The Issue of Child Protection - Essay Example

? Child Protection Psychology Child Protection The issue of child protection has been an area of major concern for decades. Child abuseis a problem that has caused emotional and psychological trauma in the lives of numerous children and adolescence all over the world. Though the number of cases is more prevalent in third world countries, the issue is still an area of concern in the developed countries. This issue has an impact on the approach and life of many individuals. It is not only restricted to the family members but also extends to the teachers of the child and other people he or she comes into contact with. This has become a major issue in the educational staff department as such issues affect the child’s performance in class and can affect his future and ability to achieve his goals in life. As teachers spend the most time with children outside their homes, they are obliged to look out for signs of this disease and report this issue to the authorities as soon as possible. The symptoms of chid abuse have a better prognosis when they are reported earlier. However, due to several factors many child abuse cases are undetected and child protection measures are usually not implemented for a very long time. Prior to implementing child abuse policies, one must first understand what is meant by the term ‘child abuse’. There are numerous ways and different variants of defining the term, and most of them are dependent on the laws and regulations of the country. The variation of definitions and cultural diversity in the country make it difficult for all the cases of child abuse to be reported. Immigrants may possess their own customary principles which they consider normal; however, the laws of the country might perceive these same principles as abusive and therefore illegal. Though differences exist in the definition of child abuse, protection refers to the prevention of prolonged adverse effects on children suffering from psychological or physical traumas inflicted upon them by their parents or other adults responsible for their guardianship. The neglect or failure to protect a child from preventable dangers can also be considered as child abuse. Child protection services need to implement policies that educate children about their rights and enable them to realize when they are being abused. Lord Lamb emphasized on the fact that the appropriate education in order to improve the quality of child protection (Hall, 2003). The services should also provide the children with the measures to take when they are being abused. They should be ensured that if they report such cases they will be protected. This could be very hard as children will obviously be living in fear due to the psychological and emotional trauma they experience. For this reason the role of child protection should be extended to the educators as they may be the key to exposing more child abuse cases. Teachers should be educated on the approaches to take when they assume a child is suffering from depression and suspect this could be a result of child abuse. All educators should be aware of the warning signs of child abuse and they must also be informed on the measures to take in such situations. Teachers themselves could also be the perpetrators of child abuse and policies must be implemented to monitor these cases. Parents can also play a role in identifying warning signs of child abuse in their children. Perpetrators of child abuse can be in several different situations. These include perpetrators of neglect; sexual abuse; physical abuse and Munchausen syndrome by proxy. These can further be classified into different forms of neglect such as physical, emotional, chronic, educational and medical. Firstly the paper will define these terms more broadly and create an understanding of the meaning of child abuse. Physical abuse is defined as intentional physical injury or pattern of bodily harm inflicted upon a child by his or her caregiver, parents or any other individual. This can involve injuries from beating or shaking, excessive disciplinary actions, strangulation, cigar burns and female genital mutilations. Physical abuse is not limited to these actions and may be implemented through several modes or treatment or punishment. Injuries that can occur from this abuse include fractures, burns, welts, dislocations, lacerations and bruises. Emotional abuse can be defined as parental behaviour which results in the destruction of a child’s confidence. This also leads to psychological trauma to the child and can onset other conditions such as depression. Emotional abuse can be triggered by the exposure of a child to domestic violence, threatening or intimidating a child, excessive criticism and withholding affection. Involving a child in acts of sexual nature and taking advantage of them by abusing authoritative power is considered as sexual abuse. Children are usually exposed to such acts through bribery and manipulation using either psychological or physical methods. A parent or caregiver can fail to provide a child with the basic necessities which are essential for appropriate development and growth. The necessities include shelter, food, clothing, dental care, medical care and the appropriate supervision. There have been several cases of child abuse cases reported in the country, it is estimated that at least one child dies every day in Wales and England. An example of a child abuse case that resulted in the death of an infant is that of Victoria Climbie, an eight year old Ivorian girl who was tortured and brutally murdered by her guardians. Her death resulted in structural changes in the child protection service in England (Hall, 2003). It resulted in the implementation of local and national managerial structures to enable improvement in accountability, supervision and coordination of child protection services. The current protection system has approximately thirty thousand children in its database (BBC, n.d).The procedure requires a child’s name to be placed in the records if anyone suspects that the child is experiencing or is under risk of child abuse(BBC, n.d). Another area of concern is the fact that eighty percent of the children who have been physically abused have also witnessed violent altercations between their patients and they themselves are likely to perform either violent acts or develop very low reserved self esteems which at times can result in suicide (BBC, n.d). Despite the devastating case of Victoria Climbie and the policies that were suggested to improve the child protection system. It is shocking that such cases have continued to prevail. It comes as a warning sign that further changes have to be made in the system. Protecting children is a social value and obligation of all cultures and societies. Every individual on earth shares this common value and strives to create a system that will allow perpetrators of such activities to be arrested and removed from the community. Preparing children for their adulthood is not just the responsibility of the parents because children are the future of the country and the world. The obligation of the community towards implementing the wellbeing of infants and adolescents can be observed through the legal system, social norms and cultural mores. In fact the legal system permits community intervention for children who are suspected to be at risk of abuse. The need for intervention from the community is necessary as surveys have shown that babies are under a large amount of risk, and child abuse cases on babies tend to lead to fatality. Even after the death of ‘Baby P’ one hundred babies have been reported dead from child abuse (Costello, 2012). The government values parental rights and privacy, and allows families to raise their children in any way they deem necessary (Otto and Melton, 1990, 55-83). There is an ethical dilemma in trying to balance rights of the parents and their privacy in combination with the moral obligations to protect children from abuse (Munro, 2008). In cases were child abuse is suspected, the government requires proof of the activity before any intervention can be legally carried out. The improvement of specific procedures, risk assessment and guideline schedules is essential providing quality protection and can be used as a way of improvement (Munro, 2008). The authorities need to be more attentive to warning signs that children present after suspected child abuse cases. In the past many warning signs have been neglected and resulted in more serious consequences. For example, the case of Kimberly Harte and Samuel Duncan who received 11,5 and 10,5 year sentences respectively for inflicting grieveous bodily harm on their four year old daughter. The girl had cerebral palsy and the parents poured boiled water on her hands, kicked her in the groin and constantly ripped her hair out. The shocking aspect of this case is that the child had been returned to the parents from social services despite all her injuries (Womack, 2007). The surprise comes from the fact that the social service failed to make the necessary follow up on the parents despite all the injuries the child had previously experienced. In fact, the family had been visited by social security twenty times and yet they still failed to take note of the warning signs. This has become an issue in terms of implementing child protection measures (Schene, n.d). Society places value on people’s privacy hence extended family members and neighbours are often reluctant to inform the authority about suspected cases of child abuse (Munro, 2008). There are ongoing strategies that are being implemented to create a balance between the two principles. The child protection system has now become government dominated as compared to the past when private welfares and advocacy agencies were in the forefront of the process. In modern times, child abuse is reported to child protection services which investigate and decide on the measures to take to protect the children (Schene, n.d). They implement several measures which include adoption or homes for foster care. These agencies and homes are usually restricted to the states or county which the child originally resides. These agencies are usually created and funded by the government which runs them via state statues regardless of the fact that they are shaped by federal legislation, leadership and funding. At local level, these programs are frequently run in coherence with the law enforcement agencies, courts and other local service providers. The history of the country’s fight in creating an appropriate child protection service has been caught in between two moral obligations; the protection of children’s rights against neglectful and abusive caregivers and the preservation of privacy in homes and families. This topic was heavily discussed in family journals, which concluded that child abuse occurs as a result of irresponsibility of guardians or poverty. In the past, society has put emphasis on removing children from abusive homes and placing them in safer environments. History shows that child protection spawned from philanthropic activities and the vision by private organizations to create a safe environment for children from abusive parents(Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Education Committee, 2012). This historical aspect tends to shed light on the role played by child protection services, which holds responsibility for maintaining a healthy and safe community. Serious case reviews must be conducted by Safeguarding boards for children. These reviews are undertaken where neglect or abuse of a child is suspected or established. It is also carried out in cases where a child’s death has occurred or he has been seriously harmed and there is suspicion in the way in which parents, Local Safeguarding Children Boards, authority or concerned persons handled the protection the child. If a child dies in the custody of another guardianship, it is mandatory to conduct a serious case review. Similar measures should be carried out id he or she dies after sentencing, in the custody of police, in detention or Young offender institution. This can occur as a result of abuse from other members of the society and protection measures should also be implemented at these levels. This also is an area of concern as the perpetrators could stand trial for more serious charges than those of child abuse. For this reason it is necessary to ensure that the underlying cause of death is established and the appropriate steps are taken forward by the agencies, law enforcement officials and the court. If child is suspected to have died from suspected suicide, a serious case review should be carried out. This allows the agency to determine the real cause of death as this suicide report could in fact be a case of murder. The decision in creating a serious case review lies in the hands of the Local Safeguarding Children Boards. It has also been established that the serious case reviews that are conducted should be published in order to allow a certain level of transparency in the system. The publishing of these cases is necessary to allow development to be carried out in the child protection service. It also allows for new policies to be formulated in order to counter these cases and prevent a repetition of similar events. Moreover, publishing these reviews creates awareness among the general population as protection is a community obligation and involving more people will allow the prevention of more abuse cases. Analyzing the duties fulfilled by Local Safeguarding Children Boards it is evident that these boards have more access to child abuse cases and should be given more freedom by the government to implement new policies which improve child protection. These boards are expected to meet certain government targets which at times limit them from any further independent development (Department of Education, 2011). As the government implements general policies for all boards across the country, it tends to neglect more specialized improvement that is unique for particular areas across the country. Such roles should be implemented by the local boards which are more aware of the needs of their community. The best way for the appropriate policies to be implemented requires governments to take an open approach when placing restrictions on local boards (Department of Education, 2011). These boards are under very strict restrictions are tangled in a web of complex systems of procedures, guidance and regulations (Parton et. al, 2011). They should trust these boards and create a partnership which allows for continuous growth using past experiences as a stepping stone for advancement (Parton et. al, 2011). Previous policies resulted in a culture which is in tick box form and caused neglect for further development which child protection needs. Professor Munro has suggested several policies that could help reform the child protection system (Department of Education, 2011). These include removal of statutory requirements placed on local boards such as strict time frames to complete assessment forms as they could cause premature conclusions and evaluations. These systems should also be allocated more time to focus on child safety and welfare. They should also analyze serious case reviews that enable them to prevent any mistakes made by professionals in the past (Department of Education, 2011). They should also assess the underlying causes of these mistakes, as the system at present places more focuses on the cases that occurred instead of the reasons for their occurrence. The services should be provided a duty to aid families before the issues in the families escalate into problems that are more serious and require legal intervention. The local authorities should assign an official to monitor each trait of child abuse cases in the community. In addition, they compile records of these cases in order to avoid reoccurrences and there should be an official who works with these records at national level. Establishing national traits could enable measures to be taken and prevent situations from occurring in other parts of the country that have already become common in other areas. Multi agency working involves uniting professionals from different fields in order to create an integrated and diverse system which supports both children and potentially abusive families (Department for Education, 2012). It allows these groups to utilize their specialties in creating one policy that it suitable for child protection and children are offered support from the appropriate professionals. Children who have fallen victim to child abuse tend to suffer from secondary victimization and they require the appropriate psychological counselling to help them cope with the situation (Lawrence, 2004). When single agencies work alone they are often deprived from expertise of other fields that could be vital in the protection and therapy given to the child. Multi agencies can occur in several forms including teamwork of different professionals on a certain family or child (Department for Education, 2012). They can also function in the form of a panel dealing with child abuse cases of a certain area or different services could work together as a single unit. The agencies have limited restrictions and could involve any professional who comes into contact with children (Department for Education, 2012). Examples of such professionals include police, health workers, educators, and social and youth justice workers. Young people have different needs hence the introduction of multi agency working enables their needs to be catered for from different angles (Lawrence, 2004). Each participant will bring his skills and qualifications and use these in the protection of the child. The benefits of multi working agencies include early identification of problems, which in turn allows early intervention in helping the child. This also allows an improvement in education concerning these cases and will enable better support by extended family members and parents. The entire process provides better quality service and reduces the possibility of prolonged effects of child abuse (Department for Education, 2012). In conclusion, child abuse is a violation of social norms and morals. The community needs to function as a unit in order to allow more efficient protection of the people involved. Serious case reviews should be carried out to prevent the reoccurrence of abusive cases in the community. They can also allow professionals to view mistakes that were made in the past that resulted in the death of a child. Specialized approaches to protecting children should be implemented which as this would allow early intervention and prevent the neglect of certain aspects of child protection. References BBC. (n.d) Child Abuse. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/physical_health/child_development/safety_abuse.shtml Costello, T. (2012) Five years on from Baby P, abuse is still killing babies. Bureau Reviews. Department for Education. (2011). Independent review into child protection says: Free professionals from central government control to let them do their jobs properly.Retrieved from http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/safeguardingchildren/a0077182/independent-review-into-child-protection-says-free-professionals-from-central-government-control-to-let-them-do-their-jobs-properly Department for Education. (2012). Multi-agency working. http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/strategy/integratedworking/a0069013/multi-agency-working Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Education Committee. (2012) Children First: The Child Protection System in England, Fourth Report of Session 2012-13, Vol. 2: Oral and Written Evidence, Volume 2. The Stationery Office, 2012 Hall, D. (2003) Child Protection- Lessons from Victoria Climbie. BMJ 2003; 326:293 Lawrence, A. (2004) Principles of Child Protection: Management and Practice. McGraw-Hill International, 2004 Munro, Ellen. (2008) Effective Child Protection. Second Edition Otto, R, and Melton, G. (1990). Trends in legislation and case law on child abuse and neglect. In Children at risk: An evaluation of factors contributing to child abuse and neglect. R.T Ammermund and M. Herson, eds. New York: Plenum. 55-83 Parton, N., Stafford, A., Vincent, S., and Smith, C. (2011). Child Protection Systems in the United Kingdom: A Comparative Analysis. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2011 Schene, P. (n.d) Past, Present and Future roles of Child Protective Services. Retrieved from http://futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/docs/08_01_01.pdf Womock, S. (2007). 22 years for daughter's torturers. The Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1542006/22-years-for-daughters-torturers.html Read More