Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice

No. 91: Child abuse and the family court

Thea Brown, Margarita Frederico, Lesley Hewitt and Rosemary Sheehan
ISBN 0 642 24078 7 ; ISSN 0817-8542 ; CRC 32/94-95
June 1998

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Abstract

The authors discuss whether the Family Court is equipped to manage those cases that come before it where child abuse allegations have been made. They look at the problems surrounding this matter and report on a recent research study which found that these families have many difficulties, including a history of family violence. The study challenges the community belief that false allegations of child abuse are more common in Family Court cases than in other situations.

This paper is taken from the report of research undertaken with the assistance of a grant from the Criminology Research Council.

References

• Criminology Research Council
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