Legal and Ethical Issues: Child Abuse - Coursework Example

Child Abuse February 28, Introduction to issue/background Child abuse is a very serious offense. The research delves on child abuse resolution. The research delves on several ways of resolving child abuse cases. Child abuse may come from people who are relatives of the child victims. In other rare cases, the children are bullied. There are different scenarios of child abuse reports. The research delves on the different approaches to resolving child abuse cases. The government must exert all efforts to curb the tide of increasing child abuse cases. Sample scenario A scenario will show the harsh realities of child abuse. The article An Overview of Differential Response Models show that there are increasing reports of child abuse cases cropping up within the community (Trocmietal, 2003). The number of child abuse cases in Ontario, Canada. Similarly the number of child abuse investigation that occurred in 1993 had increased by 100 percent during the following year, 1994. The case often involved domestic violence. In the domestic violence cases, injury to the victims often occurred. Physical harm was often inflicted on the surprised or cornered child abuse victims. Consequently, there were several measures that were implemented to reduce the abuses. Further, most of the violations on human rights include sexual abuse, serious physical injury, and emotional injury. Additionally, the injury included the emotional harm on the child abuse victims. The other cases of abuse included sexual abuses and serious physical harm. The cases included serious emotional harm and chronic neglect. Some of the groups coordinated their services to reduce child abuse in the community. The results of the research indicated that 71 percent of the referrals were assigned to assessment stream. On the other hand, an estimated 30 percent were projected to warrant an investigation. The success of the abuse resolution is dependent on the assignment of the related cases to the proper sections. The research shows that 1,263 low risk cases were shifted to the appropriate agency, the community alternative response services. The same research showed that an estimated 540 individuals the regular style child protective services. The harsh child abuse scenario must be reduced or prevented. Case studies There are case studies that will explain the harshness of child abuse. The article Understanding Complex Systems of Abuse: Institutional and Ritual Abuse case study shows that child abuse should be resolved in favor of the child victims (Sidebotham, P., Appleton, J., 2012). The article states that some of the children are abused by religious leaders. In response, the general has taken notice of the child abuse frequencies. In Ireland alone, there was a high profile investigation into child abuse cases within the communities. Some of the recent child abuse cases were perpetuated by Catholic priests. Other child abuse victims were victimized by nuns of the Catholic faith in Ireland alone. The Pilgrim research showed that the environment triggered the priests and nuns to implement their illegal child abuse activities. The religious environment included the role of patriarchy, spiritual authority of the Catholic priests and nuns, celibacy, gender segregation and doctrines on suffering. The perpetrators of the child abuse crimes insisted that the child’s acts triggered the child abuse acts. The perpetrators mentioned that the abused children under their care undeserving and deviant. The same perpetrators insisted that the children needed moral reformation. With this line of reasoning, the criminals shift the blame for the child abuse on the children. Society is the blame for the continuing child abuse acts. The people would think twice before lifting a finger and charging the parish priests and nuns of child abuse acts. The young hapless child victim lacks the will or strength to report the abuses. Since the child fear authority and have respect for the elderly person, the benefit f the doubt is given to the priests and nuns. The young children victims are classified by society as social marginalization or exclusion because the chronic and unthankful population offers pegs a low status on the child victims. Consequently, the normal person would turn their head the other way to keep a blind observation of the realities of child abuse cases happening within the community. The case study clearly shows that child abuse is a national issue that cannot be ignored. Conflicting legal and ethical viewpoints There are conflicting legal and ethical viewpoints on child abuse. The article The Role of Ritual in the Organized Abuse of Children shows that the legal and ethical viewpoints on child abuse (Salter, 2012). The article shows that child abuse prevention and control has been legally and ethically tackled by certain agencies for more than 30 years. Several child protection cases pinpointed to the ritual sexual abuse of children. The complainants are normally the adults and children victims themselves. The survey was conducted on 16 adult respondents. The adults recounted how they suffered through each child abuse occurrences. The children mentioned the abusers only complied with society’s prodding them to follow the same path of child abuse. In short, the above article indicates that society played a vital part in the children’s child abuse. Consequently, the abused children reiterated that they were forced against their will to internalize the reasons in the degrading as well as dehumanizing ordeals. In response, the children that grew up perpetuated the same abuses on other people. The ritual abuse scenario includes placing a child in an environment where they cannot escape their abuse. Consequently, the children are forced to accept their fate. The children feel betrayed and hopeless. However, the children have to survive. Thus, the children have to move on. To move on means to forget any unfavorable or sad experience in the past. Ritual abuse can be described as the unfavorable strategy that legitimizes child abuse to both the child victims and the perpetrators of the child abuse acts. The abuse of children can be described in lay language as the abuse of the child by two or more adults. Families’ Connections to Services in an Alternative Response System Further, the article Families’ Connections to Services in an Alternative Response System focuses on the same legal and ethical issues (Zielewskietal, 2006). The program focuses on ethical and legal tasks of allocating funds for the alleviation of the child abuses cases. The Urban Institute Project was designed to scrutinize the devolution of the social program responsibilities to the more appropriate child care agencies. The program researchers allocate both time and energy to the monitoring established welfare programs. The researchers monitor and institute changes to the currently established programs. The project was constructed to ensure that the Child trends issues helped in making the family life happier and absent of any unfavorable abuses. The child care workers were requested to help reduce risks and harm on the child. The program aims to reduce the child abuse reports to the minimum level. The research focused on the enhancing the child welfare officers’ implementation of better child care interventions. The research focused on requiring the respected government agencies to protect the child from any abuses or harm. The program seeks to improve the families’ lives without having to intrude on the privacy of the family members. Additionally, the child welfare officers were required to save money for a future time. During the future time, the child welfare officer will have the funds needed to reduce or eliminate future incidences of child abuse cases. The agencies are then required to save on their allocated monthly budges. Consequently, the agencies can use the saved funds for other more important expenses or other child care payments. Conflicting legal and ethical viewpoints Discussing the conflicting legal and ethical viewpoints, the article Exploring Differential Response focuses on legally and ethical responsibilities to protect the child from avoidable child abuse reports (Rohm, 2008). The child abuse reports help control future child abuse incidences. During the past 40 years, the child protective eservices intervention program continued to increase. The reason is obvious. The reported increase in the reported Child abuse cased prompted the corresponding increase in the government’s intervention powers. The agencies doubled its efforts to resolve each new child abuse case. The agencies conducted investigations to make families correct their present acts of child abuse. The main factors contributing to child abuse was seen to be poverty. Poverty prevented the parents form giving the child a better and more comfortable place to live in. Further, the agencies must implement multi tract responses to resolving child abuse cases. Multi track means that the agencies use all strategies to reduce child abuse incidences. The agencies’ responses are often based on the type of child abuse inflicted. In some cases, the parents may be given a warning. On other more severe occasions, the parents may be denied rearing the child. The child abuse treatment is also based on the age of the child and the capacity of the parents to mend their evil ways of child abuse. Alternative Responses to child Maltreatment: Findings from NCANDS Additionally, the article entitled Alternative Responses to child Maltreatment: Findings from NCANDS shows the agency’s legal and ethical role of focusing on mending the child abuse occurrences (USDeptofHealth, 2005). The article focuses on child protection. Child protection is also handled by Child Protective Services (CPS) agencies. The agencies often receive voluminous reports of child abuse cases. The agencies activities contributed to the draining of the agencies coffers. Some states have their own sets of child abuse resolution polices. Each state creates its own police son child maltreatment reports. The agencies are tasks to implement a viable child protection program. The agencies conduct investigations on reported child abuse cases. Consequently, the agencies implement plans to remove the child abuse occurrences. The family members are required to comply with the instructions of rulings of the child protection agencies. Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect with Parent Training: Evidence and Opportunities Further, the article Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect with Parent Training: Evidence and Opportunities focuses on additional legal and ethical child abuse activities (Barth, 2009). The article states that there are often several types of child-related abuses. One abuse is the domestic violence. Children suffer when their parents fight. The second abuse is mental illness. A third abuse is substance abuse. A fourth abuse is child maltreatment. The drug-crazed parent often inflicts physical and mental harm on the growing child. Parent training will help parents fulfill their responsibility to bring up the child in a happy, loving and engaging environment. The ethical and legal issues prod the government to institute strategies that will harness and stop the current and future child abusers from plying their preventable evil trade. Relevance to ethical codes The child abuse discussion incorporates certain ethical codes. The ethical standards is based on doing what is right and avoiding what will hurt or create unfavorable acts on other individuals or groups. The article Are Malaysian Teachers Ready to Assume the Duties of Reporting child Abuse and Neglect? opens the world to the harsh reality of criminals violating the ethical codes by engaging in child abuse activities (Chooetal, 2013). The article clearly shows that child abuse and child neglect are two normal child-based problems that need to be resolved. The article places importance on teachers of Malaysia taking the cudgels of reporting child abuse cases. The teachers are required to become instruments of society to curb the child abuse cases. A survey conducted among Malaysian teachers indicated that nearly half of the respondent Malaysian teachers affirmed their eagerness to be contributors to reducing child abuse incidences. There were 668 teachers who agreed to answer the survey questionnaires. The respondents agreed that a law should be implemented to require teachers to act as child abuse resolvers. The teachers will be mandated to exercise all their powers to detect when and where the next child abuse case may crop up. The same teachers are also required by the proposed Malaysian law to protect the child from the abusers or criminals. However, more than 50 percent of the teachers do not approve that the law should be seriously considered for approval. Meeting Each Family’s Needs Additionally, the article Meeting Each Family’s Needs focuses on implementing the related ethical codes. Alternative ways of reducing the violation of the ethical code, which includes child abuse occurrences, is to penalize the criminals. The article focuses on compliance with the ethical child care welfare in Canada. The article indicates that there are different ethical code responses to reports of child abuse as well as child neglect occurrences. The article gives examples of children who suffered from accidents and abuses. The article shows that child welfare officer, Diane, approached the family of Shawna to investigate if the couple committed ethical code violations. The social worker discussed the family’s current child protection activities. When interviewed by Diane, Shawna admitted beating her child. Consequently, the child suffered from several whipping bruises. Shawna explained that her poverty level living forced her to act in substandard manner. Shawna stated that her family was living in very difficult home conditions. Consequently, Doug arrived. Doug was the husband of Shawna. Doug refused to answer any of the Child social worker’s questions. Diane recommended that the children be treated in the nearby social welfare agency facility. The facility included a family preservation section. The section favorably removed the need for the child to undergo out of home placement. Diane’s final analysis showed that there was no immediate danger on the lives of the children. The Diane interview showed that Doug and Diane had more chances of proving that they will mend their ways. The mending included stopping their child abuse activities. Whipping the child was considered a negative or unfavorable picture on how Doug and Shawna reared their growing up child. After the meeting, Shawna felt relieved that her second chance gave her more opportunities to correct her current lackluster family home management. Another Look at the National Study on Differential Responses in Child Welfare Further, the article Another Look at the National Study on Differential Responses in Child Welfare focuses on the implementation of the same ethical code by correcting child abuse occurrences. The article shows the program of Karen Kaplan was established to resolve the child abuse issues during 2007. The leaders of the different states have been implementing several child protection ethical code programs. Each state tailors its own version of the child protection strategies. As each state has its own diverse set of child abuse situations, the state leaders created plans to fit each state’s own unique child abuse situations. The results of the tailoring type of child abuse management strategy are to ensure higher success rates. With each strategy fitted for each unique case, the results of the child abuse alleviation programs can be easily achieved within lesser time needed. The child abuse protection programs are based on timely and strength capacities of each child abuse case report. The normal agency response to child abuse cases is investigation. The government agencies continually monitor and prevent violations of the ethical codes, especially child abuse cases. Conclusions Summarizing the above discussion, Child abuse is one of the nation’s serious offenses. The research discusses the severity of child abuse cases. The research indicates that there are several effective ways of stopping child abuse cases. Child abuse can be done by relatives of the child victims. In other rare cases, the children are bullied. There have been different cases or types of child abuse cases, including diverse severity in the child abuse occurrences. Evidently, the government must exert all efforts to curb the tide of increasing child abuse cases. Recommendations The government agencies should put into place counter measures to reduce the occurrences of child abuse activities. The government should introduce multi track solutions that include both mild and strong counter measures against parents and other individuals to stop current and future child abuse cases. The government agencies’ child abuse prevention strategies must be grounded on the type of child abuse inflicted. In several situations, the parents or other individuals may be given a simple warning or two. On other more severe acts of child abuse, the parents and other violators can be refused the privilege of rearing the child. The child abuse prevention strategies must incorporate the capacity and age of the child and the capacity of the parents to correct their evil ways of child abuse. The government must establish effective and efficient strategies to curtail the child abusers by increasing the penalties and fines. References: Barth, R. (2009), Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect with Parent Training: Evidence and Opportunities. Future of Children, 19 (2), 95-118. Chooetal. 2013, Are Malaysian Teachers Ready to Assume the Duties of Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect? Child Abuse Review, 1. Knottetal. 2003, An Overview of Differential Response Models. Centre of Excllence for Child Welfare, 1-2. Rohm, A. 2008, Differential Response: Progressive Child Welfare. Protecting Children, 23(1), 1-106. Salter, M. 2012, The Role of Ritual in the Organised Abuse of Children. Child Abuse Review, 21(1), 440-451. Sidebotham, P., Appleton, J. 2012, Understanding Complex Systems of Abuse: Institutional and Ritual Abuse. Child Abuse Review, 21(1), 389-2012. Trocmi et al.. 2003, An Overview of Differential Response Models. Centre of Excellence for Child Welfare, 1, 1-2. USDeptofHealth. (2005). Alternative Responses to Child Maltreatment: Findings from NCANDs. aspe, 1-69. Zielewski et al.. 2006, Families Connections to Services in an Alterantive Response System. Child Welgare Research Program, 1-25. Read More