The awful events in Christchurch, New Zealand recently have highlighted, once again, how an individual’s belief systems (in that context, those of ‘white supremacy’) can have devastating effects on others’ lives; but also (as seen in the response of individuals, communities, and political and religious leaders) how they have the power to bring healing, reconciliation and change. What is equally clear is that those beliefs do not arise out of the blue, but for all of us reflect a complex web of family, societal and cultural influences.

Challenging Belief Systems and Professional Perspectives to Protect Children from Harm

Our first issue of Child Abuse Review for 2019 picks up on issues of how our beliefs (whether as parents, professionals, or as a society) impact on the safety and well-being of children and can both help or hinder our efforts to keep children safe.

We start the issue with a review and two original research papers that tackle uncomfortable issues around faith and beliefs, and their potential for harm. Between them, they highlight again how, while keeping our focus on the well-being of the child, a deeper understanding of an individual’s belief systems (even where these may differ considerably from our own) could help us in our efforts to protect children from harm.

In a deeply disturbing conceptual review, Julie Taylor and colleagues explore the vulnerability of children with albinism in sub‐Saharan Africa. As well as their inherent vulnerability as children and the impairments caused by their albinism, the authors point out how these children

‘may face a society that demonises, marginalises, stigmatises and discriminates against [them], especially in rural areas where myths abound and traditional healers are very powerful’.

The very visible difference in appearance of these children may lead to them being rejected or ostracised as their albinism may be perceived by their family and society as somehow cursed. Even more disturbingly, though, are beliefs that their body parts may somehow bring good fortune, so they may be abused, mutilated and killed to obtain such ‘good luck’ charms. This presents a very complex and concerning situation which we in the West may find difficult, if not impossible, to comprehend – one in which deep‐seated beliefs, differences in culture and society, and other socio‐economic factors all interact to create situations of vulnerability and risk.

The beliefs and abuses documented in Taylor and colleagues’ review may seem a world away from the contexts within which most of us are practising. However, even in the UK, children have been harmed and killed in situations in which beliefs in witchcraft or spirit possession have played a part. What may be far more common, though, even less well recognised, and potentially harder to address are less extreme situations of abuse and neglect linked to faith or belief. This forms the subject of an original research paper by Lisa Oakley and colleagues from the National Working Group on Child Abuse Linked to Faith or Belief and the Victoria Climbié Foundation. As Oakley and colleagues point out, such cases are not limited to extreme beliefs in witchcraft or spirit possession, but include cases of medical neglect and excessive physical punishment. Within this context, the increased focus on safeguarding within faith communities is to be welcomed. Nevertheless, in their survey, the authors identified a lack of confidence among practitioners, community groups and faith groups in how to recognise and respond to cases of child abuse linked to faith or belief.

Building on an earlier National Action Plan, Oakley and colleagues identify a need for much more research in this area, along with greater dialogue between statutory and voluntary agencies and faith communities, increased faith literacy training for frontline practitioners and the adoption of a broader definition of child abuse linked to faith and belief.

Part of this broader definition could include the issues of clerical institutional child abuse and the interaction of belief systems, power and control within the church. The harm caused by such institutional abuse is now well recognised, although there is still a long way to go in terms of how the church and society respond to harms caused in the past and safeguard against similar abuse happening now. In our next research paper, Jeff Moore and colleagues look at the experiences of 102 Irish survivors of clerical institutional child abuse and factors that have helped with their resilience. There may be much wider lessons here for how we support young people who have experienced abuse of all kinds (and perhaps particularly those who have experienced abuse linked to faith or belief) in building resilience and coping with the trauma that they have experienced.

Working with vulnerable families

Our next two research papers by Jessica Wagner and colleagues (Intergenerational transmission of domestic violence) and Karen Hanson and colleagues (Family-based recovery) address practitioner issues in working with two common situations of family vulnerability: domestic violence and substance misuse. Both, interestingly, address some of the underlying belief systems that we, as practitioners, may hold – in the words of Jessica Wagner and colleagues:

‘Preconceived ideas can lead to prejudice and consequently to discrimination; practitioners’ preconceived ideas may, even unconsciously, affect their thinking, their assessment and finally the service that they may ‘gate keep’ or offer.’ (p. 40)

Both these papers challenge us to reflect on our own beliefs and perspectives as we work with vulnerable children and families. As with the earlier papers on faith and beliefs and our final CPD paper on mothers who have their children removed, they highlight that we all – practitioners, researchers and the families who we work with – hold belief systems and perspectives that can influence how we work together to ensure the safety and well-being of children.

All the papers in this first issue of the year for Child Abuse Review are freely available to read or download. Do click on the links below to browse the issue or to read my editorial or any of the papers.