§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has conducted to examine the link between abused children and their potential to become abusive adults. [62717]
§ Jacqui Smith[holding answer 19 June 2002]:Between 1992 and 1996, the Department's policy research programme (PRP) funded a study by Professor David Skuse at the Institute of Child Health with the title: "The transition from sexually abused to abuser: a preliminary enquiry", at a total cost of £346,000.
Subsequently, from 1996 to 2000, the Department provided funding for Professor Skuse to undertake a study entitled "A prospective study of the onset of sexually 1099W abusive behaviour in boys who were sexually abused in early childhood: validation of risk index". This study cost £566,000.
Two further studies of relevance were each funded by one of the Department's regional offices: "A survey of the psychological effects of child abuse and the resulting medical/other agency intervention of general health and personal benefits as adults (pilot study)" by Michelle Robson, from the Hull and East Yorkshire NHS Trust, which was funded from December 1999 to April 2000, and a study on "Emotional and behavioural problems in children of women who experienced maltreatment in childhood", by Professor J. W. Hill, at the Royal Liverpool Children's Hospital NHS Trust, funded from February 1999 to June 2000.