Neglect=
The signs for neglect can vary. This can be from physical, mental and emotional signs. A physical sign may be that they are extremely skinny, which would indicate that they are not being fed any food. They may also wear tatty clothes which haven’t been washed in a while. Their personal hygiene may be poor which may make them look dirty and smell. A mental sign may be that they have imaginary friends because they have no real friends. And emotional signs of neglect may be that they over react to attention e.g. instead of just shaking someone’s hand to say hello they go over the top and start hugging them continuously. If I were to find a child/young adult in which I think was being neglected it would be my responsibility to report it as this child is suffering from abuse.
Sexual=
Sexual abuse is a little bit harder to see signs of. Sexual abuse links in with emotional and physical abuse, this is because being sexually abused can make the person have emotional problems such as promiscuity or depression. Examples of this may be that the ‘girl’ pays more attention to men than she does women (because she is being abused by a man she thinks it’s normal to be with men inappropriately). ? The child may react differently to social situations, such as being sexual with a stranger- this is normal behaviour of someone who is being sexually abused. If I suspected a child/young person of being abused it would be my responsibility to report it to social services. Along with emotional signs their may be physical signs such as hand marks on their arms where they have been held down to be sexually assaulted. Their could be rope burns on their wrists where they’ve been tied up in order to carry out a sexual act. Smaller signs could be things like the work they produce at school, for example if a young child was drawing penis’s in nursery then this would alert adults to think why does a young child know what a penis looks like in great detail- especially if it were an erect penis.
How should Professionals respond to children that are suspected to be abused?
The first and most important thing to do is find a safe and confidential way of asking the child what is really wrong if they are concerned. I would make sure two adults were present at this conversation to safeguard myself (as this stops any false allegations from occurring?).As a professional I would need to allow the child chance to talk, this includes their really exaggerated stories as I need to listen to all the information in which they have to express and to allow them to see I am interested in what they say and that I ‘believe’ them.
The next thing to do is to record absolutely everything that is said – no matter how small the information. I would need to start with; Where it is taking place, who was present and what was said. I would need to write down exactly how the child said their story e.g. no paraphrasing. As well as recording what the child said I would also need to write down what I said to the child. Whilst speaking to the child I would need to ensure I do not make any promises such as – “I promise not to tell any one what you tell me.” I cannot promise this because I would need to share information if I believed the child to be in harm. Once the child had told me all they have to tell I will then explain to them exactly what will happen next, whether that be to tell someone else if I think to be appropriate or whether I think they should talk to a family member etc. If I as the professional make a mistake and say something I regret/shouldn’t have said then I still need to record that too. Before leaving the child I would have already made up my mind on what step to take next as I cannot make my decision once they’ve left as I may realise that them leaving may not have been the safest option available.
There are strategies to consider when working with victims.
These are:
Be respectful
Have a child centred approach
Provide active support
Empower them
Support assertiveness, self-confidence, self-esteem and resilience
Share information with the appropriate people + don’t keep secrets
And finally keep the child informed on what’s going on.
There are a lot of factors that can stop children seeking help:
Being scared of the consequences, being scared of not knowing what’s going to happen, they may believe abuse is a normal way of life, fear, having low self-esteem, worried that they may be un-believed, denial, confidential issues, threatened, paranoid, scared of being removed from normality/isolated, brain washed, they may be protecting others by receiving the abuse themselves, self blame, feeling unimportant, they may also feel that it is too late to talk about the past, they may also feel that they are going to be judged.
Resilience is a strategy that can be used to support children, young people and their families where abuse is suspected or confirmed.
There are 6 stages to resilience. These are;
*Secure base- allowing the child/young person to have consistent and dependable base from which to continue their lives e.g. their home, foster home, school etc.
*Education- Doesn’t just mean school it also means education about what has happened to them, why it is not appropriate and what will happen next.
*Friendships- We cannot force freindships on people, but it is important to be able to demonstrate and accept friendliness.
*Talents and Interests- Everybody has worth. It is important to bring out and develop the areas in a persons life that they enjoy or are good at.
*Positive values- Will often have been lost in a world where abuse might exist; these have to be reinstalled and developed.
*Social competencies- Knowing how to behave appropriately in a social situation is vital, but may not be clearly understood for a child who has never been given these boundaries. An example of this is an adopted child who has always been given their food in an enclosed place when they were being abused, that when their adopted parents give them food at the family table they react by taking it into a cupboard and sit there in the dark. This is an example of social competencies.
by
emmap20 (student)
