Research regarding reunification demonstrates breakdown to be common, with varying rates of re-entry to the care system in different parts of the world. Re-entry is often prompted by further maltreatment.
Here, the authors focus on two questions:
Data was collected on all children in, or admitted to, care in 2003-04 from seven local authorities. Data from two subsequent years supplemented this. Here, the authors use a sample of 149 children who either remained in care or were reunified. All had been admitted to care following maltreatment. They were aged 12 or under at point of admission; 52 per cent were male. Eighty-nine per cent had experienced at least two forms of maltreatment. Their backgrounds were characterised by multiple parental problems including domestic violence, substance misuse, criminal activity and mental illness.
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