Academic Source (2)

http://www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/newsletters/nl2006/winterab.pdf
Practical Abuse and Neglect Prevention Adam Blakester Pub: Austrailian Institute of Family Studies National Child Protection Clearinghouse NCPC NEWSLETTER VOL . 14 NO. 2 , WINTER 2006

Summary: The author begins with Austrailian Statistics involving the prevalence and challenges of child abuse cases as well as potential cultural miscommunications between indiginous groups and child advocay groups. While the introduction includes the broad statistics of Austrailia as a whole, the focus of the paper centers on indiginous aboriginee groups.
The author covers 3 types of preventative strategies; primary, secondary, and teriatery, which involve 1. Community practices and attitudes that lend themselves to familial wellness, 2. Strategies that target high risk groups, and 3. Strategies that react and protect after abuse occurs.
The paper uses several case studies; one using an ecological approach to community focused emphasis on improved child and maternal nutrition; one very successful case restructured a South Wales community with additional tools that assisted parents and community members; one in Sydney used children's art to portray a vision of a desirable society. The children returned to 4 basic premises, respect, multiculturism, access to services, and "friendly places" (parks, healthy environments, etc.); and a Queensland group that assembled an action plan for Child Protection Week.

Much of the focus of the article involved using holistic, ecopsychological approaches to improve children's and family wellness. In most of the cases, change was not forced, but collaberated with members of the community, possibly contributing to the outcome. I will probably not refer to the statistics, but the case studies were highly interesting weather I do or don't use them. Further, the article cited other articles I may be able to use. Notably, the approaches seemed to be both highly fiscally and socially effective, a point with which I intend to conclude on my own paper. The diagrams within the article were particularly interesting, because while the case studies or the aboriginees cannot easily cross cultural boundaries, the diagrams can be multiculturally effective.



Student Choice
I might throw the computer across the room at any moment now... because I can't access the articles I would like to use, have read too many articles that are irrelevant and the closest accessable articles I have read are from Australia. I have learned, however, that Australia has an extensive wealth of information and research on child abuse prevention, experimenting extensively with a variety of tequniques. The US, I have learned, has a wealth of intervention programs including foster care, how to report abuse, parental counseling for abuse related issues, and imprisonment. I have learned every single, full text journal method of calling 911, the abuse hotline, and anonomous computer reporting of child abuse; the pathway my report takes into the court system and what becomes of those children as adults. They roam the underworld commiting untold (ok somewhat told) treacheries, resorting to drugs, pregnancies, and crime, and all because nobody came up with a preventative solution. What I have been able to find is that some limited free full text sources refer to home visiting by nurses, as well as numerous sexual empowerment programs. We Americans may have an obsession with sex. We have sex abuse prevention education for the internet, the school, children's classrooms, adult education, parenting classes, counselors, teachers, sex educators, and of course police officers. Blog, board, journal, and periodicle all hail the merits of sex abuse prevention and prevention's sublime effectiveness. One might think then that some saavy pediatrition might carry his research into physical abuse and maltreatment in a free full text accessable article, or paper. . . but really that'd be too hopeful. It's not that I want to change the course of my topic... I just want to move to Australia.