Building a Community of Safeguarders – by the NSPCC
The NSPCC has published a report looking at what encourages the general public to act on their concerns about a child and what prevents them from acting.
Members of the public have an important role to play in identifying and responding to child maltreatment. In their daily lives, they have opportunities to notice signs of risk that are not visible in professionals’ contact with children and families. 1
To find out what makes some members of the public take action when worried about a child, and why others fail to act on their concerns, they conducted a literature review. A total of 47 sources were included, with representation from a range of countries. They looked at:
- how confident members of the public are in recognising signs of maltreatment
- how much significance members of the public place on the signs of maltreatment
- the extent to which members of the public feel a duty to act on their concerns about children
- the extent to which members of the public know what they could do to help a child, and factors that influence if and how action is taken.
This literature review has informed the NSPCC Listen up, Speak up campaign, ensuring that everyone plays their part to prevent child abuse and neglect.
For more information please see: Building a community of safeguarders | NSPCC Learning