by Clifford K. Dorne, with a Foreword by Graeme R. Newman

Why has American society so often treated child abuse as a family problem to be managed rather than a crime to be punished? In this pioneering study, first published in 1989 by Harrow and Heston, Clifford Dorne traces how the nation's response to child maltreatment was shaped by competing professions: social workers, physicians, psychiatrists, legislators, police, and the courts.

Dorne begins by untangling the overlapping definitions of abuse, neglect, molestation, incest, and institutional abuse. He then follows the history of child protection from the houses of refuge and child labor campaigns of the nineteenth century, through the founding of the Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and the invention of the juvenile court, to the "medicalization" of abuse after the discovery of the battered child syndrome. Later chapters examine reporting laws, child protective services, the criminal prosecution of abusers, and what criminology has learned about the causes and lasting effects of maltreatment.

Written as a blueprint for university courses, the book is notable for bringing the neglected criminal justice perspective into a field long dominated by social welfare and medicine. Graeme Newman's foreword praises it as thorough, clear, and concise. It remains a valuable record of how the modern child protection system came to be.

Read-Me.Org Inc. New York-Philadelphia-Australia. 2026. p. 267.

By The Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse (CSA Centre)

This resource introduces some of the key research and statistics on what is known about child sexual abuse: what it is, who harms children, where it takes place, the impact on children and, crucially, what you as a police professional can do in response. It is designed for all police professionals, whether you're the attending officer responding to a call or the officer assigned to a case. Throughout the 10 sections, you’ll find blue boxes containing key takeaways, prompts and signposts for you to consider when faced with concerns of child sexual abuse. At the end, there are links to other publications from the CSA Centre, which provide practical information and advice on understanding, identifying and responding to child sexual abuse. Remember, it is never a child’s responsibility to prevent abuse, protect themselves or make the abuse stop. But by better understanding child sexual abuse, having conversations and highlighting concerns, we can all play a role in better protecting children.