Child Protection and Family Violence - Case Study Example

Child Protection and Family Violence Child abuse has been one of the major problems in the world. Children are silent victims of the violence and abuse by their parents, relatives and neighbors because they fear being tortured if they come out in open with the information. Most of the times, it becomes a responsibility of the neighbors to report the child abuse if they find it happening. However, even after reporting a child abuse to the local authority and the social workers, the problem does not end. The main focus of the process is the safety and the emotional and physical protection of the child. There are many issues that need to be taken care of before a real solution is found. Lets take a case study of a boy called Aldo who was a victim of both, physical and mental abuse at the hands of his parents. The case study is taken from ‘Good Practice in Child Protection’ by Tilbury, C., Osmond, J., Wilson, S., & Clark, J. (2007). The Case Study: Aldo is a nine year old boy who was placed in foster care three weeks ago because of physical and emotional abuse. Specifically, Aldo was regularly hit with a piece of wood by his father and often had bruises and marks all over his body. In addition, his mother and father regularly told him that he was useless, an idiot and they wished they had never had him. Aldo often witnessed domestic violence in the household. His mother has been hospitalized six times in the last twelve months with significant injuries. After an initial period of being shy and withdrawn, Aldos behavior is becoming more challenging at home and in the school environment. Behaviors currently being exhibited are regular aggressive behavior with peers and other foster children, destroying property, resisting direction, difficulty in making friends, rejecting signs of attention and affection, and poor school performance. Aldo has supervised contact with his parents each Wednesday. The school has reported that lately, he has had detention during lunchtime on Thursdays and Fridays, mainly for aggressive, bullying behavior with his peers. Key Components of the case: Aldo’s case is an example of a child whose behavior is completely changed into an aggressive one because of the treatment he got from his family and the violent environment that he experienced at home. If we try to understand the case from the perspective of Interactional Theory by Paul Watzlawick, we can see that there are many indications given by Aldo about his emotional and physical suffering in the social and personal context. There are five axioms of the Interactional theory. They are: (Dudas 1999) 1. One Cannot ‘not’ Communicate : This is the scenario where direct communication becomes difficult and the person tries to use some other methods than verbal communication to communicate the thoughts, emotions and desire. Aldo was suffering violence and physical abuse at home. He was constantly discouraged verbally and was beaten by his father. Aldo was not able to communicate his suffering verbally so he behaved in aggressive way and also showed no signs of affection, obviously trying to tell that he is emotionally maladjusted and is suppressed. 2. Human Beings Communicate Both Digitally and Analogically: Non verbal communication is the best way to understand what a person wants to say or what he is trying to hide. In Aldo’s case, the bruises on his body showed that he is a victim of physical abuse at home. His poor performance at school and lack of normal adjustment with his peers showed that he was going through emotional and mental maladjustment at home. 3. Communication = Content + Relationship In communication, what you say is important, but more important is ‘how’ you say it. Aldo’s case study reveals he was constantly mentally tortured and was neglected by his parents by saying that he was useless and unwanted. The verbal abuse was teamed with beating. Aldo got the message of being a ‘good for nothing’ kid and started developing a feeling of being unwanted and a burden on the family. His behavior became aggressive because of this treatment and as he was not nurtured at home, he found it difficult to develop healthy relationship with his friends and teachers. 4. The Nature of a Relationship Depends on How Both Parties Punctuate the Communication Sequence : In Aldo’s case, we can see that he was never given a chance to speak. His parents maltreated him everyday and he was a victim of their anger and violence. As he was not able to communicate his anger, insult, maladjustment and torture to anyone, it got suppressed and unconsciously is being expressed through his aggressive behavior, poor performance at school and in difficulty to form relationships. When Aldo was not able to communicate his fears and abuse in open way, he did so through attention getting destructive behavior. It is evident from his case study that he did not get any opportunity to say what he truly felt fearing the anger of his parents. 5. All Communication is Either Symmetrical or Complementary: Communication is possible only when all the parties involved have equal opportunity. Aldo was never considered important by his parents. He was treated like an unwanted child and was a victim of abuse. This communication pattern made him to behave in anti-social way and also made him shy and emotionally withdrawn. He found it difficult to make friends and also was not able to give proper attention to studies. It is evident from the theory that the nonverbal signs that Aldo got from his parents were extremely negative. He gave an outlet to his anger, emotional and physical torture and frustration by becoming aggressive and socially withdrawn. Aldo was clearly giving signs of severe abuse and maltreatment at home. Aldo was a psychologically and physically abused child. He was rejected by his parents, lacked affection from them and was not given opportunities to interact socially. His silent cry for help through poor performance at school, having no friends and aggressive behavior did not generate any emotional or positive response from parents. All these negative communication and behavior by his parents showed that Aldo was a child abuse victim (Richardson 2004). In Australia, it becomes a responsibility of state and territory government to protect a child if he/she is suffering emotional and physical abuse at home. The protection is given through different services and if the need be, the child is taken away from the abusive environment and put into foster home. According to the recent report by Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 28,441 children were put into out-of-home care by 30th June 2007 ( Holzer 2008). This shows that there are many cases where a child is not safe at home. Moreover, emotional and physical abuse cannot be treated as a single separate incident. It is an ongoing torture for a child who experiences it. The child abuse costs a lot to the country financially and socially. In 2006-2007 , according to Productivity Commissions (2008) Report on Government Services, approximately $1.7 billion was spent on child protection and supported placement services across Australia. Child abuse results in the victim taking a wrong path in life. They indulge in drug addictions, anti-social behavior, become mentally ill and are poor in their studies. It is also noted that approximately 30% of the children who are maltreated somehow maltreat the other children in their adulthood( Holzer 2008). Looking at all the negative outcomes of child abuse, it becomes extremely important for the responsible social organizations to take effective action not just to stop the child abuse but to prevent it right from the beginning. Ethical Issues: Aldo’s case reflects the importance of ethical way of handling a child abuse incidence. According to Dr. Bromfield, the ethically responsive service is a service which is given at right time, is based on evidence, aims child’s best interest, meet both emotional and physical needs of the child and has quality. In Aldo’s case, we can see that his age is impressionable and there are still chances of helping him to come out of his trauma with the help of counseling, nurturing his emotions and involving him in creative and playful activities. Aldo was a victim of abuse by both the parents. He did not get love and affection from his mother. So the most important task is to find out what is the best interest of Aldo(Schwartz-Kenney, McCauley and Epstein 2001 p25). Ethically, it is important that parents be involved in the process of helping the victim of child abuse. However, in Aldo’s case, because he was beaten and abused by both the parents, his safety and care was more important than family preservation. Taking Aldo to the foster home was a right step. It is seen that social workers have limited autonomy, however, it becomes important for the social worker to develop a warm and trustful relationship with Aldo so that it becomes easy for them to work with him and make him aware of his rights to be happy. This could be done through empathy, optimism and display of genuine concern ( Bromfield 2008). Mother is important for children. The ethical aspect also demands that mother be involved in the process of helping Aldo. In Aldo’s case, even though the mother is abusive and neglects the emotional needs of Aldo, the fact remains that even she is the victim of consistent violence, verbal and physical abuse at the hands of her husband. The case study reveals that she was hospitalized six times in twelve moths with severe injuries. This sows that even Aldo’s mother is a victim of domestic violence. It becomes important for the authorities to extend protection towards her and involve her in the programs that helps her to become independent and fight domestic violence. Aldo was also witness to numerous injuries to his mother in the domestic violence incidences. This clearly indicates the consistency of violence at home. Power Issues: The society is built in such a way that the male dominance over women is always emphasized in one way or other. In Aldo’s case, we can see that he was beaten by his father and his mother could not protect him because even she was a victim of the beatings. It has been found that the power or the control over the family can result in violence against a child. Aldo’s case shows that there is a huge conflict at home and the mother being a victim herself could be aggressive and take out the anger on child. Male express their power over women by force and hence misuse the power and use violence as a means of showing that he is the most powerful person in the home ( Tomison 2000. p7). This demands that the ethical way of handling Aldo’s case will be to reach the roots of the problem rather than just working on surface. The study of Aldo’s case does emphasize a need of counseling and help to his mother also. Confidentiality and safety Issues: Any family who is involved in the domestic violence and child abuse case desires confidentiality. However, there are many aspects to be considered when we talk of confidentiality in Aldo’s case. Aldo’s case is not a case of single violent incidence. It was an ongoing torture and abuse. There was great danger of Aldo suffering from serious injuries and emotional trauma because of the beatings from his father, verbal abuse and complete lack of affection from his mother. It was important to put him in foster home to ensure that he is not harmed in the future. Ensuring Aldo’s protection and need of counseling from the professionals can make it important to discuss his case with psychological counselors and police department. So absolute confidentiality becomes difficult ( Parton 1997. p105). The task of the Protection worker: Most of the times, it is not possible only for one social worker to interview the family members as he/she can face hostility. In case of Aldo, as the incidence involved violence and physical abuse, it becomes important for social worker to take help of the police (Parton 1997 p16). Aldo’s mother was also a victim of physical abuse and beatings. The protection worker should extend the help to the mother also. While investigating, it is very necessary for the social workers and the police to work together so that the mother and Aldo feel safe and can trust that their complaint is been taken care of seriously(Humphreys and Stanley 2006. p.45). There has been cases where, while handling a child abuse case, the professionals involved from different fields had so strong differences of opinion that they completely lost the sight of main aim of their work which was child protection and overall healthy development (Schwartz-Kenney, McCauley and Epstein 2001. p86). These differences of opinion can create more emotional and psychological trauma to a child than healing him of his past experiences. So all the professionals involved should keep in mind that their central and important aim is to fulfill the child’s emotional and physical need so that they can heal the emotional and mental trauma of a child who is abused and can build a healthy and happy human being. References Bromfield, L., 2008. Ethical Responses  for Vulnerable Children and Families. Available at http://72.14.235.132/custom?q=cache:LEyPV7ZWx6sJ:www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/presentations/2008/ethical.ppt+ethical+issues&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&client=google-coop-np [ Accessed 15th May 2009] Dudas,M . To Interactional View. (Updated 17 November 19999) Available at http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~md413097/IV.htm [ Accessed 15th May 2009] Humphreys, C., and Stanley,N. 2006. Domestic violence and child protection: directions for good practice. Jessica Kingsley Publishers Holzer, P., 2008. Australian Institute Of Family Studies. Child protection in Australia Children see. Children do. Make your influence positive ((Updated 30 April 2009) Available at http://www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/sheets/fs1/fs1.html [ Accessed 15th May 2009] Parton, N., 1997. Child protection and family support: tensions, contradictions, and possibilities. Routledge Richardson,N 2004 National Child Protection Clearinghouse. What is child abuse? (Updated 30 April 2009) Available at http://www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/sheets/rs6/rs6.html [ Accessed 15th May 2009] Tomison, A 2000. Issues In Child Abuse Prevention. Exploring Family Violence: Links Between Child Maltreatment and Domestic Violence. Issue 13. Available at http://www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/issues/issues13/issues13.pdf [ Accessed 15th May 2009] Read More