
Index