| Abstract: | Correspondence to Colin Pritchard, Professor of Social Work Studies, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO9 5NH. Summary It is known that the extreme consequence of child abuse is adead child. Attempts to determine the success of services toprevent child abuse and subsequent deaths confront the problemsinherent in trying to prove a negative. The use of an epidemiologicalapproach resolves some of the methodological problems by measuring‘failure’ to protect in an examination of children'shomicides rates over time. Between 1973 and 1988 it was found that there was a substantialreduction in baby homicides in England and Wales, equivalentto a fall of 61 per cent and a 57 per cent reduction in Scotland.In a comparison with the other fifteen Western European countries,England and Wales topped the league of improvements in children'shomicide, and Scotland was fourth. Such improvements suggestadvances by the child protection services. Explanations forthe positive British results are considered. |
