Assessment on Child protection

Requirement

Question 1 (6 marks)
Consider the readings in Week 5. What are the possible implications of child protection workers’ views of mothering on their decision making in relation to child abuse and neglect? Discuss THREE (3) ways in which child protection workers could reduce “mother blaming” in their practice using good literature to support your reasoning.
Question 2 (6 marks)
Connolly, Crichton-Hill, & Ward (2006) describe a multi-factorial model that provides 4 clusters of vulnerability factors for child abuse and neglect. Read through the case study for Week 4 (Leticia and Dashon) and discuss which vulnerability factors you would most associate with this family. Use good literature to support your discussion.
Question 3 (6 marks)
Kaur (2009) undertook research with child protection workers to identify their perceptions of "culturally sensitive" practice. Define culturally sensitive practice and discuss THREE (3) reasons why you believe this is an essential skill for social workers in Australia. Support your discussion with good literature.
Question 4 (6 marks)
In a paragraph summarise the key findings of Forrester et al (2007). Critically analyze these findings and provide THREE (3) key recommendations you would make to improve communication between social workers and families when addressing issues of child abuse and neglect. Use good literature to support your discussion
Question 5 (6 marks)
Consider the materials provided in Week 9. Put yourself in the shoes of the worker, Emily Jones. What would be your key concerns about Wasim at the current time?Discuss THREE (3) key concerns and identify three (3) questions you would ask the family to assist you to gather information about the current situation which might assist with
your referral to the Children’s Social Services Department. Use good literature regarding children’s’ experiences of neglect to support your discussion.

Solution

Question 1

A child protection worker has to take into consideration a lot of factors so that the issues of child abuse and neglect could be effectively addressed. These workers are responsible for a) assessing the safety of children, b) intervention in order to protect children from harm; c) strengthening the abilities of families for the protection of their children, and d) providing or suggesting a means for either reunification or an alternative of the safe family for the children(Wolfe, & Pierre, 1989). 
Abuse and neglect of children in a family can be due to many reasons but the effects on the children because of any of which reasons are very grave. So, the intervention needed at these instances by the child protection workers should be in a constructive manner. The intervention should provide not only the remedy but should also prevent future maltreatment of the children. They should make sure that the negative consequences be thwarted away. In the present scenario, it is clear that Michael is suffering from depression and mental illness, so, he is totally unable to take care of his kids. So, his wife Penny should be provided support and strength to take care of the family.
The child protection workers do not work in a vacuum. They have to conduct a family assessment as well to ensure the safety of the children(Wissow, 1995). So, the child workers can work out their plans without mother blaming by following ways:

  • Identification of family strength to provide a strong foundation.

  • A case plan describing how the family will work towards achieving positive outcomes.

  • A permanent plan that identifies the effective alternative procedures with which the reunification could be achieved. 

  • The plan for reducing the risk regarding the maltreatment by the identification as well as addressing those factors that place children at risk.

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Question 2

Sometimes, families seem to be at risk because its wellbeing particularly that of its children are threatened due to individual, parental and family circumstances. These are called vulnerabilities with which no just the children but the whole family is at risk of poor physical or mental health. The example of possible factors due to which families become vulnerable is poverty, single parenting, unemployment, unhealthy relationships between parenting, depression, substance abuse or social isolation(Widom, 2001). 
The family discussed in the present scenario is vulnerable primarily due to the depression of Michael. Michael is living with social anxiety and depression for quite some time and his family has tried to do whatever it takes to cure him. But the situation is not any better even after so many things being done. It was quite clear when his wife went away for some time and his house converted into a complete mess. His children could not take care of themselves, so, without proper care by anyone, they were in bad condition as well as hungry. So, obviously the family has been rendered very vulnerable once the mother was out of the house. These children have been living in such an environment for quite long, so there will certainly be a negative effect on their psyche(Silverman, Reinherz, &Giaconia, 1996). The other factor that can be associated with this family is a certain degree of social isolation. As a matter of fact, parenting cannot be done outside a wider context of community and societal relationships. This family seems to be a little bit disconnected from society because of the prevalence of the negative environment in it. The children were not wearing proper clothes and nobody seemed to have visited them and helped them with that. It has been observed that families that are vulnerable are also often financially weak, so, it is a hard time for them to use services and take care of their interests.

Question 3

A culturally sensitive practice refers to the practices that acknowledge and incorporate the importance of culture into society. When we assess the cross-cultural relations, analyze dynamics resulting from cultural differences and expand our cultural knowledge into the domain wider public perception, then the unique cultural needs are met(Kaur, 2014). In Australia, it is very important to understand the value of culturally sensitive practices on the part of social workers. So, the following are some important reasons for them to utilize culturally sensitive practice:

  • Understanding the family values and its belief system: according to the studies, the family origin has a significant role to play in shaping and influencing a child’s perspective. The social workers can get a fair idea about culturally and linguistically different parents who live in their collectivist traditional cultures in which their children are raised and educated. The aboriginal culture in Australia has been there for thousands of years and so are their cultural norms. They should be given due respect.

  • Cultural identity and belonging: most of the families that are culturally different tend to pass on their values and belief systems to the next generation. The culture greatly influences the child's upbringing and communication between the parents and their children. So, social practitioners are required to display a profound cultural sensitivity whenever they have to work with children and people(Kaur, 2014). Many CALD parents are always in apprehension that their children will lose their cultures and traditional values.

  • Religion and spirituality: it is very important for the social workers and practitioners to demonstrate an understanding and awareness as to how the culturally different children or people for that matter would like to sustain their religion and spirituality. They are also required to be mindful as to where is no culturally matched placement regarding any kind of challenges or issues that could emerge due to different religion and culture.

Question 4

For many social workers, it is often very difficult to work with the families as it seems to be an uphill task. The families have their own understanding of their socioeconomic status, cultural identities and challenges towards engaging themselves with the outside world. So, in order to improve communication between social workers and families when addressing issues of child abuse and neglect, the following points should be factored in:

  1. Understanding the family identity: it is crucial for social workers to know as to how the families identify themselves. The parents of a family sometimes because of certain identity crises do not understand their children’s needs. They tend to behave in such a manner that makes it difficult for their children to cope and therefore they are abused and neglected(Clark, 2000). So, social practitioners should communicate with the view that includes their family identity.

  2. Understanding the parents’ current state: it is one of the most important factors with which the social workers can establish healthy communication with the parents of a family. Such an approach allows families to share the necessary information regarding their difficulties. It can give them a fair idea in which way their children are maltreated and misused in the family. By using this approach, parents realize that something is really wrong with their attitudes towards their children.

  3. Developing a strategic treatment plan: even if any family is going through a maladaptive level of functioning, it is pertinent for the social workers to make sure that they have a strategic plan in place. After properly communicating with the family and knowing fully well how and in which manner the children are maltreated, the social worker should have a stated goal to address all the issues so that the children’s safety and care should be ensured(Pillemer et al, 1998).

Question 5

The people who are isolated, are also at greater risk regarding health problems. So, being a social worker like Emily Jones, I would be concerned about the health of Wasim. At this point, he is very vulnerable to depression. But what is really concerning about this social isolation is the negative outcomes such as lack of motivation and encouragement and therefore, lack of confidence and trust in his life. 

The scientific and medical research has proved time again that social connection and wellness have a deep impact on our emotions as well as physical health(Grenade &Boldy, 2008). Most of the time people get sick because of social isolation. Loneliness can send a person down a path toward bad health, and even more intense loneliness.The following are the key concerns that may arise due to social isolation:

  • Humans being social animals, when feel socially isolated can experience chronic stress as the symptoms of stress as well as social isolation are similar and identical. So, it is the stress due to loneliness that make the people sick.

  • Humans are evolved in such a way that they depend on others for their survival. So, the individuals who are feeling or isolated from others may also develop high level of anxiety. So, because of this anxiety, many emotional and psychological changes could take place in the lives of individuals(House, 2001).

  • If a person particularly a child has been kept isolated from society or from his peer groups, it likely that he can develop strange habits or no habits at all. That will not be in the line of societal norms and therefore, he will feel ill-fitted for the society.

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References

  • Clark, S. C. (2000). Work/family border theory: A new theory of work/family balance. Human relations, 53(6), 747-770.

  • Grenade, L., &Boldy, D. (2008). Social isolation and loneliness among older people: issues and future challenges in the community and residential settings.Australian Health Review, 32(3),     468-478.

  • House, J. S. (2001). Social isolation kills, but how and why?. Psychosomatic medicine, 63(2), 273-    274

  • Kaur, J. (2014). A Good Practice Guide to supporting children and young people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds in Out Of Home Care. jkdiversityconsultants.com.au. Retrieved 13 October 2016, from http://www.jkdiversityconsultants.com.au/PracticeGuide/Culturally-Sensitive-Practice-in-Out-of-Home-Care-Practice-Guide-KaurJ-2014.pdf

  • Pillemer, K., Hegeman, C. R., Albright, B., Henderson, C., & Morrow-Howell, N. (1998). Building bridges between families and nursing home staff: The partners in caregiving program. The     Gerontologist, 38(4), 499-503.

  • Silverman, A. B., Reinherz, H. Z., &Giaconia, R. M. (1996). The long-term sequelae of child and adolescent abuse: A longitudinal community study.Child abuse & neglect, 20(8), 709-723.

  • Widom, C. S. (2001). Child abuse and neglect. In Handbook of youth and justice (pp. 31-47).     Springer US.

  • Wissow, L. S. (1995). Child abuse and neglect. New England Journal of Medicine, 332(21), 1425-    1431.

  • Wolfe, D. A., & Pierre, J. S. (1989). Child abuse and neglect. In Handbook of child psychopathology (pp. 377-398). Springer US.

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