Children and Violence
Report of the Commission on Children and Violence convened by the Gulbenkian Foundation
Chaired by Sir William Utting
1995
The Commission on Children and Violence, chaired by Sir William Utting, was convened to review what is known about why children become violent and the extent of violence involving children, and to make detailed recommendations for violence prevention. This report highlights the ambivalent attitudes of UK society to violence, including violence towards children. It sees positive parenting as the foundation of a non-violent society, and suggests that all programmes and services which support parenting need to be reviewed from an anti-violence perspective. This report includes the first of what the Commission proposes should be a series of checklists for working towards a non-violent society.
‘An important and comprehensive book and its recommendations deserve to be taken seriously.’ Childright
Sir William Utting was Director of Social Services for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea from 1970–76. He then became Chief Social Work Officer at the DHSS, and retired from the public service in 1991 as Chief Inspector of Social Services at the Department of Health. Throughout this time he was chief professional adviser on social services and social work to the Secretary of State. He has also been a member of the Committee on Standards of Conduct in Public Life and Chair of the Trustees of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.