The Field of Practice in the Area of Child Labor - Research Paper Example

? Fields of Practice Paper This research paper deals with the field of practice in the area of child labor. The research hasbeen carried out with an objective to identify the different types of abuses faced by the under-aged and immature children that hampers their freedom and growth. A primary research method has been followed in this study where data has been collected from the field in order to understand the trend of child exploitation and abuse taking place in the society. The practice of child welfare activities and its effect on the protection of the children have been analyzed with the help of this research. The research study also aims at identifying the changes in approach towards the child welfare activities in the community. The role of the government departments and the organizations in supporting the activities of the social workers has been analyzed in this research. The findings of the research have been used to support the existing information in the field of practice of child welfare. The research also aims at highlighting the increasing participation of the social workers, counselors, therapists, administration and other professions like doctors, engineers, law professionals, etc. in order to support the activities of child welfare. Introduction Child welfare is a set of services provided to protect the young and under-aged children from the conditions of abuse and neglect and to bring stability to the families. The various forms of child abuse may be of different nature, such as the physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, abandonment, neglect and substance abuse. The federal laws have set up regulations for defining the abuse and neglect towards children as any act on the part of the parents or the care takers that leads to death, physical harm or sexual assault and also mental torture due to abuse and neglect. The laws also aim to identify any act of negligence towards the children that exposes them to possible harm and agony. The acts of neglect and abuse towards children are generally defined in the federal laws as acts of abuse on the part of the caretakers and the parents. Any acts of abuse caused by the outsiders and the strangers are not included in the law. The child welfare activities are aimed at protecting the children who are immature and under-aged from the irresponsible and cruel activities of their caretakers. The child welfare activities establish the rights of the children against the willful and selfish activities of the society in exploiting the children (Pecora, Whittaker, Maluccio and Barth, 2012). The acts of child labor are an example of the child exploitations in the society. Thus the child welfare activities are aimed at safeguarding the children with the contributions of the members of the society. The activities of child welfare include wholesome work with the victims that are the teenaged section, children, offenders and the society, at large. The victims are mostly under-aged and not matured to establish their rights against continuous exploitation. The child welfare activities aim to protect these children from exploitation for individual purposes (Hendrick, 2003). The work also involves the elderly people without whom child welfare activities would not be completed. Definition of Fields of practice The research problem in this study of the field of child welfare practice is: “What are the different types of child abuse? What are the child welfare activities that are carried out to ensure child protection? Is there any change in the approach of work in child welfare activities?” The research problem is the area of concern for the workers in the field of child welfare activities (Kufeldt and McKenzie, 2003). The important changes in the field of child welfare practices could be identified with the help of this research. The government agencies and the non-profit organizations have come forward to support the social workers who are actively involved in the field of child welfare. A major change in the approach in this field of practice has been allocation of more resources to the families. The families have been identified to play a crucial role in the implementation of child welfare activities. Sufficient resources have been made available to the families who are responsible for taking care of the children and protecting them. The families have been consolidated and strengthened for the welfare of the child (Parton, 2002). The freedom from restraints for the families would contribute to child welfare. The social workers also started to adopt evidence-based practices that are likely to produce proven results. Thus the change in approach in the field of child welfare is likely to produce improved results with the support of the organizations and the government. Definition of Social Problem The various types of abuse to a child may be in the form of physical abuse, mental abuse, sexual abuse, abandonment and neglect. The physical abuse may be defined as any injury that ranges from minor fractures to death depending on the activities of abuse carried out by the caretakers of the children. The activities include beating, kicking, smashing, etc. The intention behind the activities that led to the physical injury is not of any importance as long as the child has suffered an injury that causes imbalance in livelihood. The disciplinary lessons that do not cause injury to the treatment are not considered as physical abuse. The children in the communities are subject to malnutrition due to lack of basic food. The children are also deprived of basic education due to selfish uneducated and selfish outlook of the caretakers and the guardians. There have also been increasing instances of sexual assault and child exploitation. The increase in child labor has raised concerns over the safety and security of the children (Ellis, Dulmus and Wodarski, 2003). In order to ensure a peaceful and happy environment for the children, the field practices in the area of child welfare has become extremely important. Social work roles The activities on child welfare include the social work roles performed with the masses in order to spread awareness of the child rights and to inform the implications of the laws in case of violation of child protection. The administrators, counselors and the therapists are major stakeholders in the process of promoting child welfare in the society. These sections of the people are the advocates of the child welfare practices who identify the acts of child exploitation and propose the recommended activities for welfare of children. The welfare of children could be attained by consolidating and strengthening families that is the key to the healthy upbringing and growth of children (US Department of Health & Human Services, 2013). By strengthening the families, the child welfare activities aim to reduce the causes of child abuse for which the cases of child exploitation would be much less and the welfare of the children would be restored. The other types of child abuse to which the children are exposed may be emotional abuse, sexual abuse, lack of educational facilities, neglect towards children, lack of food and nutrition, abandonment, etc. The child welfare activities involve comprehensive work with the administrators, counselors and therapists for curing the victims and at the same time spreading awareness among the adults and the society in order to protect the interests of the children and the teenagers. The agencies that promote child welfare activities should aim at strengthening the communities with the objective of raising awareness and implement programs for prevention of child abuse. The caretakers and the parents should be made aware of the unlawful practices of abusing children and exposing them to work that could lead to physical injury or emotional imbalance. The role of the parents in providing adequate food, education and peaceful environment for healthy growth of children should be explained to the offenders. The administrators, social workers and counselors and the therapists should engage responsible activities of identifying the sources of abuse and perform acts for prevention of the inhuman acts in order to safeguard the interests of the children. The evidence based practices adopted by the social workers, public awareness campaigns and ensuring support from the communities are important in the field of child welfare practices. The evaluation of child welfare activities are carried out at periodic intervals in order to determine the effectiveness of the implementation of prevention programs. Thus child welfare activities are continuous efforts to protect the rights of the children. The most modern approaches adopted by the agencies, governments and the social workers include research oriented evidence based practices that are most effective in implementation of the child welfare activities. Important trends The research methodology adopted for this study is very systematic in order to understand the different types of child abuse that takes place in the society. The research method used in this study is primary research. The data collected for this research is primary data. The data collected from the field is factual and has been collected with the help of a survey conducted by taking feedbacks from the community. The administrators, counselors, therapists and the people of the community have been requested to respond to the questions designed for the survey which addresses the specific objectives of the research (Baker and Charvat, 2008). The data collected from the research is reliable as it has been collected directly from the field. The questions were close-ended and the general responses collected for the questions are given below (Table 1). Table 2: Survey-questions Sl. Survey – questions Yes (Y) No (N) Don't Know (DK) 1 Is the rate of child abuse in the community increasing Y     2 Are majority of children in the community lacking food sufficiency Y     3 Are majority of children in the community receiving basic education   N   4 Are a section of children in the community facing sexual assault     DK 5 Are the rates of child labor in the community decreasing   N   6 Has there been increasing instances of child exploitation Y     7 Has child welfare activities been carried out in the past Y     8 Are child welfare activities ineffective in the community   N   9 Is any child welfare activity being carried out at present Y     10 Is there any change in the approach towards child welfare activities Y     11 Is there a decrease in initiative towards child welfare activities   N   12 Are people from different profession contributing in child welfare activities Y     13 Are the government and other non-profit organizations playing a passive role in the field of child welfare practices     DK The primary data collected during the process of research was then analyzed to support the existing information on the child welfare activities. The information on the child welfare activities were collected from the books, journals, online references and other existing academic sources on the topic of child welfare (Barth, Berrick and Gilbert, 1997). The findings obtained after analysis of the primary data collected during the research were matched with the existing information to reach a conclusion. The research on the study of child welfare activities in the society produced interesting findings in the field of practice. This has been achieved with the help of analysis of the collected data and matching the analysis with the information available from the existing studies and researches. From the survey, it was identified that the rates of child abuse are on the increase in the society which establishes the significance of the child welfare activities. The laws and regulations for the protection of children have been passed in order to ensure a peaceful and sustainable environment for healthy growth of the children and develop into a force for the future. There have been significant changes in the line of work with evolving ideas and thoughts to improve the practices in the field of child welfare (Lawrence, 2004). The issues of child welfare being on the forefront, there has been increase in the participation of social workers in this area. The number of jobs in the field of child welfare is on the rise with more number of social workers, counselors, therapists being involved to address the issue of child protection and welfare. The focus of the administration in the field of child welfare has also increased with tighter regulations set up by the government for protection of the children. The administrators, counselors, therapists and social workers play an important role of advocating and spreading the message of child protection and the welfare of children. The demographics of the clients are also changing with section of offenders spreading to the urban areas of the society. Theses sections of the people are often in contact with the counselors, therapists and the social workers who are the proponents of child welfare activities. The spread of public awareness is extremely crucial for implementation of the child welfare activities. The other professions like doctors, engineers, administrative authorities have also started to play a crucial role in the protecting the children and create healthy environments for their growth. National Organizations The government departments and several organizations have identified child abuse as a human rights issue and child welfare activities as weapons to uphold the safety and security of the under-aged and immature children. The government laws for child protection and welfare empowers the state and other agencies to intervene with the families in the matters of child abuse and neglect. The children should enjoy freedom, peace, happiness and love in a healthy and prosperous family atmosphere to grow into a healthy and balanced human being in future. The child of today is the man of tomorrow. The child labor is one of the most prominent issues that led to the development of child welfare activities. The international labor Organization (ILO) runs with an objective of protecting the interests of the child and setting up the framework for healthy atmosphere where a child could grow up. The United Nation Children Fund also works in the field of child welfare in order to promote the welfare of children and protect their rights of livelihood against the forces of exploitation. The instances of child abuse and the preventive measures with child welfare activities are prominent in the developing countries. The governments of different countries have established regulatory systems that define the activities of child abuse and neglect and the rights of the child to get protection from the sources of abuse (Munro, 2008). Conclusion The field of practice in the area of child welfare has attained significance in the light of child abuse. The neglect and abuse of children leads to social issues that hamper the growth of children into forces of future. The government has also passed regulations to protect the children from abuse and exploitation. This has helped the social workers in putting an improved effort for securing the welfare of children. The public awareness towards the different acts of child exploitation and the legal implications for undertaking such activities has been transmitted to all sections of the community. This is where social workers, counselors, therapists and the administration have played a crucial role in the spreading the message of child welfare to the society. The organizations and the government agencies have extended their support to the field workers in the area of child welfare. A change in the approach in this field of practice has started to strengthen and consolidate families which would take care and provide a peaceful and happy environment to the children for growing up. References Baker, A. J. L. and Charvat, B. J. (2008). Research Methods in Child Welfare. New York: Columbia University Press. Barth, R. P., Berrick, J. D. and Gilbert, N. (1997). Child Welfare Research Review, Volume 2. New York: Columbia University Press. Ellis, R. A., Dulmus, C. N. and Wodarski, J. S. (2003). Essentials of Child Welfare. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Hendrick, H. (2003). Child Welfare: Historical Dimensions, Contemporary Debates. Bristol: The Policy Press. Kufeldt, K. and McKenzie, B. (2003). Child Welfare: Connecting Research, Policy and Practice. Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. Lawrence, A. (2004). Principles of Child Protection: Management and Practice. Berkshire: McGraw-Hill International. Munro, E. (2008). Effective Child Protection. London: SAGE. Parton, N. (2002). Child Protection and Family Support: Tensions, Contradictions and Possibilities. New York: Routledge. Pecora, P. J., Whittaker, J. K., Maluccio, A. N. and Barth, R. P. (2012). The Child Welfare Challenge: Policy, Practice, and Research. New York: Aldine Transaction. US Department of Health & Human Services. (2013). Family-Centered Practice. Retrieved from: https://www.childwelfare.gov/famcentered/ Read More