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The importance of child protection policy
The importance of child protection policy
Current legislation to safeguard children
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The Role of Social Work in Relation to Protecting Children from Sexual Abuse Over the decades the prevalence of child abuse has been phenomenal. Throughout Britain the abuse of children is an issue which is no longer hidden or covered up, not a week goes by where a newspaper doesn't report the beating of a young child, the neglect of another or the arrest of a paedophile. These stories have always existed, from Cleveland to Fred West. The public reacts to these stories, asking why no-one stopped it? Child abuse is a huge arena and so I am going to concentrate on Sexual abuse and I intend to look at what it is that the social worker does in dealing with child sexual abuse. For many, it has taken decades to admit that child sexual abuse exists, in the past it has been brushed off has childhood fantasy or a misunderstanding. Today however, the sexual abuse of children is taken very seriously. I am going to take a look at some of the laws and policies followed by social workers dealing with sexual abuse cases or suspected cases of sexual abuse. Also, the involvement of the social worker in treating victims, I will take a look at the media representation of social work and also a look at a few cases. In 1976, Schecter and Roberge defined child sexual abuse as; "The involvement of dependent, developmentally immature children and adolescents in sexually abusive activities they do not fully comprehend, to which they are unable to give informed consent or that violate the social taboos of family roles" (Child abuse and neglect 1989: page 210) Most definitions of sexual abuse go on to explain what acts constitute a sexually ab... ... middle of paper ... ...ind themselves in." (Mr. Justice Hollis, quoted in the Cleveland report, Secretary of state for social services, 1988, P.85). In 1997, The national commission of inquiry into the prevention of child abuse Survey of over 1000 social workers it was found that 86% of respondents did not feel that their social work training prepared them for dealing with the prevention of child abuse. In Social work with children and families, the following advice is given when responding to child abuse, to listen, be supportive, don't judge, don't make promises that cannot be kept and don't dither in reporting any concerns. There are however no simple checklists that can be applied when trying to determine whether or not abuse is taking place and there are no easy steps that can be taken to make it go away or magically get better.
Morales, A., Sheafor, B. W., & Scott, M. E. (2012). Social work: a profession of many faces. (12th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., & Brocksen S. M. (Eds.). (2014). Social work case studies: Foundation year. Retrieved from http://class.waldenu.edu.
Social Workers are very important to everyday life. They are the ones that help people in need when they have nobody else to turn too. Also, they provide resources and better understanding of predicaments that you could be experiencing. I will reflect on how the class has affected me, my own experiences and how some theories have connected to my life experiences, and lastly, if the class helped toward my major. This class is important for someone that wants to become a social worker and wants to learn about the different theories used. Also, learning about me during this process of completing this class is fun and a way to see if the social work profession is right for me. There was many theories explained throughout this class but many will not be said because it wasn’t the main points that I was trying to get across. There are two tools that are used that can help a social worker organize a client’s life: Bubble map and Briefcase exercise. There are so many different ways a social worker can help a client deal with their problems and come up with a solution. It is up to that social worker to identify the client’s problem and see what theory fits.
Social workers are generalist practitioners that utilize various theoretical frameworks to assist in problem-solving for individuals, family, groups, and communities. They aim to provide interventions at any level based on the need of their clients. The generalist social worker assist with a broad scope problems and can be found in a variety of institutions. When assisting with adult clients who suffer with social development due to childhood trauma, social workers must know what trauma is. Trauma is prevalent in the social work community, almost every social worker has had a client that has suffered from trauma. In order to assist adults that have social development issues stemming from childhood there are The four-fold principles
Thompson, N (2005) Understanding Social Work: Preparing for Practice, Palgrave, MacMillan (Second Edition) Hampshire (Supplementary Course Reader)
I first became interested in social work when I took a human rights course as part of my political science major requirements. Throughout the course, I was fascinated and disturbed by the historic oppression of many large groups in society, and I realized my interests lie outside of the political arena; thus, I double-majored in social policy & practice because of my desire to learn more about how to enhance human well-being, fight social injustice, and pursue social change. I soon realized I wanted to pursue graduate social work education in order to gain a more holistic understanding of social problems and human ailments and, in turn, better understand the best ways to fix them. My background in political science and social policy gives me a unique perspective on the field of social work, as I have gained immense knowledge on social issues, the law, and public policy that will be useful in my graduate school and professional endeavors to fight for social justice and human rights.
As reported in Child Maltreatment 2013, out of the estimated 905,000 victims of child abuse and neglect reported in the United States in 2013, 8.8% were victims of sexual abuse. 1 This means that in that year over 79,600 children were sexually abused in the United States. “There is general agreement among mental health and child protection professionals that child sexual abuse is not uncommon and is a serious problem in the United States.” 2
The lasting effects of childhood sexual assault into adulthood can be debilitating is resiliency possible. I chose this topic because it is of great interest to me I am a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. Upon starting the research, I had preconceived notions of what would be found. Lasting effects can be, low self-esteem, sexual promiscuity, sexual issues, attachment issues, suppression of the abuse, PTSD, grieving a lost childhood, and a feeling of always wanting to be in control of situations. In addition, I expected to find some might suffer from nightmares, eating disorders, poor academic achievement, OCD issues, a feeling of inferiority and not fitting in, as well as parental rejection. To coin a phrase from Friedrich Nietzsche, “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger” (Nietzsche, 2001-2011 ©) I believe with a proper support system of family, friends, and counseling resiliency can and will prevail.
Social work practice requires many skills, which need much practice themselves. This needs social work students to be open to trying within safe environments and scenario’s for mistake, such as with their peers and with emotional safe scenarios such as stress at University. This begins with a requirement to do 5 minutes of interviewing with a peer which includes many social work skills such as active listening, encouraging, paraphrasing, being/creating a welcoming and safe environment and other such basic and beginning skills.
Child abuse, while having many different forms and levels of severity, can be basically defined as the maltreatment of a child by a parent or other adult. When one thinks of child abuse, usually the first thing that comes to mind is physical harm, but the issue is actually much more complex. The abuse of a child can also be manifested in verbal and emotional forms, as well as in sexual molestation. All forms of child abuse generally result in similar emotional disorders and behavioral issues, but the major consequences of sexual abuse, such as mental or emotional scarring, promiscuity, and the tendency of former victims to become sexual abusers, cause it to be the most severely damaging form of child abuse.
Most questions have answers and sometimes explanations, but there have been many answers to the question of why people abuse children. The trauma of a child being abused can be described in various ways. Child abuse is the mistreatment or maltreatment of a child whether it is mental, physical, emotional, sexual, verbal, or psychological abuse. Child abuse is a traumatic experience.
Bradford W. Sheafor, C. R. (2008). Techniques and Guidlines for Social Work Practice. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.
As our society becomes more challenging, social workers help bridge the gaps for people who face extraordinary challenges in their lives. The social worker’s scope of practice may include helping at-risk or overwhelmed individuals find resources, develop new coping strategies, resolve problems and conflicts, and secure opportunities to improve their quality of life. (Flynn, 2013) Although the scope of practice is basically the same, there are various types of social workers with various levels of education. It doesn’t matter if you are a medical, clinical, school, military, psychiatric, or community social worker, the goal is basically the same.
Over the course of the semester, I have learned a variety of many things regarding social work. These things vary from learning how to help oneself to understanding how to help others. Not only were the textbooks very useful, but also the materials that furthered this textbook learning. The in class presentation, activities, and guest speakers gave us insight and a different perspective on the material we were learning. I feel like this course has given me a good foundation and prepared me as a future social worker (1).
"Child Sexual Abuse Facts." - The Children's Assessment Center Houston, Texas USA The Children's Assessment Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.