Role and Responsibilities of Practitioners in Child Abuse Cases

Assignment

Answers of questions-
Role and responsibilities of practitioner
The role and responsibilities of practitioner with regards to the abuse children face are as
follows-
 Identifying children facing difficulties- Practitioners need to identify those children
who are facing stress due to abuse inflicted on them (Afifi and et.al., 2016). Abuse can be
of different forms such as physical, emotional, sexual, financial, bullying, self-harm,
neglect and exploitation.
 Counseling them- It is also necessary for the practitioners to counsel the children
effectively. They must be able to relieve them of the stress they are facing due to the
harm or abuse inflicted on them. This will allow them to take the necessary actions.
 Reporting incidents- It is essential that the incidents which are related with child abuse
are reported immediately to the higher authorities so that they can take a stringent action
which is required to deal with such type of cases.
Roles and responsibilities of others
The roles and responsibilities of others are as follows-
 To notice behavioral changes in child- For other people in the society, it is necessary
that they notice the behavioral changes in the child who has faced abuse (Bartlett and
et.al., 2017). This will help them in knowing that the child is facing certain problems.
 To take them to counselor- It is the responsibility of the other people, it is required that
the child is taken to the counselor so that effective counseling can be done. This will help
in reducing their problems and issues.
 To reduce their tension- Other people in the society can reduce the tension of child who
has faced abuse by being interactive and talking to him/her and giving him/her the
required motivation and confidence. This will increase the confidence level of child and
he/she would be able to reduce the tension faced. Thus it is necessary for the people in
society to interact with such a child.
Importance of relationships
There is an importance of establishment of relationships. It is described as follows-
 Self-esteem- The development of relationships with children who have faced child abuse
helps in maintaining their self-esteem. They can feel as if they are being given due
importance within the society. This can lead towards decrease in their isolation.
 Sense of belonging- If the people in society develop relationships with children who
have faced abuse then it can develop a sense of belonging. It can lead towards these
children becoming open and interactive.

 Social skills- The people in society need to interact more with children so that their social
skills can be developed effectively (Beier and et.al., 2016). This can provide these
children an opportunity to interact and learn which can lead towards enhancement of their
social skills and they will also not feel isolated and will not hide their problems.
Taking full account of a child’s understanding
It is very important to take full account of a child’s understanding of the events related to
abuse which happened with him/her. This is due to the following reasons-
 Getting full details- Taking full account of understanding of child helps a lot in getting
to know the full details about the incident (Briere and et.al., 2017). The child should be
able to narrate what actually happened in the incident and how the abuse was actually
inflicted.
 Getting to know child’s perspective- It is necessary that a child’s perspective is
identified so that finer details of the incident can be identified. The child should be able
to narrate the perspective about the incident.
 Providing help to the child- It is also essential to provide child with the required help. If
child has own perspective then it will be easier to provide the required help.
Avoiding certain actions or statements in the court
Actions which can be avoided in the court during the hearings of child abuse cases are as
follows-
 Unnecessary pressure on child- It is important in the court unnecessary pressure is not
put up on the child (Caslini and et.al., 2016). This is so because in such a case the right
answer cannot be expected.
 Asking irrelevant questions- It should be noted that irrelevant questions which have no
link with the child must not be discussed. This is so because it will lead towards wrong
answer being given due to undue pressure.
 Asking child to give unnecessary evidences- It should not be done because it will put
the child under undue pressure and stress. Also, this will lead towards problems and
issues due to the child not being able to give evidences. Thus it should be avoided in
order to have a fair trial.
Supporting the child
It is important to support a child who has faced child abuse. The reasons must be told for
disclosure of information. These reasons can be-
 For counseling- It is important to tell the child the need to narrate the incident and give
full disclosure because only then a counselor can help in counseling the child so that
tension can be reduced.