The Child Abusers: Research and Controversy

Colin Pritchard, Open University Press 
ISBN 0335 21032 5 ,
£19.99.

STAR RATING 4/5

The author of this book makes the point that it is imperative that our child protection research is evidence-based. He writes from the standpoint of a professional with a mental health background, giving the book another perspective, writes David Taylor.  Although as its title suggests, this book is primarily about child abusers, it does initially consider child abuse and therefore looks at both of these as being two sides of the same equation. It is very much a book that deals with the key preventive issue:that if we are to stop child abuse, then we need to focus on the abusers.  This book does not give the answers but it gives us a lot to think about and I would therefore recommend it to anyone working in this area. 

David Taylor is a child and adult protection officer with Scope.