Understanding Child Abuse: Role of Human Service Professionals

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Recommended: Prevention and control of child abuse

The System of Child Abuse Human service professionals are required to report all cases regarding alleged child abuse and neglect. They work diligently to assist children and families through events that are often traumatic. While they work hard to provide assistance, it is important for them to be prepared to provide community resources to families and individuals who may or may not agree with receiving help. When allegations of abuse or neglect have been made, local child protective services (CPS) intervene to make decisions based on what they believe is the best option for the children involved. Their goal is not to tear families apart, but rather offer services that will provide a healthy and safe environment for children. …show more content…

Other cases may take longer to be investigated depending on the seriousness of the case. Once a report of child abuse or neglect is made, it can put the child in further danger because of the potential risk of flight by the family (Hirschy & Wilkinson, 2010, p. 74). If the family flees and relocates, it causes the abuse to continue. Furthermore, it could cause the child to be in danger of more severe abuse if the child’s parent or caretaker becomes angry about the abuse investigation and projects that anger onto the child. Implications of reporting child abuse can also occur when human service professionals are faced with ethical circumstances. Throughout the human service profession, social workers may find it necessary to disclose confidential information regarding their client to authorities, in order to comply with mandatory reporting laws involving child abuse and neglect (National Association of Social Workers, 2016, para. 1). When social workers are faced with this type of dilemma, it can have an adverse effect on the working relationship between the professional and their …show more content…

The primary community resources that could be utilized to help individuals involved in child abuse cases are individual and family counseling, substance abuse treatment, anger management, and parenting classes (Wallace & Roberson, 2014, p. 230). Individual counseling would be offered to help the parent or caregiver work on personal development as it relates to self-exploration and functional behavior. Family counseling would be offered to help build and strengthen family ties. Furthermore, it would be offered to help the family resolve conflicts and improve communication issues. Often in cases of child abuse and neglect, substance abuse is a contributing factor (Wallace & Roberson, 2014, p. 230). Therefore, in cases where substances are being abused, inpatient or outpatient services would be provided. Abusers are typically unable to express their emotions verbally and resort to violence as a way of articulating their feelings (Wallace & Roberson, 2014, p. 230). As a result, anger management would also be an appropriate resource to help abusers learn strategies to channel their anger effectively. Another factor in child abuse cases is parent’s and caregiver’s lack of parenting skills (Hirschy & Wilkinson, 2010, p. 96). Offering this resource is an effective way to provide parents and caregivers methods to care for children properly. In addition, parenting

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