Interventions in chronic and severe neglect: What works?

In 1984, a paper published by Wolock and Horowitz in the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry drew attention to what they described as ?the neglect of neglect? in the prevailing understandings of and responses to child maltreatment. Thirty years on, this expression still resonates even though child neglect has moved out of the shadows and become a central concern for child welfare practitioners and policy makers, and the focus of much research activity. But, while considerably more is now known about the aetiology, identification and assessment of neglect, effective interventions have proved harder to develop. Why is this so, and what can we do about it?