Sir, - The prevention of child abuse is a complex issue. It requires the support of families, communities, health professionals and policy makers. It does not require mandatory reporting. Should mandatory reporting be introduced, the most likely outcome would be the alienation of families and communities - many of whom are already marginalised - from the support structures that already exist. Furthermore, it would copperfasten a very powerful model of child care and leave little if any room for the development of a partnership model towards the prevention of child abuse. The demands of a partnership model include:
the involvement of families and communities;
the involvement of healthcare and other professionals;
a recognition of the need to build relationships between families, communities and professionals;
a recognition that in any professional-client relationship the issue of power emerges as a potential block;
resources to support participation, including home visiting services, accessible health centres, child-care facilities, specialist family and child care services;
research to develop empirically based theory to explain and predict patterns of child rearing practices and effective family/ community/professional partnerships.
I support Professor Gill's call (January 30th) for no mandatory reporting. May I suggest that his call for "more love" be viewed within the context of a partnership model of care. - Yours, etc., Jean Clarke, Lecturer, Co-ordinator Higher Diploma in Nursing Studies (Public Health Nursing), Department of Nursing Studies,
UCD,
Dublin 4.