Call for papers: Assessment Tools in Child Protection Practice and Research

Call for Papers: Child Abuse Review Special Issue 2021

Theme: Assessment Tools in Child Protection Practice and Research

For child protection practitioners and researchers, there is a wide range of assessment tools available for measuring child maltreatment, related risk-factors and traumatic stress reactions, which can be used in their day-to-day practice and research. These can assist in providing additional routes to assessment, in order to triangulate with other sources of data, such as forensic and clinical interviews or observations. It can prove challenging to keep up with the constantly evolving field of assessments, which may include the development of newer tools, evaluation of existing measures, and/or norm construction for diverse populations (e.g., different cultures, gender and sexual identities, age groups). However, ensuring that the use of child protection assessment tools is current and evidence-based is essential for the protection and wellbeing of our children and youth.

This special issue seeks to provide researchers and practitioners with an up-to-date reference for child protection assessment tools. We aim to provide an evidence-based, international perspective that will be useful for professionals in a range of settings. New and challenging perspectives are encouraged, and submissions from those in academia, practice or policy internationally are welcomed.

The guest editors of this special issue invite contributions which:

• Relate to the metrics, validation, practical application and evaluation of assessment tools in the field of child protection.
• Provide additional validation of existing tools used in clinical training and research, including taking an international and cross-cultural perspective.

Priority themes for the special issue include:

• Psychometric evaluation of tools popularly used in the field of child protection, including those assessing child maltreatment, psychopathology and other traumatic stress reactions.
• Use of novel methodological approaches that can advance the field of child protection (e.g., text mining, machine learning, community-based participatory research, co-created research).
• Multi-informant and multi-modal assessment techniques of child protection.
• Creation of newer and/or briefer measures, and adaptation of existing child protection measures across diverse populations.

If you would like to discuss a possible contribution, please contact one of the guest editors:

• Professor Catherine Hamilton-Giachritsis, Reader in Applied Forensic Psychology, University of Bath, UK 
• Dr Ruby Charak, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychological Science, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, Texas, USA.

Important dates:

• Deadline for submission of full Papers: 1 November 2020, at: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/car
• Final acceptance notification: 1 August 2021

Papers will be subject to Child Abuse Review’s normal peer review procedures. See Author Guidelines