Child Outcomes After Separation – New Research

19 Friday Feb 2016

Posted by Natasha in Research, Researching Reform

Academics at the London School Of Economics have just published their findings on child outcomes after parental separation, using a sample of about 19,000 children born between 2000-2002. The researchers analysed data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study, (MCS) to look at how children experienced contact with resident and non resident parents after separation.

However, despite claiming that the survey is the largest of its kind, the conclusions are rather short sighted and typical of previous analyses which only scratch the surface on child outcomes and mistake separation as a cause, rather than a symptom of family breakdown and its effect on children.

As with research before it, the survey claims that marriage is an important factor in child wellbeing, rather than stopping to consider whether this would actually resonate with children in this context, or whether there are underlying factors which in reality have little to do with the marriage contract and much more to do with social, educational and economic factors. We have written extensively on why marriage is not a blanket solution to child welfare issues, and you can read our thoughts on the blog, including this piece of research which shows quite clearly why family breakdown is far more complex than the debate around marriage.

There are other gaping holes in the survey’s analysis, which the researchers are good enough to admit. We haven’t had a chance to read the entire report yet, but what we have read so far reads very much like reports written previously by others. We’re just not sure why the government felt the need to fund yet more of the same.

As with so much research in this area, the focus tends to be on the symptoms of much broader phenomena like social, economic and educational disadvantage rather than the root causes of these things. Please do tell us if we’re wrong about this latest piece of research, it’s Friday and we’re a little sleep deprived.

You can check out the Ministry of Justice’s announcement of the report and the report itself, here.

MCS

New Research Claims To Uncover Locations Of Paedophile Networks Around The World

19 Friday Feb 2016

Posted by Natasha in child abuse, child welfare, CSE, Researching Reform

≈ 3 Comments

According to journalists at Norwegian magazine VG, who spent ten months last year analysing and tracing IP Addresses to gain a better understanding of who is downloading child abuse material online, there are around 95,000 people worldwide who download photos and films showing child abuse in its different forms.

Girl Movie VG Child Abuse.png

As at October 2015, a total of 430,177 files showing sexual abuse of children had been downloaded to 94,989 IP addresses the world over.

For every download, the magazine explains that they have indications of the user name and email address of the downloader, as well as information on the file and the IP address it was downloaded to. Examination of this data by a computer analyst at the magazine appears to have uncovered potential paedophile networks around the world.

The reporters and computer experts working on this project went on to create a map which shows the locations of the downloaders of these images , but the data is not altogether straightforward. Whilst the data appears to indicate that Germany is by far and away the most active country for paedophiles dowloading and sharing child abuse material, the reality is that the quality of a country’s internet connection, and discussions about which forums may offer the best spaces for sharing (because they are hidden for example), may play a large part in the end locations for downloads.

VG Map.png

For an excellent summary of this story, head on over to the Cathy Fox blog, where she explains the different aspects of the project, and offers links to all the relevant news items, too.

The articles from VG magazine themselves are very much worth a read. After compiling the list of IP addresses, the reporters go on to confront several of the downloaders, with the majority confessing to having downloaded child abuse material. The magazine’s findings also suggest that all the downloaders they traced were male, aged from their teens to well over sixty and work in a wide range of sectors at all levels, as well as some being unemployed.

VG 1

As you might imagine, those confronted responded differently, with some individuals stating that they downloaded purely out of curiosity, whilst other deleted their files and in one case, smashed their computer before throwing it into the sea.

VG 2