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AN INTRODUCTION TO CHILD ABUSE AND CHILD PROTECTION

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Title: AN INTRODUCTION TO CHILD ABUSE AND CHILD PROTECTION


1
AN INTRODUCTION TO CHILD ABUSE AND CHILD
PROTECTION
  • Michelle Lefevre
  • Lecture to Psychology Undergraduates
  • 18.10.04

2
Basic principles - Children Act 1989
  • Children have the right to protection from
    neglect, physical, emotional and sexual abuse
  • Welfare of the child is paramount consideration
  • Childrens views, wishes and feelings must be
    listened to and taken seriously
  • The responsibility for child protection belongs
    to everyone but investigation by police/SSD

3
Level of need/risk
  • Vulnerable children - disadvantaged, risk of
    social exclusion, could fail in education system
  • Children in Need - wont achieve/maintain
    satisfactory level without services requires
    assessment. All disabled children, looked after
    children and children on CPR.
  • Children at risk of signficant harm - maltreatment

4
Child Protection
  • Balancing speed and decisiveness with careful not
    precipitate action
  • Damned if you do/damned if you dont
  • Child protection process is an interagency and
    multi-professional responsibility -Working
    Together to Safeguard Children 1999 issues of
    confidentiality
  • Child Abuse Inquiries lead to policy
    developments, e.g. Maria Colwell, Cleveland

5
Death of Victoria Climbie Feb 2000
  • Laming Inquiry report 28.1.03
  • Gross failure of the system 1.17
  • Widespread organisational malaise 1.21
  • low priority to child protection 1.18
  • basic tasks done poorly by hapless and
    inexperienced staff in all agencies 1.23
  • sloppy and unprofessional performance 1.17
  • role confusion, inadequate info collection

6
Recent Policy Developments
  • Safeguarding Children October 2002
  • Every Child Matters Sept 2003 - improved
    outcomes for all children, Minister for Children
  • Every Child Matters Next Steps Feb 2004
  • Children Bill
  • Safeguarding Children Boards
  • register/tracking IRT
  • Childrens Commissioner

7
Death of Holly and Jessica
  • Bichard Inquiry
  • flawed IT
  • attitudes to USI
  • inadequate info sharing
  • Recommended
  • Better training and vetting
  • Guidance on info sharing and notifications
  • Outcomes
  • Central register for work with children, code of
    practice
  • National Police Intelligence Computer System

8
What is child abuse?
  • Reasonable cause to suspect that a child (under
    18) is suffering or is likely to suffer
    significant harm
  • attributable to the care given which is not what
    we would expect a parent reasonably to give, e.g.
    ill-treatment
  • affecting/impairing physical, intellectual,
    emotional, social, behavioural development
  • Social construction requires contextualising

9
Dynamics of harm
  • chronic (impact over protracted period, e.g. high
    criticism/low warmth) or acute (e.g. single
    severe event)
  • premeditation, threat, coercion, sadism, bizarre
  • context - i.e. meaning to the child of this event
    by this carer
  • particular vulnerability of the child (e.g.
    disability, language, racism)

10
Types of abuse/harm
  • physical
  • sexual
  • emotional/psychological
  • neglect
  • What is the risk of this occuring again?
  • More important than what has occurred?
  • Impact on the child

11
Physical Abuse Definitions
  • An injury which leaves a mark
  • Could be deliberate or unpremeditated
  • Sadistic or end of tether
  • over-chastisement?
  • frequency, severity, acute, chronic
  • explanation does not fit injury
  • child prevented from telling
  • inconsistent/incoherent stories

12
Physical Abuse Signs
  • What to look out for
  • Bruising - Position and type (e.g. fingertip)
  • Weals
  • black eye, partic 2
  • burns, scalds
  • bites
  • unusual (e.g. tears to ears)

13
Emotional Abuse Definitions
  • Persistent or severe emotional ill-treatment or
    rejection
  • Acts of omission and comission
  • by someone who has power over child
  • and makes them vulnerable
  • damages way child thinks, feels, behaves or
    physically is
  • pervasiseveness, persistence, inflexibility of
    carers behaviour

14
Emotional AbuseActions of Parents/Carers
  • withholding of affection
  • criticism, berating
  • verbal abuse, terrorising, scapegoating
  • using child for own needs
  • rejection or threat of rejection
  • inconsistent or unrealistic expectations
  • isolating, exploiting, mis-socialising

15
Emotional Abuse - Signs in the child
  • over anxious, frozen watchfulness
  • poor/insecure attachment
  • avoiding relationships (eg friendless)
  • clinging to relationships (demanding, clingy,
    over-sensitive to others)
  • internalising (e.g. withdrawn, apathetic, poor
    dev)
  • externalising (e.g. aggression, naughty)
  • somatic (e.g. stomach ache, bedwetting)

16
Neglect Definitions
  • Failure to meet childs basic essential needs for
    care, shelter, safety, attention, control
  • by omitting basic parenting tasks and
    responsibilities
  • despite having the economic resources to meet
    these needs at a basic level
  • Chronicity and severity - negative incidents
    accumulate as if to remind a child that he or she
    is unloved

17
Neglect - What you may observe
  • hunger, poor growth, stealing food
  • dirty, smelly - shunned by peers
  • chronic lice or skin infestations
  • repeated stomach upsets
  • recurrent coughs/colds
  • dry, patchy, pale skin, pallor
  • vulnerability, poor self-esteem
  • poor performance
  • Drug misuse

18
Particular Vulnerabilities
  • Particular impact of parental mental illness,
    substance misuse and domestic violence
  • Meaning of the child - particular vulnerability
  • Disabled children, different language
  • What mitigates against disclosure? e.g. racism

19
Sexual Abuse - Defintions
  • Cannot understand implications, dev. immature, no
    informed consent
  • Dependence - abuse of power, pressure to comply
  • May violate social taboos of family roles
  • Coercion into sexual complicance via grooming
  • Sexual arousal of perpetrator

20
Sexual abuse - Physical Signs
  • Genital trauma, itching, soreness
  • difficulty in walking or sitting
  • unusual bruising or bites (e.g. to breats,
    buttocks, inner thigh, forearms, mouth)
  • pelvic or abdominal pain
  • recurrent infections (eg UTI, cystitis, warts)
  • pregnancy

21
Sexual Abuse - Behavioural Signs
  • Precocious or promiscuous sexual behaviour (incl
    prostitution)
  • Oversensitivity about/avoidance of sexual matters
  • internalising, externalising, somatic
  • suicide attempts and self-harm
  • substance misuse
  • PTSD, depression, anxiety, social phobia

22
Bibliography
  • Beckett, C. (2003) Child Protection An
    Introduction. London Sage.
  • Cleaver, H., Unell, I. and Aldgate, J (1999)
    Childrens Needs Parenting Capacity The impact
    of parental mental illness, problem alcohol and
    drug use and domestic violence on childrens
    development. London The Stationery Office.
  • Dale, P. (2004). Like a Fish in a Bowl
    Parents Perceptions of Child Protection
    Services. Child Abuse Review, 13, 2,
  • Department of Health (1995) Child Protection
    Messages from Research, London HMSO.

23
Bibliography (2)
  • Department of Health (1999) Working Together to
    Safeguard Children A guide to inter-agency
    working to safeguard and promote the welfare of
    children. London The Stationery Office.
  • Iwaniec, D. (1995) The Emotionally Abused and
    Neglected Child Identification, Assessment and
    Intervention. Wiley.
  • MacDonald, G. (2000) Effective Interventions for
    Child Abuse and Neglect An Evidence Based
    Approach to Evaluating and Planning
    Interventions. Chichester Wiley.
  • Reder, P, Duncan, S and Grey, (1993) M. Beyond
    Blame Child Abuse Tragedies Revisited. London,
    Routledge.
  • Teachernet - Government website which has a
    section on child protection guidance with many
    useful links http//www.teachernet.gov.uk/
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