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Current policies and procedures in relation to child protection
Current policies and procedures in relation to child protection
Overview of child protection
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Barriers
In order to help victims of child abuse we need to find the children that are being abused. All abuse situations are not being reported by the victims or the witnesses of abuse. This is actually a major barrier when it comes to helping abused victims.
The victims often times do not report that they are being abused for many reasons. Children are often abused by people they know. The people who are supposed to take care of them are the ones that end up hurting them. One can only imagine the amount of distrust a child can grow for anyone, if their own family can abuse them. The lack of trust for authority figures is a barrier that children face when reporting their abuse. The shame and blame that the victims put on their selves is also a barrier. They might feel ashamed by what has been done to them. Children may also feel like they deserve the abuse because they are "bad." Even when children break through all these barriers and manage to tell an adult, there are instances where they are not believed. The adult may do nothing with this information and the child loses more hope in ever being saved. The adult may not report the abuse because they are not comfortable with the situation. This leads to even more underreporting.
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One reason is that the witness may fear retaliation from the abuser. Also they may be afraid to report suspicion of abuse and their suspicions are wrong. A false accusation can cause stress on the accused and the child. Someone may not report abuse because of their relationship they have with the abuser. The abuser could be a husband and the wife may be embarrassed to report her husband or fearful of divorce. Although I do not believe any of the above reasons for not reporting abuse is an actual excuse, we should take steps in helping people become more comfortable with reporting
There are so many people who could be considered as third parties who are obligated by state laws to report any type of neglect or abuse to the proper authorities. To get to the point some of the third parties who have a commitment to report child abuse or neglect which happens to be in the professional field are doctors, dentists, teachers, police officers, day care workers, clergymen, lawyers, therapists or counselors and etc... Sometimes professionals who are considered to be third parties have the advantage to whether or not if they report child abuse or neglect to the proper authorities. Others people that can be considered as third parties are family members, friends of the family and associates, but most times these groups of people may find it difficult to do so because of family ties to the abuser (Hess & Orthmann, 2010).
Also being abused and letting someone know maybe embarrassing. In the article “Child Abuse.” Opposing Viewpoint Online Collection, it goes on to say, “Even people who are reasonably confident that they have witnessed child abuse may be reluctant to report it. Some may not want to become involved in what they consider a private family matter. Others may believe that reporting the problem will do no good.”
Child abuse in the United States is a growing epidemic. Every year the number of reported cases, and missing children go up. This is caused mostly by lack of education about the different types of child abuse, and the signs that go along with it. Communities need to provide more resources to better educate the public about the types of abuse, and the signs that go along with it. Child abuse and neglect can be lessened by more resources, more education and to reach out to others.
Child Protective Services For 30 years, advocates, program administrators, and politicians have joined forces to encourage even more reports of suspected child abuse and neglect. Their efforts have been successful, with about three million cases of suspected child abuse having been reported in 1993. Large numbers of endangered children still go unreported, but a serious problem has developed: Upon investigation, as many as 65 percent of the reports now being made are determined to be "unsubstantiated", raising serious civil liberties concerns and placing a huge burden on investigative staff. Unreported Cases Most experts agree that reports have increased over the past 30 years because professionals have become more likely to report apparently abusive and neglectful situations. But the question remains: How many more cases still go unreported?
The mistreatment of children is classified by four types of actions: physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse, and neglect. Although, in recent years several steps have been taken to prevent the maltreatment of children it seems that child abuse is still prevalent in today's society. Countless children around the world suffer from some form of abuse and in many cases the same child experiences more than one. There is no exact number of victims because it difficult to measure the exact amount of children going through abuse. Child abuse almost always occurs in private, and because abuse is often hidden from view and its victims may be too young or too frightened to speak out, experts in child welfare suggest that its true prevalence
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, or emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. It can be detrimental to one’s daily life, affecting not only the abused child, but also those who are associated with the child. It can have lasting effects that may carry over to adulthood and cause potential issues with relationships or perhaps within their own families as well. It is important that we learn to recognize the signs of child abuse and neglect so that we can save the lives and future of our children. Child abuse is widespread, often not reported, and is responsible for many problems involving our youth today.
... There are all kinds of reasons people may choose not to report the abuse to police. This can apply to the victim, caregiver or bystander especially when severe legal penalties apply. People begin to second guess whether notifying law enforcement is the right action to take. Works Cited Conklin, J.E., Criminology, 10th edition, Boston: Pearson Education, Inc. 2007.
Other people often overlook domestic abuse. People generally do not like to get themselves involved in other people’s problems, especially when they believe there might be problems at home. For one reason or the other, the person who is the witness to someone who is being abused by their spouse does not want to report the crime, or get involved at all, because they are afraid something violent will happen to them while trying to help. Inside the relationship, there are many signs of the abuse. The biggest sign is that you completely fear your partner.
These numbers demand the public’s attention. The pain of just one child should be more than enough to cause a person to jump up and help, much less the pain of more than six thousand children. The U.S. Department of Justice calls children the “perfect victim” for six major reasons. Firstly, since children are typically not emotionally or physically mature, they will try to avoid talking about the abuse. The second reason that they provide is that often times the child does not want to betray the person who is abusing them due to the fact that, many times, the abuser is someone close to them or even related to them. Thirdly, many times there is not enough medical evidence or reliable eye witness accounts for the police to persecute a sexual predator. Unfortunately, the child’s testimony is easy for most any defense attorney to strike down. Two more reas...
First off I am going to start with what is happening, and where it is happening. Child abuse happens everywhere, some places more severe than others. Any form of abuse should be brought to the light. Whether it is physical, mental, or sexual abuse, the cruelty is taking place in every corner of the world. Most third world countries have no laws for child labor, or how far you can take punishment. Even if there is laws in the country it is taking place in the adult might not get in as much trouble as I think they should. Now a days you can physically, mentally, sexually abuse and neglect your child with minimal punishment. Most of the abuse happens behind closed doors also. The caregiver usually threatens the children if they say they are going to tell someone. I believe that the stats online for child abuse are lower than they really are because children are afraid to talk about their situations.
Child abuse is a serious crime, that if violated can come with many consequences, and rules. Reporting child abuse is a mandatory law enacted in 1978 (but amended many times) stating that people must report child abuse immediately1. This law was created to identify children that are victims of child abuse. Relating to the law the Department of Human Services has responsibility to access and investigate suspected child abuse. "Each year Department of Human Services investigators conduct 20,000 investigations involving 30,000 children (in the state of California).2" There are a lot of cases reported each year, involving innocent children, abused by their parents. Although there are thousands of cases reported each year, thousands go unreported. "Child abuse has serious consequences which may remain as indelible pain throughout the victims lifetime3" Child abuse can have permanent negative affects on the child, permanent affects that the child will never forget. The abuse can also bring a better side to the child, making the child wanting to be more independent. Child abuse is very common, and can affect any child of any race, color or religion.
People need to be more informed about different forms of violence and abuse problems in society in order to know when to report unacceptable behavior. Too often things are unreported or undetected due to people being unaware on what to do leaving children in an inadequate situation. Several key people in communities like teachers, physicians, dentists, hospitals, or daycares are mandated reporters where they are obligated to observe the well-being of each child and report misbehavior if necessary. Recently, there has been a jump in violent behavior reports due to changes in legislation and a shift in attitudes of the general public on the harmful effects of children (Lavergne et al., 2011). Child Protective Services can step in to provide different resources or help groups to help the family to get back on their feet. Some of the services are shelter services, counseling, family violence centers, and temporary emergency care. The temporary emergency center like the Children’s Haven is a safe neutral location for children to go while families are experiencing crisis. Law enforcement can decide to place children from violence or substance abuse situations in a neutral setting until a foster care has enough openings for every child to be placed together. Temporary emergency centers can also provide support for parents undergoing traumatic situations for instance if a mother is trying
We’ll start with child abuse victims and the affects and reasons of this abuse. There are four types of child abuse and I will list them in order from least to greatest, neglect, physical, sexual and emotional abuse. Neglect takes first with the NCVS having 54% reports of child neglect in 2007. Neglect is a very serious form of abuse it is the failure for a parent or guardian to provide for a child’s basic needs, including physical and educational needs. We grow and development drastically in the first twelve years of our life so when parental guidance and love is absent it affects a child’s developmental skills along with learning right from wrong. Many forms of neglect occur in larger households and with households with domestic violence. Many parents with multiple kids become too busy focusing on the older children they tend to forget the youngest one. So it’s common for a three year old to walk out of the front door and on to the street when no one is there to tell him or...
It’s up to to adults to report child abuse, because many victims are too scared.“Anyone who has reason to believe a child is being abused or neglected should make the report! We all have a responsibility to report a child we suspect may be in danger. Ohio law encourages you to act on behalf of a child in need of protection, and to report your suspicions to the appropriate authorities” (Department). Having the responsibility to file a complaint for child abuse should be a good thing. Nobody should want to be quiet when it comes to reporting child abuse, because you are helping those who don’t have to strength to go for themselves. No matter what position you are in, everybody who witnessed and knows there is child abuse taking place they should report
There are important reasons of why child abuse should be addressed as a social problem. The factors are strongly related to the social problems, so we should socially address to child abuse. The child abuse includes physical, sexual, and psychological abuse and neglect. Since child abuse and neglect are sometimes difficult to find from outside, so it is also difficult for third people to investigate and help appropriately. Here, I will propose education system as an ideal law to remove child abuse.