Position Papers
INTIT partners have prepared a series of position papers that provide an overview of the state of the art within 5 dimensions central to the project exploring both international state of the art and learnings from partner countries and other EU Member States:
- Defining violence against children and maltreatment
- Childhood trauma
- Trauma informed care
- Barnahus
- Multi-agency approaches
Trauma and minors
Childhood trauma is a complex concept subject to multiple interpretations and responses from different professional perspectives. This paper, prepared by IPRS, takes a psychoanalytic look at childhood trauma exploring the evolution of its treatment from Freud to current approaches that bring together new knowledge based on neuroscience and a multi-disciplinary approach. Ultimately, the paper argues that childhood trauma is highly subjective the impact of which depends to a great extent on the capacity of parents/caregivers to support and guide the child.
The Meaning of Trauma Informed Care Today
This paper, prepared by CJD, lays out the development and principles of trauma informed care with a look at its development and implementation in the US and the EU. Country specific information is provided for Germany, Italy, Cyprus, Estonia, Spain, and Sweden.
Multi-agency Approach: Problems and Opportunities in the Application of a Multi-agency Approach
Based on fundamental rights of the child and child friendly justice, this paper prepared by Consensus, explores the need for a multi-agency approach in working with child victims of violence, effective models, and challenges to implementation. Country specific focus is provided for Italy and Spain.
The Barnahus Model Across the Broader European Context
Barnahus, or children’s houses, represent a growing phenomenon in Europe as they provide a means to increase protections for children and reduce the risk of retraumatization or revictimization caused by system involvement, working to provide child friendly justice within a trauma informed framework. As the cooperative output of work by the University of Cyprus, University of Tartu and CJD, this position paper lays out the evolving scenario of Barnahus in Europe with a focus on the potential and challenges going forward.
