Ecological Assessment of Child Protection
Added on 2021-06-17
13 Pages4037 Words58 Views
|
|
|
Running head: ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF CHILD PROTECTIONECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF CHILD PROTECTIONName of student:Name of university:Author note:
1ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF CHILD PROTECTIONIntroduction: Case study scenarioIn this case study, it can be seen that Hannah is a woman in her mid-thirties andhas three children named Gemma, John and Luke and each of them have different fathers.Hannah has been a victim of child sexual abuse by her stepfather and has spent a considerableamount of time in care home. Due to the severe mental heal problem faced by Hannah, her twoolder children were placed in the in the care home for a period of five years after beingpermanently placed with the mother. Despite being placed with the mother they were under thesupervision of care orders. During this period, Hannah met with Liam, they moved to a suburbanregion together and she got pregnant. However, due to intimate partner violence that she facedfrom Liam, she had to end the relationship and move back to her children. As has beenestablished in the previously, all the children of Hannah belong from different partners.However, Hannah had to seek partner separation due to domestic abuse that she encountered ineach of her relationships. Because of the web of toxic relationships in her life, Hannah had toendure extreme level of bad health. Her declining mental health inhibited her from taking care ofLuke. During the growing up period of Luke Hannah used to stay in bed all day therefore had anegligent attitude towards Luke. Her siblings, Gemma and John due to the negligent attitude oftheir mother, Hannah, raised Luke. This pushed Luke to extreme bad health that was reflected inhis falling weight. All the three children were raised in the foster home whilst Hannah acceptedmental health service. Although Gemma and John were found a permanent placement in, fosterhome. This turned out to be beneficial for Gemma and John as they adapted quickly to the newenvironment and there was an improvement in their academics. The child protection socialworker felt that growing in the Youth Court would be the best choice for Luke. This short-termplacement for Luke proved to be beneficial for health as his health started rejuvenating. In the
2ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF CHILD PROTECTIONYouth Court where Luke was placed for short-term placement, he met the carer with whom hebecame attached. Until now, this has been the scenario. After a period six months, Hannahresumed to her normal life and started working in apart-time job. As she was feeling better andconfident about her improving health, she wanted the children to return to her. Parentingassessment was conducted and Hannah felt that it was post-natal depression that made herindifferent and negligent towards the child. Even her therapist was of the view that she is capableof taking care of the children and it was her loss of position as a mother she exacerbated herhealth. Hannah always welcomed Luke, when Luke came to meet with Hannah for three times.However, after twenty minutes of talking to him, she would leave Luke to play in the open andinstead she would talk with the social worker. Hannah had the habit of keeping her room messyand she would not accept advice from anyone on this. Because of Hannah’s absent mindednature and lack of a robust approach towards looking after Luke, the social worker had tointervene to prevent Luke from picking up sharp and dangerous objects. In addition to providingcare to Luke, the social worker had to intervene in taking care of the older children. The olderchildren were contended in their placements and had no intention of moving back with theirmother, Hannah. Another reason for their refusal to move back to Hannah is that they wereworried that they might have to look after Luke.
3ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF CHILD PROTECTIONAssessment and analysisAccording to the attachment theory, the child’s relationship with the primary caregiverduring the period of infancy is crucial for the development of the child. It further determines therelationship that the child will develop in the future. According to Bowlby and Ainsworth, theseparation of the infant from the mother can pose problem in the later stage of the relationship(Holmes, 2014). This is because the infant is the active participant who plays a determining rolein strengthening and fostering the relationship between the mother and the child. The strangesituation test developed by Ainsworth is important for understanding the experience ofseparation faced by the child from the mother (Stanley, Miller & Richardson Foster, 2012). It hasbeen stated that the quality of a child’s attachment has implications on her performancecognitively, academically, socially and behaviourally (Obegi & Berant, 2010). As it has beenwitnessed in the case of Gemma, Luke and John they were not academically inclined till the timethey were in the presence of Hannah who was not in the right frame of her mind to take care ofthe children. Once the children shifted to foster care and Youth court, there was a steadyimprovement in their academic sphere. Drawing from the argument of the attachment theorychildren who are not positively attached to their mother show lack of participation in the socialcircle. The child welfare system is overrepresented with children who are insecure and havedisorganized attachment with their mother.The ecological framework in the assessment of cases especially for children and familyissues has been quite important in the field of social work. During the early 1970s when socialwork scholarship was at its formative stage, there has been emphasis of the person-in-environment perspective pioneered by scholars such as Mary Richmond, Germain and Hartmanthat has been considered as groundbreaking and made an important contribution of social work
End of preview
Want to access all the pages? Upload your documents or become a member.
Related Documents
Safeguarding Children: A Critical Reflectionlg...
|8
|1798
|203
NRS 311| Assessment Task: Child Protection Case Studylg...
|12
|2642
|16
Nursing Process Applied to a Family: Assessment, Planning, Implementing and Evaluatinglg...
|11
|3274
|487
Kathleen Megan Folbigg Assignment 2022lg...
|9
|2100
|33
Safeguarding Children: Reflection on a Case of Sexual Exploitationlg...
|16
|5150
|20
Ashley Smith: A Case of Not Connecting the Dotslg...
|9
|2604
|170