Child Abuse and Its’ Connection with Social Work “Childhood should be carefree, playing in the sun; not living a nightmare in the darkness of the soul” (Pelzer, 1995, p. 166). Various discussions, studies, and ethical problems are formed around the topic of child abuse. Child abuse, defined by the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), is “any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation”; or “an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm.” (Gateway, 2013) This leaves a large area for speculation on whether situations are covered under this definition. Nonetheless, child abuse is an unfortunate …show more content…
Chin gathered all her behavioral assessments she had to do some research such as what would be normal behaviors for four and six year old. This was to make an adequate assessment whether the children were acting normally or abnormally based on the circumstances. She also had to gather information based on the community as far as services that were available to suggest to the Horney family. Along with these points of interest, to do further research, Ms. Chin’s greatest challenge was the decision of whether the children were being abused or not. In her final assessment she decided upon the children not being in any real danger at the time and when meeting back with the Horneys suggested many resources for the family to discuss which would be best. Some of the resources Ms. Chin collected for the Horneys were Parent Effectiveness Training, to help with Mr. Horneys discipline techniques, an agency job specialist, to help Mr. Horney find a job, a visiting homemaker, to assist Mrs. Horney in the home and give her someone to talk to, also marriage counseling, to work on the couples communication (p. 26-30). This systems theory covered the main steps that a social worker must follow to make a strong and appropriate case decision as far as diagnosing the issue, assessing further action, and suggesting adequate resources and …show more content…
Becoming a main career within the field, child abuse work itself can range in importance for a social worker in a practice with child and youth agencies, counseling and therapy, and a vast group of many others. There are countless important factors that make child abuse so dangerous, such as the child being harmed, incidents going unreported, confidentiality purposes, and in some cases the right of privacy. These categories mentioned each have their own controversies which have many different views. However, to narrow down this range of struggle, there are many outlined rules and regulations for social workers to follow and maintain adequate care for each child alike. Child abuse is important to social work for some very clear reasons, some being covered throughout this paper. Without a child abuse portion of social work, we would have children, such as Jimmy and Sherry left alone to deal with the struggle of parents, who in their case, just don’t understand the appropriate ways of discipline. There are cases much worse than the Horney’s, such as the case mentioned earlier of the child that had received severe brain damage from his father’s abuse. Social workers have the ability to narrow these incidents down by either removal of the child from their homes where the abuse is happening or the assessment and suggestion of resources for the
Participating in the Mandated Reporter Training is a helpful tool for understanding the role of a social worker as a professional if and when one learns information concerning abuse of a minor. The goal of a social worker is to improve the quality of life for all individuals and if one learns about any type of abuse-physical, sexual, emotional, and/or neglect- it is their responsibility to bring this information to the proper authorities. The training stated that, “Research has shown that when multidisciplinary protocols are followed arrest and prosecution rates increase and trauma to the child decreases” (Arizona Child Abuse Info Center).
Sadler, B. The societal consequences of child abuse. In Grapes, B. J. (2001) Contemporary Issues Companion: Child Abuse. San Diego: Greenhaven Press.
Child abuse does not discriminate against a child because of age, sex, religion, or socioeconomic background. Every child is vulnerable to abuse. Parents today face the possibility that someone they know or a stranger may hurt or take advantage of their children. Research indicates that as many as one out of every four children will be the victims of some kind of abuse (National Child Abuse Statistics). Furthermore, one of the biggest ironies of child abuse is that the family, a child’s primary source of care, love, and security, can also be their most taunting experience. This was the case of 17 month old baby, Peter Connelly. Throughout his short life span, he suffered from neglect and physical abuse that ultimately caused his death. Child abuse is a serious problem that is being taken too lightly.
...children, young people and their families can be both complex and difficult. Social work practice is one of the most challenging as it involves work with a diverse range of both professionals and service users. However, there is more that one single reason for this. As all professionals, agencies and parents continue to work together in various different cases, a variety of skills are required including: communication, preparation, intervention skills, assessment of significant harm, research of current legislation and decision making skills, all of which contribute to the complexities and difficulties of social work. It could be argued that these difficulties are highlighted most in many public cases of child abuse; moreover these cases can be seen to be changing social work practice, affecting the difficulties and complexities of working within this profession.
When dealing with families who are entering the child welfare system, social workers need to examine the entire family, their history that contributes to the current problem, and the societal context of their homes (Popple & Vecchiolla, 2007). There are many proposals for why child maltreatment and Belsky outlines three explanations and a fourth theory for why parents maltreat their children.
The job of a child welfare worker appears to be a demanding profession that promotes the child’s safety, but also strengthens the family organization around them in order to successfully raise the children. This child welfare workers work in the system known as the Child Protective Services whose initiative is to protect the overall welfare of the child. The short novel From the Eye of the Storm: the Experiences of a Child Welfare Worker by Cynthia Crosson-Tower demonstrates the skills necessary to deal with the practice of social work along with both its challenges and its happy moments. The novel consists of some of the cases involving Tower’s actual career in social work. In reading the book, I was able to experience some of the actual cases in which children dealt with physical and mental abuse from their families that caused them to end up within the system. Also, some of these children had issues in adapting to foster and adoptive families based on the issues they faced earlier in life. As we have learned earlier in the course, the violence that a child experiences early in life has an overall affect on the person they become as they grow into adulthood. When children deal with adverse childhood experiences, they are at a higher risk for abusing drugs and/or alcohol, increased likelihood of abusing their own child or spouse, higher rates of violent and nonviolent criminal behavior, along with several other issues throughout their lifespan.
Child abuse is the malicious maltreatment of a child by his or her parent, guardian, or any other adult who is responsible for said child. There are different forms of child abuse: physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse, and neglect (Barnett 2005). In the book, “A Child Called It”, demonstrates different forms of abuse. It illustrates the life of Dave Pelzer, a young boy who was physically and psychologically abused and neglected by his mother. During the time of his adolescent years, his case was listed as one of the most severe recorded child abuse cases in the entire state of California.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 3.3 million referrals for alleged maltreatment were made in 2013. Out of the 3.3 million referrals, 899,000 children were officially documented as being maltreated(Child Abuse & Neglect 2015). Child abuse is the mistreatment of a child. Child abuse is recognized in several forms; physical, emotional, sexual and neglect. Children who experience any form of abuse will tend to withdraw themselves from their peers and sometimes from other family members who are not aware of what is taking place. Child abuse occurs not just in the homes of these children, but can also occur in schools, churches and after school programs. Anywhere a child is present there is a chance that abuse can occur. This paper will review the forms of child abuse, the effects of child abuse, reasons child abuse occurs and possible therapies to bring healing in the parties involved.
According to Tennyson Center for Children, “A report of child abuse is made every ten seconds in the U.S.” (“Child Abuse in America”). One cannot fathom the idea of why anyone would intentionally hurt the innocent children of today’s society. Child abuse happens with children of all ages, gender, and religions. Likewise, the world can be identified as a harsh place, where child abuse occurs around the world, and is even evident in the United States. There are many factors that contribute to this repulsive behavior. Physical, sexual, and psychological cruelty are effects of child abuse.
'Social workers have a professional and ethical responsibility to (...) interact and intervene with clients and their environments' (Teater, 2010, p.4). According to this premise, the ecological approach in social work interventions offers an effective method of relating children, young people and their families to their environment. It is an approach that allows social workers to intervene in cases where a child is abused or neglected, while providing a good theoretical framework for social workers' direct work. This essay is going to assess the ecological model within a social work practice directed at children. It will stress the importance of this model, and explain its application in today's child protection work. Firstly, the text will introduce the ecological approach by introducing its origins and a theoretical framework. Secondly, it will be described how social workers carry out an assessment within the given model, and how it is applied in practice in a direct work of practitioners. Finally, significant strengths and deficits of the approach will be contrasted in order to assess importance of the ecological perspective. 'It is (…) important to be aware that the abusiveness of any act cannot be understood except in context' (Beckett, 2007, p.16), and thus ecological approach allows social work practitioners to explore environmental and social causes of children’s maltreatment in an afford to consequently eliminate these.
Child abuse occurs in families of all different social classes and of all different cultures. According to the Heritage Foundation, abuse and neglect of American children has increased 134% since 1980 ("The Child Abuse Crisis”). No excuse for child abuse exists. Children are among the most defenseless group of people in society, and to harm those who are defenseless is simply unacceptable. Abusers may make excuses for their actions or even deny they are harming the child, but they are wrong. Child abuse causes significant damage to the victim’s physical and psychological health, the victim’s behavior and social skills, and society as a whole.
Munro (2003) states child abuse is treating a child in a way that is harmful or morally wrong however, goes on to explain it is hard to find a universal agreement of the definition of child abuse. NSPCC (2010) further explains child abuse as maltreatment of a child. This can be done directly by inflicting harm or indirectly by failing to prevent harm from happening. Abuse can be perpetrated by an adult or another child. Working Together to Safeguard Children (2013) states that it’s the responsibility of everyone who works with children to make sure that a child is safeguarded and their welfare promoted. The Purpose of this essay is firstly to discuss risk factors posed to Simone and Sasha through the scenario provided and highlight ways a professional should assess whether a child is suffering from an abusive or neglectful situation. Secondly the appropriate action that needs to be taken, and the support that needs to be given, and what services will be involved with the family in order to prevent a family brake down while safeguarding and protecting the children’s welfare, will also be discussed. Lastly this essay will draw on current legislation, guidance and procedures that promote multi– agency working in order to effectively safeguard and promote children’s welfare.
Child protection is a part of society. Studying Child protection is relevant to Social workers because it guides the worker to make full concise and correct judgement when protecting children from violence, exploitation, abuse and neglect. UNICEF (2008) defines the child protection system as; a set of laws, policies, regulations and services needed across all social sectors, especially welfare, education, health, security and justice, to support prevention and respond to protection related risks. The relevant study on children and young people, who have been a victim of child abuse and neglect, provides the appropriate authorities to make decisions for the child/ren and/or young people to improve their welfare and wellbeing. Such effects on children can cause social and emotional issues, as they become adults, for example; Social isolation, unemployment, poor health, drug and alcohol abuse, lack of education and inequality. Miller-Perrin & Perrin (2007) argues the consequences of experiencing child abuse and neglect to be varying on each person. For some adults the effects are chronic and debilitating, and others have less of adverse outcomes, despite their
Child abuse is one of the highest growing social problems in the United States. A social problem is, “a condition that a significant number of people believe to be a problem. A condition in which there is a sizable difference between the ideals of a society and its actual achievements” (Coleman et al. 2006:2). However, society has changed the way it views the issue, and is working towards finding a solution to this awful problem. Child abuse encompasses four main areas: physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect. Child abuse is considered a sociological phenomenon because it is a learned behavior. Learning the social patterns as to why people abuse will give a better understanding to its reasons, and also the development of society in the way that it views children. 3.6 million children were victims of abuse in the year 2006. Sixty four percent were victims of neglect, sixteen percent suffered from physical abuse, and eight percent were sexually abused. Also in 2006, 1,530 children died as a result of abuse; an average of four children everyday (Child Welfare Information Gateway 2008).
Child abuse is a very serious problem that continues to happen all over the world. The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, defines child abuse as a failure to act as a parent or caregiver which results in physical/emotional harm, sexual abuse, and in some cases death. There are many different types of child abuse such as emotional, physical, neglect, and sexual. With each type of abuse there are warning signs you can spot before it is too late. When a child is abused there is a huge possibility that it can cause them to have many long term effects.