Development of Social Work - Haut de la Garenne - Essay Example

TOPIC: DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL WORK (NAME) (COURSE) (INSTITUTION) . 25TH JULY, 2008 The key role of a social worker as stipulated by the statement of the General Social Care Council (GSCC) is to understand, commit to the rights of the child one has been given responsibility of. When a social worker fails to fulfill these duties and instead leaves the child at risk of abuse by either the parents or by the social workers themselves, the status and the reputation of the profession of social work is damaged. (Smith & Blades, 2003) This relates exactly to the high profile case of children abuse by social workers who intimidated children and abuse them in the children's home in Jersey. The social workers neglected their duties as protectors of the children by abusing them which is unethical in social work professional. Haut de la Garenne a children’s home in Jersey is among some social institutions in the United Kingdom that have faced scandals of children abuse from the workers and the residents. The sort of child abuse in this children’s home was intense and ranged from sexual abuse to murder. Fragments of children’s skulls were found almost everywhere within the institutions vicinity. This was taken as just claims by the government and the police carried out investigations in Haut de la Garenne following these allegations. The results turned out positive with the police approving the possibilities of abuse even though murder evidences remained inconclusive. Excavations that were carried out by the police in the building’s cellars since February 2008 uncovered several remains of human bodies and other exhibits. Abuse of children in the children’s home in Jersey started as early as 1960’s to 1986when the issue started attracting interest from the public and the government. However, the government was not fully trusted as politicians in Jersey could cover the story under the carpet just to keep their reputation. For this reason, the issue of child abuse was not tackled as per expectations. On February 2008 when the police tried to carry out the excavation, several victims and other witnesses came out to testify of what had been happening in the children’s home. They were however afraid of the repercussions and only came out to testify after they heard that others were doing so. Over two hundred victims and witnesses had encountered the abuse in Haut de la Garenne between the forty years period. A developer, who had taken the former children’s home to upgrade it for a youth hostel four years ago, also testified after things came out of what his men found in the cellars that were not even in plan of the building. Other windowless rooms were discovered with a single chair. There was a systematic child abuse in the former children’s home where the victims were dragged down to the cellars, locked up and systematically abused. The government had failed in its duties to protect the rights of the children in Haut de la Garenne. The acts by the government had not fully covered the establishment and management of social organizations. As a result, the children faced abuse not only from the staff workers, but from the residents of Jersey. The police in the United Kingdom have held about one hundred suspects but they say that only eighteen out of this are significant to the investigations. A World War II bunker that stands five hundred meters from the children’s home is also under close investigation after allegations by some victims that they were abused at the bunker. The abuse of the children at the children’s home was as a result of negligence and the failure of the social workers in the organization to attend to the children as required. Considering that the children had been taken to the Haut de la Garenne children’s home for various reasons, all in all they had gone there for safety, running away from abuse from parents in families which had problems such as domestic violence. The society in Jersey would have given support to this organization in ensuring that the children got the best from the social workers. The social workers however did not give the children security and care which they did not receive from their care providers at home. The development of a negative attitude by the social workers in the children’s home must have been from the administration of this organization. Social workers are assigned the role of care providers, protectors of the children in the children’s home. (Thompson, 2001) Laws in the United Kingdom have also protected of children from abuse. The establishment of the children’s home is aimed at saving children from abuse from their own parents or from foster parents. In most cases the children might have faced abuse right from conception and might develop some developmental disorders as a consequence of distressed parents. In this case the social worker has the right to protect this child from further harm. The residents in Haut de la Garenne faced abuse from the social workers which did not have a procedural administrative planning. From the building plan, there were some cellars and windowless rooms at the basement that were not indicated in the plan of the building. This brings suspicion to the effectiveness of the building as a children’s home. The initial purpose of the building might have been different from its use. This made the United Kingdom government to close the children’s home in 1986 following claims of children abuse. The residents of Jersey were aware of the happenings of the abuse of children in the home but could not help. People who talked of the systematic abuse of children in the children’s home were sacked from the governing council in Jersey. The level of suspicion is heightened as the government failed constantly to address the issue despite the various instances of allegation within the 40 years of children abuse in the children’s home. Medical diagnosis is important in a children’s home something that could have brought to light the case of systematic abuse of these children in Haut de la Garenne children’s home. The social workers did not get any challenge from the medical personnel to protect these children. The type of abuse that the children received was too severe because some lost their lives. It could not be understood how the social workers, assigned with the responsibility of protecting the children and decision making could take this kind of decision to abuse the children. The International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) argues that, human behavior and social systems theories can be utilized to a point where human beings interrelate with their environment and how it influences their behavior towards others. Different theories can be used to explain the role of social work offering a broader understanding of a person’s world and their behavior in it. (Smith & Blades, 2003) Social workers should avoid discrimination of the children’s gender, race or disability according to their ethics. Discrimination of the stereotype group of children to an extent of abuse in Jersey children’s home could also be a personal view. The administrator of the children’s home must have been aware of the happenings in the organization and kept everything under cover. Some social workers may find it difficult to help the marginalized children in the social organization. The parents of these children were not interested in the progress of their children in Haut de la Garenne and this might have influenced the social workers to develop the attitude of abusing the children. When a social worker has been entrusted with the full responsibility, it is his other duty to ensure that the child gets care, security and comfort in all costs. The United Kingdom established a new act in 2002, the Care Standard Act 2000 which was aimed at providing administration for care institutions in the United Kingdom. The care act therefore ensures that the administration of the social institutions which include the children’s home, nursing homes, residential care and independent hospitals is controlled by the government’s policies and regulations. Regular inspections to these social institutions are done by the government to enhance the provision of care. In the case of Haut de la Garenne, the government did not have the mandate or interest in the administration of these social institutions. This standard care act 2000 reformed all the laws that regarded to the inspection and regulation of the children’s homes and other social institutions. The leaders in the government during the abuse of children in Haut de la Garenne were limited by the laws in dealing with issues concerning the social institutions. The theory of sociological perspective applies in the Haut de la Garenne children’s home, the social workers in the children’s home diverse from the common sense of carrying out their duty to protect the children from all the abuse they received. The children do not have any power to the care provided to them in the children’s home. The workers took advantage of the children inability to oppose to mistreat and abuse. The surviving victims today also revealed that they were threatened not to report the case to anyone as they could face serious consequences. In fact the abuse inflicted to them proved to be cruel and most of them did not report the issue even after getting out of Haut de la Garenne for fear of repercussions. The sociological perspective theory in Haut de la Garenne gives a general social behavior pattern of particular individuals in the children’s home that led to the abuse of the innocent children. It also offers an insight about the social world that broadens the explanations of individual quirks and personalities in carrying out such acts that are beyond a normal human behavior. (Thompson, 2001) It is the full duty of the social workers to promote social change and promote humanity. When a social worker does not take his or her responsibility, it means that he or she does not meet the professional ethics of social workers. The behavior of the social workers in the case of Haut de la Garenne, the social workers behavior could be well explained by the sociological perspective theory. According to this theory the behavior of the social workers in the children’s home was influenced by personal behavior and attitude to the disadvantaged children. Whereas there was some workers who did not participate in the abuse, there is suspicion as there were no reports made to the relevant authorities regarding abuse. In United Kingdom, the children has the right to participate in decisions that might affect them, parents are also involved in the decision making. The fact that the children were taken to the children’s home for reasons of abuse from their parents, the parents still holds the rights to visit their children. The attitude of the parents might change with time and they may learn to love and care for their children. The social workers have a role to play in the rekindling of this relationship but in Haut de la Garenne, they did not appreciate their duties. Action should be taken to any social worker who worked in the children’s home because they did not make any communication to the parents of the children. The systematic abuse of the children also affected their mental and physical development and the intimidations they faced could not allow them to get assistance from any social worker for fear of more abuse.The administration of the social institution that was independent contributed to the abuse of children and failure of the government to establish the operations of the children’s home. The establishment of the Care Standard act 2000 by the government would help to curb such cases of abuse by social workers in social institutions in the future. Bibliography Smith Cowie, H. & Blades, M. (2003), Understanding Children’s Development,4th Edition (Oxford, Blackwell Publishing) Thompson, N. (2000), Theory and Practice in Human Services. (Buckingham, Open University Press) Thompson, N. (2001), Anti-Discriminatory Practice 3rd Edition. (Basingstoke, Palgrave Publishers) Read More