ISSUES AND CONTROVERSIES ABOUT CHILD ABUSE AND SAFEGUARDING CHLDREN This essay will critically analyse issues and controversies surrounding child abuse. "

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“CRITICALLY ANALYSE ISSUES AND CONTROVERSIES ASSOCIATED WITH AN AREA OF CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE OF YOUR CHOICE”

 

ISSUES AND CONTROVERSIES ABOUT CHILD ABUSE AND SAFEGUARDING CHLDREN

This essay will critically analyse issues and controversies surrounding child abuse. “It is a shared vision that all children should have the opportunity to reach their full potential and that no child slips through the net”. This is a quote from the Forward in Every Child Matters the next steps, a green paper, which was published in 2004.

 This essay will look at child abuse and the point that no child slips through the net. What exactly is the net and how are children in need going to be caught by it and the notion of ‘working together’.

 This essay will discuss all of these points in relation to legislation, policies and procedures.

 Through out the essay there will be references made to a number of enquiries where children have slipped through the net for a huge number of reasons. The two main cases the essay will converge on will be that of Victoria Climbie and Aliyah Ismail. Both these children tragically died at the hands of abusers. In the case of Victoria Climbie an inquiry was undertaken by Lord Lamming, which led to recommendations for change in the child protection system, many of these changes have been encompassed by the children act 2004. The death of Aliyah Ismail caused widespread attention from the media, some of which will be looked at in this essay.

Child abuse is a controversial subject that is biased. This is because what one person defines as abuse compared to another is often inexplicably different. Government, in the publication of “Working Together” sets out the definition of child abuse as “Somebody may abuse or neglect a child by inflicting harm, or by failing to act to prevent harm. Children may be abused in a family or in an institutional or community setting; by those known to them or, more rarely, by a stranger”. (1999:5:2.3) Abuse can be broken down into categories of physical, emotional, sexual abuse and neglect. All abuse can have a long-term damaging effect on a child’s well being and a negative impact on their lives as adults.

There is no specific reason why some people abuse children. It has been put across by some research (Reder et el 2000, Reder et el 1993, Stanley et al 2002) that there are people who live in society who want to use children, in satisfying their own needs these can be; sexual, voyeuristic and for some the need to gain power over somebody or thing; this could be because of the clear dynamics of power between children and adults. Another reason is that the opinions within government, and those employed to safeguard and protect children differ so dramatically. What constitutes good child rearing practises differ enormously within individual belief systems. Belief systems usually come from our internal knowledge based on life experiences especially those experiences of being raised by our own parents. However learning what is acceptable can be based on what legislation states as reasonable levels of parenting; government places expectations upon parents such as the need for children to be educated; however there is much confusion in some legislation such as that of the lawful smack. It is acceptable to smack a child in the UK as long as there are no lasting marks such as bruising. A debate in the House of Lords in July 2004, concerning the changes that are to be implemented in what was then the Children Bill; saw a total ban rejected. “There was backing to see an amendment to remove the defence of reasonable chastisement for cases of actual or grievous bodily harm” Martin (Children Now: July 2004: 14-20:11) peoples views are divided over this subject; yet there are people who would like clear guidance such as the police, the Association of Directors of Social Services and the British Association of Social Workers. Who feel that compromise in this will cause vagueness.

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In gaining an understanding of how legislation, policies and social work practise work to safeguard children we have to look at what the net is. The net that is described in the quote is the children’s protection safety net. The net is a collection of safety measures in which children in need are defined. “Within services professionals have a duty to decide whether or not to intervene when assessing a child and the circumstances that surround them, to do this they must draw a threshold; this involves deciding both the point beyond which a behaviour (or parenting style) can ...

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