Social Work - Development of Social Theory - Essay Example

TOPIC: DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL THEORY (Name) (Course) (Institution) 30/07/08 Haut de la Garenne children’s home in New Jersey was one of the oldest children’s homes in the United Kingdom. It was pictured in 1905 to help children with behavior problems or children facing abuse from parents at home. The process of child abuse started in the early 1950’s where the children faced abuse of different forms. The abuse of the children came from the staff, residents of jersey, and from other children in the home. In the Haut de la Garenne there were cellars that were used for torturing children; other dark windowless rooms were discovered under the house where a skull of a teenager was found in the recent investigations (on February 2008) by police. Children in the home were dragged down to these cellars at night where they could be beaten and raped by the social workers. In some instances, the social workers on duty over the weekend could invite friends from outside who could come drunk to the home and pick children from sleep for rape. They could be given cigarettes and alcohol for exchange with sex. The children were harassed by the strangers all the weekend while they could not resist especially the weak ones who were taken advantage of their weakness. The social workers in the Jersey children’s home failed to protect the children and taking care of them, instead they became the predators. The general social care council describes the social worker as the one who understands and dedicates his or her service to protect the children from any harm or abuse. When the social worker cannot protect the children, which is their key responsibility, and the child is abused instead, it brings to attention of the public and other relevant authorities in questioning the professional of the social worker. In the case of Haut de la Garenne children’s home, the children were abused by the social workers something that brought concern to the government several years later. The abuse according to the victims started as early as 1950’s but this did not come into the attention of the public even after its closure in 1986. Despite the fact that the public were involved in the abuse of the children, no claims were made about the horrific home not until this year after a private developer who is transforming the building into a youth hostel discovered a human skull at the basement cellars of the building. There are also claims that the victims are being frightened by some former social workers to be silent and not witness in the case against the abusers. The victims of the Haut de la Garenne children’s home abuse had kept silent over the years for fear. However after the first testimonial by one of the victims, about a hundred and sixty called to the police to testify about their experiences in the children’s home. (Fook, 2002) Referring to the high profile case in the Haut de la Garenne children’s home, back in the years, different theoretical perspectives could be applied in examining the development of social work and improving the professional social work to the society. The code of ethics for social workers according to the British association for social work stipulates the key values of a social worker as dignity and worth, social justice, service to humanity, integrity and competence. These values were not observed to by the social workers in Haut de la Garenne and instead they violated the rights of the children by exposing them to abuse from outsiders and abusing the children themselves. It should be noted that, the children in the social institution are taken to be given care that they lack from their parents and guardians. The responsibilities of care provision is entrusted to the social workers who according to their professional ethics are child protectors and care providers. It could not be understood however of what became of the social workers in Haut de la Garenne in failing to meet their duties and responsibilities. The sociological perspective theory can be applied in explaining the behavior of the social workers. According to this theory the behavior of human beings is influenced the maintaining objectivity, by critically evaluating and testing ideas, accepting what may be surprising even or offensive based on evidence and not by denying oneself of values. Looking clearly at what was happening in Jersey children’s home; the disappearance of children was not recorded. The administration of the home was not doing anything about the happenings in the place. Some administrators admitted that they had heard the children refer to the punishment room which was the underground cellars but they did not take it seriously. This can also be attributed to the theory of sociological perspective which assumes that the official explanations of happenings in the social society are not self sufficient and are considered incomplete. The theory puts the conscious efforts in going an extra mile to the obvious and questions what is acceptable as true or common sense. The behavior of the social workers for this matter is based on very minimal observation tagged on common sense. The sociological perspective theory assist in evaluating the general social behavior patterns of social workers and offer the public with insights about the social world that goes far beyond explanations that depend on individual habits and personalities. The social workers in Jersey children’s home could not all be involved in the acts of abuse of the children, however there were no reports made by the social workers who did not participate in the abuse. The question still remains, whether all of them were involved or if some of them were not, why they didn’t report the matter to the authorities. C. Wright introduced another terminology associated with the sociological perspective, the ‘sociological imagination’ which means a clear awareness of the relationship that exist between experiences and the larger society. The structural forces have been highly connected to shaping individuals and their behavior. According to the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) the theories of human behavior and social systems can be utilized to explain social work at the points where people interact with their environments. Theories can explain the role of social work and give a broader understanding of people’s behavior in regard to the society they live in. Focusing on the abuse of children in the Haut de la Garanne children’s home, the behavior of the social workers could not be a personal behavior of each individual. The regular abuse of the children is evident that every one was aware of the case of abuse but they could not do something about it even though it is against their professional ethics. The influential in behavior of others to behave in a cruel manner towards the children can be explained by the human behavioral theory. (Beckett, 2006) There is also a possibility of the parents of the children negligence of not attending their children, motivating the social workers to abuse the children. As much as the parents and the government had failed in the provision of standard care to the children in the Haut de la Garenne children’s home, the social workers did not have any just to abuse the innocent children. There is also clear evidence in the lack of communication between different professionals associated with social care. In any social institution, there are other services that should be provided regularly. The routine medical visits should be inevitable in a children’s home something that makes us wonder how the children suffered without medical personnel being aware. This also shows that no such services existed in the children’s home. Food could also be an issue. As the police started investigations; they have found it very difficult to trace the administrators of the former children’s home. Records were not also available to identify the missing children. Parents whose children had been to the children’s home had the right to visit their children. However there were no reports of parents that their children were abused. This is somewhat unexplained by normal experiences in a social institutions. The government effort of taking control of the social institutions is an important step in redefining the role and responsibilities of the social worker. However, this is not all and the social worker under their professional umbrella needs to have a focused perspective of social work as a way to save humanity and protect the rights of the subject in question. The social workers have a duty to fulfill as expected not only by their professional ethics, but by the public. Social institutions administration can improve the role of the social workers to expectations. The government by the time the children’s home in jersey was running had no mandate over the administration of the social institutions. In the year 2002, the government in Britain adopted a new Standard Social Act 2000 that was aimed at controlling the establishment and operation of all social institutions including, nursing homes, children’s home and rehabilitation centers all over the United Kingdom. This act will definitely improve the provision of social care by the social workers. It also enhances the social workers to take their responsibilities seriously and with concern. Accountability of the happenings in the social institutions is also possible under this act as the government has the permission to carry out regular routine inspections in the children’s home and other social institutions. According to the policy, the government has the full control of operation of these social institutions and therefore can order for their closure if they do not meet the required standards of social care provision. (Oko, 2008) When the case of child abuse came into limelight in the Haute de la Garenne children’s home, the government officials in Jersey wanted to cover it up for they could lose their reputation. Children are a marginalized group that requires to be taken care of. The decisions made upon the life of children may affect their life both in the present and in the future. When a child is subjected to abuse he or she is affected both physically and mentally depending on the type of abuse he or she is subjected to. The parents’ decision or authorities are sometimes done for the interest of the conflicting parents and not the children. Therefore the child may face abuse and his or her rights violated in the name of saving his or her agony. Children are delicate and entrust the adult to protect them from harm. The social workers in Haut de la Garenne children’s home failed completely to support the children. The children may grow up taking life at a negative perspective. They may learn not to trust anyone around them as everyone to them is a monster. The case of Jersey children’s home took many people in the United Kingdom and the world at large at surprise. People could not imagine of the brutality of the social workers and the residents who went to abuse the children. In the recent times however, other cases of child abuse are coming up with parents turning up to be the abusers. (Watson and Player, 2002) After the death of Maria Colwell and the death of Victoria Climbie over 30 years ago social workers have faced several critics from the public for their failure to accomplish their duties and responsibilities as per se. It is heartbreaking when the public learns that the social workers and the social institutions can no longer be trusted with the care of the children. This controversy calls for the government to take stern action to the social workers found violating the rights of children rest the reputation of the social workers will never be gained back by the public. References Beckett, Chris (2006), Essential Theory for Social Work Practice, (London: Sage) Davies, M. (2004), The Blackwell Companion to Social Work 2nd Edition. (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd). Fook, Jan (2002), Social Work: Critical Theory and Practice, (London: Sage) Lishman, Joyce (ed), (2007) 2nd edition, Handbook for Practice Learning in Social Work and Social Care: Knowledge and Theory, (London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers) Oko, Juliette (2008), Understanding and Using Theory in Social Work, (Exeter: Learning Matters) Payne, Malcolm (2005), 3rd edition, Modern Social Work Theory, (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan) Thompson, Neil (2001), Theory and Practice in Human Services, (Buckingham: Open University) Watson, F., Burrow, H., and Player, C (2002), Integrating Theory and Practice in Social Work Education, (London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers) Gillen, S. 2007, Professionals under fire as parents found guilty of beating disabled girl. Community Care (online). Available: http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2007/02/07/103251/professionals-under-fire-as-parents-found-guilty-of-beating-disabled.html(accessed 28 July 2008) Revill, J. 2008, Shock rise in violence against UK’s children. Observer (online) Available: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/apr/20/children.nhs (accessed 28 July 2008) Read More