The Economics of Child Abuse and Neglect
A Conference - date and venue to be confirmed
As retiring chief officer and founder of the Southmead Project (SP), I am pleased to confirm two-year funding has been secured to provide trauma informed one-one and group interventions, stage this conference and provide training in replication of community-based operations similar to the SP. The charity is currently celebrating twenty-five years service from it's base in North Bristol and in due course, this ground-breaking funding will provide a most befitting send-off. Further information will follow shortly.
Dr Mike Peirce MBE FRSA
Understanding the big picture so we are better equipped to prevent maltreatment & its impact
Child abuse (sexual, physical, emotional) and neglect are prevalent societal issues that take a colossal toll on individuals, families and the wider community. 1 in 4 UK young adults report severe maltreatment in their childhood (Radford et al., 2011). An understanding of the economics involved would enable us to much more effectively prevent child maltreatment and reduce its impact, and in the process, make significant cost savings.
1. Economic factors contribute to the occurrence of child abuse – for example, poverty and economic inequality increase the likelihood of child neglect and physical abuse. Additionally, a number of industries fuel abuse, or promote messages that are conducive to it (for example, prostitution and pornography industries appear to contribute to child sexual abuse; there are also debates about the contribution of others such as the tech and gambling industries).
2. Also relevant to the prevention of abuse is education, and a variety of approaches targeting relevant groups, that substantially reduce the occurrence of maltreatment, reducing suffering and costs in the process.
3. Timely support and intervention offered post-abuse and neglect (for victims and survivors and for their families and communities) can prevent the human and financial costs of maltreatment escalating. These costs include suicide and suicide attempts, self-harm and repeated A&E admissions, drugs and alcohol misuse and other addictions, unemployment, anxiety, depression and complex PTSD. Research indicates that child maltreatment is the single most important predictor of poor mental health across the lifespan and that eradicating it would cut child-onset mental health difficulties by half (Kessler et al., 2010; Koenen & Widom, 2009; Vachon et al., 2015; Widom et al., 2007).
Research finds that the financial costs of effective interventions to prevent abuse and reduce its impact are far lower than the costs of not intervening.
Despite their importance, the economics of child abuse and neglect have not received the sustained and thoughtful attention they merit.
This conference aspires to bring researchers, practitioners, survivors, activists and policymakers together to learn, share and shape ethical economics that work to prevent and reduce child maltreatment and its impact.
This is a huge topic and the aspiration is that this event will be the first in a series, helping us as a society understand and act to stop unethical economics and instead promote those that are positive.
Presentations, seminars and workshops will explore all of the above and the final part of the conference will be spent collaboratively drawing together the implications of what has been shared for next steps at all levels of society including government and grassroots. This will lead to an initial action plan and the formation of an appropriately diverse working group to lead on developing it further and taking it forward. This group will work through ongoing collaboration with others.