Typologies of Child Protection Systems: An International Approach.

In recent decades, typologies have been developed to better understand the way in which different countries create systems to protect the interests of vulnerable children and their families. A child protection system typology is a classification of a set of characteristics that capture and define different approaches to child protection. Typologies are helpful in enabling comparisons of systems across international contexts, helping also to illuminate the various strengths and weaknesses of child protection systems. Typologies can also guide or redirect the development of a system, as they illustrate the varied ways in which children might be better protected. They explain how a cultural value base underpins approaches to child protection and can suggest alternative ways in which a system might evolve, based on the experiences of other countries. This article builds upon early typology building work and presents an international child protection system typology that has universal application. Country examples are used to illustrate the development of systems across two dimensions: whether they are oriented towards an individual or community focus; and whether systems are more, or less, regulated. Key Practitioner Messages: There are a number of different legitimate approaches to developing an effective child protection system, and countries develop their system according to their own circumstances, values and beliefs. No one way is necessarily the right way.Typologies of child protection systems can: help us to understand and compare the strengths and weaknesses of systems; guide or redirect the development of systems; and suggest alternative ways of developing systems to those already in existence.Typologies explain how a cultural value base underpins approaches to child protection and can suggest alternative ways in which a system might evolve, based on the experiences of other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]