at increased risk of abuse.”
Whether or not Barbara was in a mental hospital does not mean that she would harm her children. However being in a mental hospital five years ago could cause her to be stressed.
Beckett (2005, p.145) states:
“Mental health problems may operate as a stressor in families….
mental health problems may also distort a parent’s judgement
to the point where she is no longer competent to make decisions
about a child’s needs.”
Kelly should not ask Jasmine leading questions or attempt to investigate what she thinks may be signs of abuse. She should ask Barbara about the bruising just to be on the safe side. Once she has asked Barbara then she can record it in the accident book. Then no one will be in trouble. It is important for Kelly not to make a big deal out of it and to keep an open mind. Kelly will have to approach the situation gently because if she doesn’t, then things could get out of hand causing Barbara to remove the children from the nursery, Kelly should monitor and record everything on a ‘record of concern’ from then on. On the form Kelly needs to write: the child’s name, age, date, time, location of observation, appearance of clothing and attendance. After Kelly has filled out the form she has to sign and date it and put it in a locked filing cupboard. If Kelly is still concerned about Jasmine then she needs to speak to the designated member of staff.
All nursery settings should have a designated member of staff who has attended a child protection course and is responsible for liaison with child protection agencies in any child protection situation. The designated member of staff will be able to advise key workers, like Kelly, on how to deal with any concerns she may have and what action she should take next. Before consulting social services the designated member of staff along with Kelly would talk their concerns over with Barbara. When talking to Barbara the staff should be open and honest about their concerns nd plans without being defensive. If members of staff still have concerns after talking to Barbara then they can talk to other colleagues without identifying whom the child is. If outside agencies like social services have to get involved, then they would deal with the designated member of staff. The ‘Education Act 2002’ allows the designated member of staff to talk to social services. It is then up to social services whether or not they will take it further by relating the incident to ‘Children Act 1989’ Under Section 47 (1b)’ which is,
According to Edwards (2002, p.62):
“..a local authority has a duty to investigate where they
‘have reasonable cause to suspect that a child who lives,
or is found, in their area is suffering, or likely to suffer
significant harm.’”
Confidentiality plays a big part in these circumstances. Barbara can talk to Kelly and senior member of staff in confidence but they can not promise Barbara that they will not breach confidentiality if the case ever had to go to a child protection conference.
Beckett (2005, p.41) states:
“A child protection social worker, like other professional
participants in the child protection system as it is currently
constituted, cannot give a guarantee of confidentiality.”
Professional participants should be open and honest when talking to either the child or mother. Trust can be lost if a client thinks that what they have shared with the professional participants will not be kept confidential. However there are laws that Kelly and the designated member of staff will follow regarding confidentiality. These are: ‘Common law duty of confidence’ – confidentiality can be breached in public interest what is passed on governed by ‘proportionality.’, ‘Data Protection Act1998’ – This law covers handling of personal data. Confidentiality can be breached under particular circumstances, for example, child protection and ‘Human Rights Act 1998.’ This law includes rights to privacy, No interference without concern and justifiable reasons to share information.
Case Study 2: James
Adults tend to sexually abuse children to meet their own sexual needs. It has been reported that James was abused by his father prior to moving to a new area. James and his mother had to flee James dad because of reported incidents of domestic violence. Since moving to the area James has started a new school where he is failing to concentrate in class and isolating himself from teachers and classmates. Parents have reported to teachers that James has touched girl’s pants and exposed himself to girls in the playground.
Most of the time it is the child’s behaviour that causes concern, sometimes physical signs can be visible. James exposing himself and touching girls pants could come across as a normal thing to because of what is said to of happened with his dad, or it could be the fact that he is curious about parts of the body on himself and the opposite sex.
Wickham and West (2002, p.106) states:
“Sexuality for pre-school children is a matter of curiosity
and exploration. Children are inquisitive about their bodies
and those of the opposite sex.”
James could be denying it when asked by his mother because maybe his dad used to deny it when he was questioned about abuse. Children who have been abused are more than likely going to suffer from psychological harm.
Wickham and West (2002,p.90) found that:
“Many sexually abused children exhibit behavioural or
emotional problems that may provide the first indicator
that something is wrong.”
However Fergusson and Mullen (1999, p.59) argues:
“a substantial minority of children who are sexually abused
do not show behavioural symptoms.”
One of the psychological effects that James could be feeling is low self esteem. Having a low self esteem James is likely to feel worthless and not good enough for positive attention and affection.
Easton and Janet (2002, p.102) states:
“Some children describe themselves as feeling ‘invisible’
because they have gone unnoticed and unprotected from the
sexual abuse.”
This could explain why James prefers to spend most of his time alone including standing in the corner of the playground watching the other children play.
Since James has a low self esteem, depression can lead on from that. Evidence shows that he is suffering from depression because he does not concentrate in lessons when the class are joining in group activities and he prefers to be isolated from his teachers and class mates. Examples:
According to Zimmerman 1988 (in Wickham and West, 2002, p.97):
“Depression is another common symptom for children,
But one that often goes unnoticed or undiagnosed.”
James could also be feeling anger the most. He is six years of age and is more than likely angry at the world, his family and everybody around him for what is said his dad had done.
Although these factors can be proven, on another retrospect these issues could be because he has moved to a new area, he does not know anybody and he finds it hard to meet new people. His way of exposing himself and touching girls pants could just be the way he feels comfortable in confronting people. He could also be feeling shy. Another factor could be that James misses his dad and cannot cope with the fact that he will not be seeing him again, and it will just be him and his mum from now on. He could feel that he is to blame for the separation of his parents.
Warshak and Santrock, 1983 (in Frude, p.304) found:
“The event of separation was distressing whichever
parent left the house. They also cried more, showed
more anger towards the custodial parent, and
sometimes became withdrawn or irritable.”
Accusations of the dad abusing James could be a lie; the mum could of made it up so that she could get away from the dad and then he will not be able to get custody of James. James witnessing his mum suffering from domestic violence could also be another factor. He would be expected to have serious detrimental effects.
Frude (1991, p.269) suggests:
“ Boys exposed to violence had more behavioural problems
and were more likely to be depressed and clingy. They were also
more likely to be disobedient and aggressive.”
The fact that James and his mother are living in a hostel could explain the reasons for his behaviour.
Frude (1991, p.269) goes on to say that:
“Children of women who enters shelters for victims
of marital violence have been shown to be at relatively
high risks of health problems and psychological
such as crying, intense fear, aggressiveness and
extreme passivity and withdrawal.”
James has been showing behavioural signs that indicates that he needs to be centre of attention, he will need someone he can talk to on a one to one so that he can build up trust again as his trust from others adults and children may have been violated. He would also need help to come to terms if he was abused, help him deal with the fact his parents have separated, help him with future plans and to build up his self esteem and self confidence. The abuse could of happened in a way that the effects of how James will come to terms will vary. It will depend on the nature of the abuse, his developmental stage and level of resilience, and quality of family support.
Therapeutic professionals are sufficiently trained to deal with these sorts of incidents. A therapeutic professional will help James return to living a healthy lifestyle and, for the future, a secure adult functioning. However depending on the nature and quality of the therapeutic relationship with James, there will be an insight on how successful the therapeutic work will be. James relationship with the therapeutic professional will need to be one in which he will feel safe, supported, respected, valued and empowered so that healing can begin.
To help James a therapeutic professional will bring play into the scenario because of his age and so that he could feel more comfortable. To overcome his needs of having to expose himself and touch other girl’s pants, a play therapist could help him by acting out role play with dolls and observe what he does with them. If he starts to undress them and show signs that abuse did occur then the worker will take time out with him to express what needs to be expressed, but with safety and propriety. By working with the play therapist, James will not be made to feel ashamed, naughty or puzzled like he could of done with his dad. The play therapist would have to be very careful when talking or asking James questions. To be on the safe side they would avoid asking leading questions.
According to West (1994, p.104) the play therapist would use language like:
“ ‘We need to learn to keep our bodies safe’, ‘In the playroom
we don’t touch others private parts’ (or whatever words James
might be familiar with); ‘Our body is our own and it’s OK to
say NO.’”
If the play worker was having troubles in communicating with James then she could provide either creative equipment or plastic materials such as sand and water for him to be able to express what it is he is feeling.
Another professional who may help James alleviate his psychological and emotional experience is a councillor. The Councillor would be trained to be able to sit and listen to any concerns James or his mum could have.
James can also receive help and guidance from other professionals such as: Health Visitors, Psychotherapists, Specialist Social workers, specialist nurse, speech and language therapist and education and behaviour difficulties team.
These professionals are all trained to work with children and parents who suffer from psychological effects.
Bibliography
Beckett, C. (2005) Child Protection an Introduction. London: Sage Publications Ltd
Edwards, H. (2002) Protecting Young Children. London: The National Early Years Network
Fergusson, D.M. and Mullen, P.E. (1999) Childhood Sexual Abuse. An Evidence based Perspective. London: Sage Publications Ltd
Frude, N. (1991) Understanding family problems. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons Ltd
West, J. (1994) Child Centred Play Therapy. London: Edward Arnold
Wickham, R. and West, J. (2002) Therapeutic Work with Sexually Abused Children. London: Sage Publications Ltd
Simone Grant
Child Protection
