Irish State towards Residential Child Welfare Policy - Assignment Example

Irish State towards Residential Child Welfare Policy and Practice Table of Contents Introduction 2 The Kennedy Report and the Implications 3 Implications of Children Act, 2001 5 The Ryan Report and its Implications 8 Conclusions 11 References 12 Bibliography 14 Introduction The Republic of Ireland has a population of about 3.9 million and among this 29% of the total population is under the age of 20 and 37% are below 25 years according to the Central Statistics Office 2002. It is quite evident from the data that the Republic of Ireland is a young country (in age of the populace) which has got that sufficient youth population to bank upon. Therefore, a lot has to be done for the youth and the children of the country and the state is very much thoughtful regarding this issue. The Republic of Ireland has showed the entire world new ways to deal and curb the abuses inflicted on a child. The juvenile justice system in the Republic of Ireland has been effective since 100 years. The first measure was taken by passing the legislation of Children Act 1908 and a major reformatory step was taken to safeguard the rights of children and letting them establish their individual potential in the Children Act 2001 (Seymour, n.d.). The Kennedy Report and the Implications The Republic of Ireland has always taken a good care of its juvenile justice system and on this note, time and again various commissions and committees were set up to take proper measures to prevent the child abuses prevalent across the industrial schools managed by catholic churches. It was on 4th April, 1968 that the District Justice Eileen Kennedy of the Dublin Children’s Court asked for clarification from the Department of Education and asked for the details of complaints throughout the period of five years and the methodology of dealing the complaints. As for more than a year, the Department didn’t respond to the committee, on 5th May 1969, Justice Kennedy again gave a sharp reminder. A reminder was also sent in March 1969 about Danigean. A complaint was made by ISPCC about the corporal punishment at the Artane Industrial School. An inquiry was also made by a member of this committee within his official capacity about the incident having some connection with the incident at Marlborough House Glasnevin. But the most tragic part of it is that if not all the papers then maximum of it are with the Department of Education and are thought to have its existence till 1995. It can be well understood that because of all these reasons, the Kennedy Report of 1970 could not be as effective as expected. Yet, a lot of measures were taken on the light of decision, recommendations and facts that came up before the mass and the government due to the tireless investigation and hard work of the Kennedy committee. Legislation of any land has some kind of indirect implications on its people. The spark that was lit by Kennedy Report became fire and lead consequently to the Ryan Report and investigation. The filthy condition of the residential schools all over the Ireland was improved as lots of daring people came forward to lodge complaints against the school authorities. Many buildings were also not in a position to keep students and many of them were old and in a dilapidated condition. This issue was also sought after to a great extent and many of them were renovated. The most significant recommendation from Kennedy report perhaps came with a face of Children Act 2001 which not only safeguarded the rights of a child but also provided them for free space and air to live healthy life. The Reformatory schools were renovated to a great extent and Department of Education became cautious about the internal environment of these schools. Lots of measures were taken to protect the children from any kind of physical or sexual abuses in the name of rituals (Lenus, n.d.). Implications of Children Act, 2001 Children Act of 2001 has been a milestone in juvenile justice. It takes good care of children and safeguards their rights and protects them from various criminal traps. Children in Ireland are considered as the most vulnerable members of the Irish society and hence the legal system of the country differentiates adults and the children. Children Act of 2001 was framed to protect the children from various legal hazards till they become adults. The legislature was amended by Criminal Justice Act of 2006. The legislature was enforced in July 2001. The children in the state of Ireland found breaching criminal law can be detained in the custody which again should be the last resort of the state. The legislature was framed with a vision that the definition of the word ‘child’ should be distinguished as earlier to the implementation of this act minor, juvenile young person all over the land. After the enforcement of the law, the section 3 of the Act defines child clearly. In the state of Ireland all the children under the age of 18 is treated as a child and the legal action for them is undertaken separately. Three departments of the Irish government looks after the proper implementation of the Children Act 2001 they are as follows: Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. Department of Education and Science. Department of Health and Children. The care taken by the republic of Ireland for its children can be an example for the whole world. Under this act a child who accepts his/her criminal responsibility is deviated from detention or any kind of criminal proceedings where applicable. The Children Act of 2001 gives equal right to the children of Ireland almost same that of its adults. Under this Act any child has a right to be heard and use every means of defense to protect him/her from criminal proceedings. The law of the land also gives right to take a due participation in any proceedings that may affect them. The children are allowed to receive education and other amenities in order to get an uninterrupted proceeding. The Act also takes a good care and it is very much desirable too to strengthen and preserve the relationship of the children with their family members. The Act also takes good care that the families of the offending children get enough scope to develop means to fight the battle of justice. It even tries to foster the development of those families. The act also provides provision to the children to reside in their own homes. The places where desirable and appropriate the law fosters the uninterrupted development of the child. The law is framed in such a way that it completely safeguards the legitimate activities of the child, undergoing penalty. The Act ensures strongly for an age and maturity of a child before determining penalty for a convicted child. Due regards is paid to the all-round development and interest of the victim. A child’s privacy is protected at every cost during trial or detention. The most important facet of the Children Act is that detention of a child is taken as the last resort or means, which ultimately makes the implication of the implication of the law wider and far-reaching. To restrict a child from loosing his or her childhood in custody Children Act of 2001 was framed. The section 52 of the Children Act 2001 as amended by section 129 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006 determines the age of the criminal responsibility (Office of the Attorney General, n.d.). According to it the age of criminal responsibility is raised from 12 years to that of 7 years. The implication of this lies in safeguarding children below the age of 12 years. No criminal offence can be filed against them. However, there is an exception for ‘murder’, ‘man-slaughting’, ‘rape’ and ‘aggravated sexual assaults’. This exception is implied for the children aged 10 or that of 11. In addition to these, any child under 14 years of age cannot have a continued trial without the consent of Director of Public Prosecutions. Detention being the last resort, a court can detain a child over a period of time. A child below the age of 16 years can be detained at the Detention Schools and children aged 16 years and 17 years are kept in Detention Centers. Thus we find that the Republic of Ireland takes due care for the protection of its children and takes enough care to save their future (Office of the Minister for Children, n.d). The Ryan Report and its Implications The ‘Ryan Report’ or ‘Ryan Commission’, previously known as Laffoy Commission is an introductory measure to investigate the extent of child abuse across the country. The Commission is named after the Chair on the name of Justice Sean Ryan. The Commission’s work started on may 1999 and it published its report on 20 may 2009. The Commission was framed to investigate all sorts of child abuse in Irish Institute of Children. The majority of allegations were found in sixty residential “Reformatory and Industrial Schools”. These schools were operated by “Catholic Church” orders and were funded and were looked after by Irish Department of Education. The Commission came up with some most horrifying and dark crimes inflicted on children. The entire system was found guilty and the treated children as prison inmates or slaves. A child is also an individual with and has fundamental rights and human potentials were completely forgotten and all sort of physical and sexual malpractices were launched all over the country. The Commission came up with some of the breath-taking dark stories from the survivors. The report said that some officials encouraged religious beatings and constantly shielded themselves in the name of “Culture of Self-serving Secrecy”. The report also came up with extreme allegations such as beating and rapes, naked public beating, forceful indulge into oral sex and even beatings after the failure of rape attempts by the fathers (O'Donoghue, 2009). The report brought shivers down the spines of the Irish people and government, as it said that government inspectors completely failed to stop these abuses. The Commission salutes the dignity and courage of all those people and witnesses who came confidentially or opens with documents and testimony to bear the witnesses of the gruesome abuses inflicted on them (Child Abuse Commission, n.d.). The Commission published a report of five volumes as follows: Volume I and II: The Investigation Committee Report on Institutions. Volume III: The Confidential Committee Report. Volume IV: The Department of Education, Finance, Society and the Schools, Development of Childcare Policy in Ireland since 1970, Report on Witnesses attending Interview, Conclusions and Recommendations. Volume V: The ISPCC, Expert Reports, Commissions Personnel and legislations. The report’s conclusion is documented in chapter 6 and gives an overview and support of tenor undergone without any exception. The report was described as “endemic” across the educational institutes in Ireland. The UK based newspaper “Guardian” described the activities after the publication of the report as “stuffs of nightmares” (Gurdian, 2009). The aftermath and the implication of the report were really far-reaching. The Commission mandated four types of abuses clearly Physical Abuse: Infliction of or failure of prevention of physical injury to any child. Sexual Abuse: The use of a child for arousing or gratifying sex. Neglect: Negligence or failure to care a child which may result to some kind of risks, impairment and adverse effects. Emotional Abuse: Any kind of omissions or other acts towards child which causes serious impairment or adverse effect. The Commission worked through two teams which complemented each other: The Confidential Committee: The Committee provided private forum for witnesses. The Investigation Committee: Heard evidence from witnesses who had a wish for the investigation of their allegation. The Report dealt with all sorts of abuses held during nine years. During this period from 2000 to 2008, over 25,000 students attended the school and among them around one thousand five hundred students came forward with various sorts of complaints regarding physical and sexual assaults to the commission. The report clearly states that 474 cases of physical assaults and 253 claims of sexual abuse were reported by the boys during that period and about 383 claims of physical violence and 128 claims of sexual abuses were reported from the girls. A series of television and newspaper documentation came up with the great revelation in 1990s. Academic researcher like Mary Raftery and journalists like Eoin O Sullivan was key person to come up with the scamps and lots of Irish people are thankful to these people and the thousand of witnesses who came up daringly to narrate t6he dark gruesome incidents with them (Wright, 2009). After the publication of the report lots of punitive measures were taken by the government and lots of legislations were formed with numerous committees to safeguard the most vulnerable members of the Irish society – the children of the Republic of Ireland. The Taoiseach Bertie Ahem apologized in may 1999 after that and in April-May 2000 framed “Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse Act 2000” or CICA legislation which resolved the matter and investigation to a great extent (James, 2009). Conclusions Republic of Ireland is an example for the whole world. The kind of care and concerned it has shown for its children is really dynamic and unique. The punitive and the corrective measures that have taken time and again to curb different kind of abuses on Children are really encouraging. It can be prudently said though commissions like Kennedy Report 1970 and Ryan report opened up many avenues of dark painful truth but the replacement of Children Act 1908 with the full-proof legislation of Children Act 2001 is a milestone in Juvenile Justice System. Through the Children Act, 2001, the Republic of Ireland once again proved that it also has equal thought and space for its future-the children of the nation. References Child Abuse Commission, No Date. Executive Summary. The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse. [Online] Available at: http://www.childabusecommission.ie/rpt/ExecSummary.php [Accessed 02 October, 2009]. Fergus O'Donoghue, F., 2009. The Ryan Report: First Reactions. Irish Quarterly Review. [Online] Available at: http://studiesirishreview.wordpress.com/2009/05/20/the-ryan-report-first-reactions/ [Accessed 02 October, 2009]. Gurdian, 2009. 'Endemic' rape and abuse of Irish children in Catholic care, inquiry finds. Ireland News. [Online] Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/20/irish-catholic-schools-child-abuse-claims [Accessed 02 October, 2009]. James, S. 2009. Irish child abuse: The Ryan Report cover-up. ICFI. [Online] Available at: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/may2009/irel-m26.shtml [ Lenus, No Date. Reformatory & Indus School System. The Irish Health Repository. [Pdf] Available at: http://www.lenus.ie/hse/bitstream/10147/77793/1/Reformatory%26IndusSchoolSys.pdf [Accessed 02 October 2009]. Office of the Minister for Children, No Date. The Children Act 2001. About Us. [Online] Available at: http://www.omc.gov.ie/viewtxt.asp?fn=/documents/YouthJustice/childrenAct.htm [Accessed 02 October 2009]. Office of the Attorney General, No Date. Children Act, 2001. Irish Statute Book. [Online] Available at: http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2001/en/act/pub/0024/index.html [Accessed 02 October, 2009]. Seymour, M., No Date. Transition and Reform: Juvenile Justice in the Republic of Ireland. European Society of Criminology. [Pdf] Available at: www.esc-eurocrim.org/files/ch05.pdf [Accessed 02 October 2009]. Wright, J., 2009. Catholic child abuse in Ireland: the Ryan report. John Wright. [Online] Available at: http://www.john-wright.net/2009/05/21/catholic-child-abuse-in-ireland-the-ryan-report/ [Accessed 02 October 2009]. Bibliography Irish Times, 2009. Helpline Calls After Surge. Ireland. [Online] Available at: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0521/breaking32.htm [Accessed 02 October, 2009]. Irish Times, 2009. The Abused – in their own words. Comment. [Online] Available at: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2009/0523/1224247210382.html [Accessed 02 October, 2009]. Judy, 2009. After the Ryan Report.. The Next Big Scandal. A Child Protection Worker Speaks Out. [Online] Available at: http://www.indymedia.ie/article/93062 [Accessed 02 October, 2009]. McDonalds, H. 2009. Thousands raped and abused in Catholic schools in Ireland. The Guardian. [Online] Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/20/child-abuse-catholic-schools-ireland/print [Accessed on 02 October 2009]. Yale Law School, No Date. Ireland. Representing Children Worldwide. [Online] Available at: http://www.law.yale.edu/RCW/rcw/jurisdictions/euron/ireland/frontpage.htm [Accessed 02 October, 2009]. Read More