Conflict of Ethical and Legal Perspectives in an Inter-Professional Team - Coursework Example

Conflict of Ethical and/Or Legal Perspectives in an Inter-Professional Team: Children safeguarding and Protection Insert Insert Insert Instructor 13 March 2014 Conflict of Ethical and/Or Legal Perspectives in an Inter-Professional Team: Children safeguarding and Protection Introduction The rights of children are an important area in which the states much interest in order to ensure their welfare is safeguarded. The Children Act 1989 states clearly that it is the primary responsibility of the family (both parents and carers) to bring up the children and ensure their welfare is taken care of. However, the state plays a significant role of ensuring that the children are brought up in serene and habitable environment by providing mechanisms that promote and safeguard their welfare. Generally, the law comes in to protect the children when there is family breakdown or when their welfare is under threat. Ethically, professionals have an obligation of safeguarding children, especially when they note instances of abuse or maltreatment. For instance, nurses need to safeguard the welfare of children who come under their care, especially when they note cases of children’s rights infringement. In addition, teachers have to be concerned about the welfare of children in their schools and have to be vigilant enough to detect suspected cases of child abuse (Wilson and James, 2007, p.102). All these would be achieved through proper communication between the professionals and other interested parties, understanding children by listening to them and equipping all carers and professionals with adequate training related to children welfare and support. One example of breach of welfare of children is in the case of the nursery child who came to school with bruises all the time. Despite her mother indicating that such bruises resulted from running and falling, the professionals (teachers) were not satisfied with that and had to investigate further, as they sensed that there might some level of abuse. In that case, teachers engaged in inter-professional consultations with their manager in order to organize a meeting with parents of the child in a bid to establish the truth. This scenario portrays clearly the rights and duties of professionals and carers in promoting the welfare of children. In addition, it illustrates the interplay between ethics and legality in matters of children safeguard and protection. Rights of Children According to the Children Act 1989, it is the primary responsibility of parents to take care of children during their upbringing, with special consideration that human beings but not their property. In doing so, parents have to understand that the upbringing of children should be in line with children’s welfare and should take into consideration the views and perspectives of children. Additionally, the state plays a supporting role in upbringing of children by providing an enabling environment for the families as well as intervening when children are at risk of abuse. The Children Act 2004 goes further to ensure protection of children from abuse or violence by enacting provisions aimed at safeguarding children’s human rights as well as spelling out the duty of key persons in safeguarding the welfare of children (Broadhurst, Grover and Jamieson, 2009, p.30). Primarily, the Act provides that violating a child’s human and civil rights is tantamount to child abuse (Watson, n.d, p.8). This may be in form of inflicting harm to the child or neglecting the responsibility of preventing harm to the child. For instance, in the case of the nursery child who had persistent bruises, the mother (or both parents) had failed to protect the child from harm and that was the reason the school authorities had to seek intervention from children social services office. It is also important to note that child abuse may be in form of physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect. Physical abuse involves inflicting injuries or physical harm to the child, which causes ill-health to a child. Emotional abuse involves mal-treatment of the child, which may interfere with emotional development of the child or cause emotional distress. Sexual abuse involves subjecting a child to forceful or induced contact or non-contact sexual activities. Lastly, neglect involves failure to provide a child’s physical and psychological needs, failure to protect a child from harm, or being unresponsive to a child’s emotional needs . Children have various other rights in addition to protection and welfare promotion. It is the right of children to access education and to grow in a humane environment that promotes child’s physical and mental development. Children with disabilities have a right to be afforded special care that would enable them grow normally, just like other normal children. A child also has the right to basic needs such as food, shelter, and clothing, as well as medical health care at all times. Therefore, a child’s rights become a parent’s duties or special responsibilities, for instance, it is the duty of the parent to protect the child from harm, provide education, provide basic needs, and exercise parental control in upbringing the child. Role of Social Workers Social workers play a vital role in enhancing the welfare of children by upholding their rights and extending support to children who may be at risk of harm or are subjected to hostile environments. Generally, social workers are agencies that ensure the rights of children are not violated; such rights may be related to education, social development, participation, and protection. They work closely with government agencies and families to ensure that the environments in which children are brought up are conducive to promote not only physical development, but also social, psychological, spiritual, and moral development. Moreover, social workers tend to bridge the gap that exists between ethics and legality in matters of child welfare. However, they respect the safeguarding principal that gives families the primary responsibility of upbringing children, and only step in as the last resort, especially when the children are subjected to risk of harm. They also represent the rights of children in criminal proceedings brought up due to child abuse and neglect (Brayne and Carr, 2013, p.24). In some cases, they work hand in hand with legal authorities when children are indicted of social malpractice, where they play the role of influencing and bringing positive change to children’s behavior. Some of the major roles of social workers in matters related to child welfare include family support, advocacy for the rights of children, participating in adoption and foster care programs and ensuring maximum child protection. Normally, social workers have to understand the underlying issues affecting the child, family and the community, and then step in to provide equilibrium between the child’s well-being and the rights of all parties concerned. Therefore, it is the role of the social worker to work closely with the community in order to identify those children who may be in vulnerable and seek ways of protecting them from any potential harm, either physical or emotional. In the case of the nursery child who was always bruised, teachers had to seek the services of a social worker because they felt that her parents had failed to protect the child from harm. Generally, social worker primarily take up matters of children welfare related to neglect, and this case seems to be perfectly a case of neglect by the child’s mother who claimed that the child was bruised while playing outside. Normally, a nursery child does not have a well-developed mental capacity to identify situations that may be harmful to them, but it is the responsibility of the parent to provide guidance and take up parental control by eliminating things that may be harmful to the child. As illustrated in the case, the child has been having persistent injuries, which portray that the parents are not able to assure safety to the child. In such a situation, the social worker may provide support to the family in form of information or resources to improve the welfare of the child. However, in serious cases, social workers may remove the child from the family temporarily, with the intervention of court, and take up the responsibility of child upbringing until such a time when safety of the child is assured. Nevertheless, persistent risk of child safety may force the court to declare permanent removal of the child from home to a foster home where safety is guaranteed. Factors contributing to vulnerability of children Child abuse or neglect mainly occurs when one inflicts harm or fails to prevent potential harm to the child, as provide for in Children Act 2004. Interestingly, most cases of child abuse and neglect are found in families and community perpetuated by people who have proper knowledge of the child, and it is only on very few occasions that strangers would be culprits. Some of the main factors that herald vulnerability of a child to abuse include language or communication problems by young children who have limitations of clearly expressing their distress (Baginsky, 2008, p.73). The second factor may include social and economic status in the family, which may be depressed by issues such as persistent poverty, violence, immorality, and mental instability. Thirdly, children who are held in correctional facilities are more likely to experience high risks of abuse than those within the family settings. Social workers should check on these factors and identify the need for intervention, especially when they realize that the environment under which the child is subjected does not guarantee safety. Signs of child abuse A social worker may identify instances of child abuse when children exhibit physical injuries such as bruises and other unusual bodily marks, children appear distressed and in fear, poor hygiene, and untidiness, frequent medical care for different types of injuries, and inconsistent explanations by adults to the visible injuries. In the case of the nursery child described above, the child may be experiencing either or both of physical abuse and/or neglect. To begin with, the child appears to have bruises on the legs, arms and body, which have been witnessed more than once in the last four months. Although the explanation provided by the child’s mother may have some weight, it also, to some extent, appears inconsistent with the injuries exhibited by the child. For instance, the mother claims that the child has been playing and running a lot, making her fall and get bruised. However, from a different perspective, one would be apprehensive to believe that falling from a running scenario would cause injuries to the body in addition to both legs and arms. Therefore, there might be some degree of physical abuse meted to the child in the family. The second perspective is that of neglect whereby, if the mother to the child is to be believed, the child suffers bruises due to the mothers failure to prevent harm to the child. If the scenario has occurred once, then one would have ruled it as accidental; however, its occurrence more than once in four months illustrates a case of the mother failing to take precaution and protect the child from potential injuries. Indeed, a nursery child is so young to make informed reasoning on what may cause injuries or harm; however, the parent is supposed to be offering parental guidance and control, especially considering that the child is in experimental and learning stage. Conflict of ethics and legal perspectives in an inter-professional team There are ethical and legal obligations aimed at ensuring the well-being of children, which must be observed by all stakeholders in child development. Primarily, parents and guardians have a legal obligation to ensure safety of children, failure to which they are accused of child abuse and neglect. On the other hand, professionals working with children such as teachers and social workers have ethical obligation to intervene whenever they suspect or establish cases of child abuse and neglect (Wilson and James, 2007, p.102). In schools, the government provides directive that every school must have one of their senior officials responsible for safeguarding and protection of children, who must also be accountable to the local authority (Hughes and Owen, 2009, p. 25). However, it is the responsibility of every professional to promote the welfare of children they interact with and must take refresher course every three years (Baginsky, 2008p.30). Basically, professionals need to play the following roles as a way of upholding their ethical code of conduct. First, they need to adhere to policies that promote relationship with parents or guardians of children in order to understand the needs of children. Secondly, professionals need to play supportive role to families of the children in order to ensure children are brought up in serene and safe environment. Thirdly, participate in formulating and implementing early childhood development programs. Fourth, they have both legal and ethical obligation to identify and escalate suspicious cases of child abuse during their interaction with children. Lastly but not the least, professionals need to collaborate with other professionals with interests of children in order to enhance promotion of children rights. The “working together to safeguard children” policy provided the framework for various agencies and inter-professionals to co-operate and operate in order to provide maximum protection to children (Hughes and Owen, 2009, p. 19). It is worth noting that, when professionals collaborate with parents and guardians for the welfare of children, especially during their early developmental stages, they create an environment for sharing ideas about the best way to support children development. Primarily, professionals would be able to understand the strengths and capabilities of families as well as their attitude towards child development and welfare. Here, they would be able to offer necessary support in form of information and skills empowerment to the families or building support networks that would provide sustainable child well-being. Advocacy of children rights and well-being is an ethical obligation of professionals especially those working in early childhood education. In addition, all professionals related to child development need to participate in policy-making in order to enhance the interest of children they are tasked to safeguard; they also need to cooperate in their advocacy efforts for the well-being of children. Finally, it is a legal and ethical obligation for professionals especially those dealing with early childhood development to understand every child put under their care. Additionally, they are supposed to identify potential and evident cases of child abuse and neglect and take appropriate steps or actions. For instance, it would be ethical for the professionals to take interest in a child’s physical and emotional status; however, it would be a legal obligation to report any case of suspected child abuse or neglect to authorities or legal agencies. Moreover, when such referral is done, it would be ethical to inform the parents or guardians of the child that a referral has been made due to suspected violation of child’s rights. In the case of the nursery child described above, it was ethical for teachers to talk to the parents of the child about the bruises the child was exhibiting, but they also had a legal obligation to escalate the matter when such incidence happened more than once. Indeed, although the child’s mother explained the cause of the bruises on the child’s legs, arms and body, the teachers could be held accountable if they did not report the matter to social agencies, given the fact that the child’s well-being and health was in danger. Nevertheless, the teachers need to respect the provisions of the Children Act 1989 and 2004 about children safeguard, especially in matters of child abuse and neglect, as well the FAIR framework. Intervention in Ethics and Legal Perspectives Conflict – The Nursery School Case Whenever there is conflict between ethical and legal perspectives in workplace concerning children welfare, it is important to refer to the provisions of the children Act 2004 as well as the FAIR framework for guidance. Generally, the Act provides legal procedure for dealing with suspected child abuse as well as the role of different professionals in protecting the safety of children. The legal perspective provides that anybody who deliberately inflicts harm or neglects his/her responsibility of preventing harm to a child who is under his/her care is liable to criminal prosecution. In addition, the law gives statutory powers to social workers and law enforcers to secure the safety of children whenever they establish cases of abuse or neglect. This may also go further to institute civil proceedings in order to secure custody of the child in an enabling environment. The legal perspective also gives anybody who interacts with a child, especially in a professional environment such as school to report any suspected cases of child abuse or neglect, failure to which they may be held liable for failing to protect a child from harm (Hughes and Owen, 2009, p. 26). This is a legal duty that the teachers had to undertake to report the case of the child who came in the nursery with bruises on several occasions. The FAIR framework provides guidance on how professionals should behave when encountering a situation that demands ethical intervention that is consistent to their professional objectives. This framework comprises of four core values including fairness, autonomy, integrity, and results; however, their application should not supersede the application of law or code of conduct. Primarily, fairness requires a professional to value all people in equal measure and treat them without any form of discrimination (Rowson, 2006, p.69). For instance, in the school workplace, teachers are supposed to treat all children equally, and ensure they act fairly to ensure that the rights of both the children and families are respected. Autonomy involves respecting other people’s choices by giving them an opportunity make informed decisions on what they do as long as such decisions are appropriate to be applied in certain situations (Rowson, 2006, p.109). However, such autonomy may not be accorded if the person does not have the capacity to make informed decision or their decisions may subject them to harm or situations that demand ethical or legal intervention. For instance, the child’s autonomy should not be granted since the child has no capacity to make informed choices that would prevent him/her from acquiring injuries. In addition, the teachers should not respect the autonomy of parents of the nursery child, since their choices of allowing the child run without guidance has led to injuries on the body of the child. Integrity involves values that foster trust or actions that are congruent to ones expectations. Generally, integrity is achieved when one focuses on achieving objectives through appropriate means and using genuinely available skills or resources (Rowson, 2006, p.129). For instance, teachers in the nursery would be upholding integrity by making proper use of their professional skills and mandate to protect the welfare of children in their school. Lastly, seeking the best results in every situation should be an important value to professionals. Here, professionals need to make minimize harm and maximize benefits to all parties involved in a situation (Rowson, 2006, p.179). For instance, teachers in the nursery should seek the best results that not only secures the well-being of the child, but also empowers the parents (especially the mother) with knowledge and skills that are vital for child upbringing. That is they should seek a win-win situation for both the child and the family of the child in order to ensure a sustainable secure environment for child development. It is important to understand that human rights including rights of children are enshrined in law, and professionals have a legal and ethical obligation to protect those rights. In the case of the nursery child, teachers have a legal obligation to refer suspected case of abuse or neglect. In addition, teachers have ethical obligation to protect the child through values of fairness, integrity, and results. For instance, teachers have to be fair to the child as her health is danger; they have to uphold their professional integrity by acting appropriately for the safety of the child; and have to seek action that would mitigate harm to the child as well as maximize benefits. Another conflict that teachers (professionals) encounter is whether to interfere with legal responsibility of the parent in upbringing of the child or take action in safeguarding the child’s welfare. Here, ethics and legal perspectives clash such that, teachers have to act ethically not to infringe the rights of parents while at the same time, they need to exercise their legal obligation of child protection. Therefore, the FAIR framework helps the teachers to take the appropriate action. Here, teachers have to ensure fairness to the plight of the child while at the same time respecting the autonomy of the parents in child upbringing. It is for this reason that teachers have to consult parents while at the same time taking up the matter to the social services office. Moreover, teachers need to show integrity in their profession by taking interest and acting for the safety of the child who is under their care in the school. Resolving ethical and legal conflict in a professional environment is vital if professionals have to avoid both legal and ethical blame in the future. In some situations, professionals may find themselves being unable to satisfy a situation despite applying exercising their ethical and legal obligations. In such situations, it is important to marry the FAIR framework with codes of conduct that govern their professional roles. However, professionals would not escape ethical blame if they failed to employ available ethical guidance, especially when they have choices of action to intervene in a situation and know the consequences of such actions, yet they fail to employ ethical principles to deal with such situations. For instance, teachers in the nursery would be blamed if they failed to take action on the case of the bruised child, since they have an allay of choices for action, they are aware of the consequences of such actions and they have ethical guidance to activate their choices. Some of the choices they have include discussing the case of persistent bruises on the child with the parents (which they have already done) and escalating the matter to social workers agency. The first choice may contribute to change of attitude or behavior by parents in protecting the child from harm; however, it has not worked, since the child continues being bruised yet the parents are aware of the cause harm. This prompts the teachers to exercise the second choice, knowing well that such an action would bring remedy to the safety of the child. Teachers exercise these choices of action by observing the ethical principles fairness to the child, autonomy of the parent to bring up the child, integrity of their profession, and results that are beneficial to both the child and the parents. The role of Ofsted Ofsted is an independent government agency tasked with the role of inspecting and regulating services that “care for children and young people, and those providing education and skills for learners of all ages” (Ofsted, 2014). Among the services that Ofsted regulates include those services that are related to children and families, primarily in children’s social care. Generally, Ofsted regulates several children’s social care agencies among them being adoption support agencies, children’s homes, independent fostering agencies, residential family centers, residential holiday schemes for disabled children, social work providers, and voluntary adoption agencies. All these agencies play the role of protecting and providing support to children and families welfare throughout England. Normally, Ofsted inspects schools, further education and skills, children and families services, and early year’s childcare. In relation to the case above, Ofsted may take up the matter and provide the way forward for the benefit of the child. Nursery falls under schools that Ofsted inspects and regulates, so it would assess the situation and if it establishes vital grounds for violation of child’s safety, it may liaise with local authority to save the child from further abuse or neglect. Some of the most likely suggestions that Ofsted may bring include referring the child to children’s home if the local authority feels it is the best action to take for the benefit of the child. It may also suggest independent fostering agency based on the decision of the local authority. The third and most likely suggestion would be to refer the child and family to a residential family center where the center provides shelter to them on a temporary basis while at the meantime assessing the parents on their ability of upbringing the child and offering support. Here, given that the child’s mother has been unable to protect her child from persistent bruises, the center will provide guidance and skills about how to look after a child as well as how to prevent the child from being subjected to harm. In the event that the center finds the mother unable to raise the child safely, Ofsted may suggest that the child be removed from the family and offered custody in one of its different agencies. Conclusion The welfare of children is an important aspect that needs a combined effort by all agencies in order ensure that children development is not interfered with due to lack of safeguarding and protection. Primarily, parents have the responsibility of upbringing the child; however, other agencies including social workers may intervene, especially when the well-being of the child is at risk. In early years, schools play a great role in children safeguarding and protection, mainly because children spend most of their time with teachers and fellow pupils. It is therefore a legal and ethical obligation of every teacher to have adequate skills for child safeguard and protection. In addition, teachers as well as other professionals who come into contact with children have an obligation to identify and report any suspected cases of child abuse or neglect as stipulated in Children Act 2004. Reference List Baginsky, M 2008, Safeguarding Children and Schools, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London. Brayne, H and Carr, H 2013, Law for Social Workers, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Broadhurst, K, Grover, C, & Jamieson, J 2009, Critical Perspectives on Safeguarding Children, John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex. Hughes, L and Owen, H 2009, Good Practice in Safeguarding Children: Working Effectively in Child Protection. Kingsley publishers, London. Ofsted 2014. Ofsted: Raising Standards, Improving Life, available from Rowson, R 2006, Working Ethics how to be fair in a culturally complex world, Jessica Kingsley Publishing, London. Watson, S n.d, Safeguarding and Child Protection. Wilson, K & James, A 2007, The Child Protection Handbook: The Practitioners Guide to Safeguarding Children, Elsevier Health Sciences, London. Read More