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Since 1981, the Social Welfare Department of Hong Kong has issued guidelines on the handling of child abuse which require a case conference to be held by professionals involved for each suspected child abuse case. Participants may include social workers, medical and nursing staff, clinical psychologist, teachers, school guidance officers and police The conference is to facilitate information exchange, discussion Gn nature of the case and welfare planning. Although the definition of abuse is stated, its interpretation causes much arguments at conferences.

A review was made on 22 case conferences held for 24 children at United Christian Hospital in 1995. Child abuse was established for 21 children The decision at the conferences were arrived at unanimously for 9 children and by majority vote for 15. The reasons given by participants as to the basis of their decisions were analysed.

Different professionals perceive child abuse differently because of their past experience, training and professional objectives. It was found that the police tended to link the establishment of child abuse with prosecution. In fact on 9 out of 21 occasions when the police was involved, they refrained from stating their views pending legal advice. The Social Welfare Department's Child Protective Services Unit which handles statutory cases tended to have a higher threshold for abuse. They also considered the labelling effect on alleged abusers affecting subsequent client worker relationship. Some participants not used to case conferences were unwilling to openly call parents abusers. On the whole, there were more emphasis on the impact on the child rather than the intention of the alleged abuser.

With more multidisciplinary training, hopefully understandings between professionals will be enhanced. Case conferences will be more efficient in focusing on the child's welfare plan rather than the definition.