Citation

Pritchard C, Sharples A. Child Abuse Rev. 2008; 17(5): 297-312.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/car.1016

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Child protection services are criticised for failing to prevent abuse but demonstrating successful prevention is impossible as it is trying to prove a ‘negative’. The alternative is to examine ‘failures’, i.e. the ‘violent’ deaths of children (0–14 years) to indicate whether matters are improving or deteriorating. This paper uses the latest World Health Organisation data to compare children's ‘violent’ deaths in England and Wales with those in other major developed countries.