Scenario Analysis and Critical Thinking in Child Protection Investigations

Lara is a two-and-a-half-year-old girl whose mother Emily finds it challenging to manage her behavior. After a health visitor completes an assessment and notices bruises on Lara's arms, Emily admits that the injuries were caused by shaking and grabbing. The health visitor advises Emily to walk away when feeling frustrated. Emily consents to a family needs assessment, which leads to a referral under Child Protection Procedures to Social Care Services.

Keeping Children Safe
from Harm

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Understanding the concept of significant harm...........................................................................4
Identifying significant harm.........................................................................................................4
Strengths and burdens influencing the parent's ability to care for children.................................5
Identifying main risks and types of harm in the development of children..................................7
Policies and theories related to development of children ...........................................................7
Child Protection Plan...................................................................................................................8
Advantages and Disadvantages of formal Child Protection Plan................................................9
Conflicts that may arise between professionals, agency roles and family members ..................9
REFERENCE.................................................................................................................................11
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It is the prime responsibility of parents to provide safe and secure atmosphere to their
children. Childhood is a very critical stage where children develop their cognitive or learning
abilities and start to see the world from their own perspectives. The behavior of parents, teachers
and peers greatly influence behavioral patterns of a child (Blacklock and Phillips, 2015). But it is
also true that sometimes, parents behave with the children in an undesirable manner which
creates negative psychological impact on minds of the children. Therefore, it becomes very
crucial for parents to understand significance of effective parenting (Ainsworth and Hansen,
2015). They need to protect their children from potential harm. This harm can be in the form of
several abuses such as physical, emotional, sexual abuse and neglect. The present essay explores
critical aspects related to children’s safety from potential harm from family members in the given
scenario. It also identifies risks and types of significant harm and explores relevant policies
associated with protection of children (Rasool, 2015).
The actions taken by the professionals in the given scenario in assessing the risk
factor is satisfactory to a certain extent. but there is a requirement to adopt a better approach to
assess the risk associated with safety concerns of Lara. Health visitor observed the bruises on
girl's arms. After assesing reason for her injuries he advised Emily to take the assistance of
Social Care services. It was a good move. However it can be critically evaluated that the need on
part of health visitor was to dig deeper into the causes of difficult behavior of Lara as well as
reason for her mother's frustration. It can thus be suggested that the immediate concern in the
given scenario was to manage the difficult behavior of Lara and to protect her from the
significant harm.
Understanding the concept of significant harm
Significant harm is a concept introduced by the Children Act 1989. It is referred to as
“the threshold that justifies compulsory intervention of family life in the best interests of children
and provides local authorities a duty to make inquiries to decide whether they need to take
actions to safeguard or promote welfare of child who is suffering or is likely to suffer significant
harm.” (Children Act 1989, 2015).There are several forms of significant harm that can be
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broadly classified into Physical, Sexual, Emotional Abuse and Negligence (Chandler and
Maidment, 2015).
Identifying significant harm
In the given scenario, it was very important for the health visitor to identify the
significant harm to Lara. This is where Common Assessment Framework came into the picture.
The assessment provides necessary information regarding significant harm to child. In order to
understand and recognize significant harm the following aspects need to be considered: Nature
of harm in respect to poor child care, impact on child's physical and mental health development,
capability of parents in meeting needs of their child and the family background. It is also
important to see child's reactions, perceptions and desire into consideration on the basis of their
age. In order to identify the significant harm to Lara in the given scenario, different forms of
harm need to be discussed:
Physical Abuse
Physical abuse involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, suffocation, burning or
causing any other physical injury to a child. Physical abuse is a result of aggressive behavior of
parents or children, emotional distress and disturbed behavior (Carlton, 2015). In the given
scenario, the health visitor observes bruises on upper arms of Lara. Appearance of Bruises in
children during developing age is a matter of great concern for health professionals. Thus, can be
critically evaluated that it is very important for health visitors to ask for explanation of these
bruises from Emily so as to treat her in the best possible manner.
Emotional Abuse
Emotional abuse hinders psychological development of a child as it negatively impacts
their mental state. It involves beating the confidence of a kid by saying words which demotivate
the child such as they are not valuable or they are worthless (Emerson and Brigham,
2015).Refraining children to express freely, by making their fun in front of others or by silencing
them deliberately is also a kind of Emotional abuse. In the given scenario, Emily stated that Lara
is a difficult kid to manage and refused to obey her. Hence it can be assessed that the need is to
identify the roots of emotional distress of Lara so that she can be protected from emotional abuse
(Blacklock and Phillips, 2015).
Negligence
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Negligence refers to continuous failure to meet physiological or psychological needs of a
child (Coates, 2015).In the given scenario, during the common assessment Lara was found to
meet all the expected developmental milestones.
On the suggestion of health visitor, the social care worker from Social Care Services
came to visit the family for a medical checkup of both children in the given scenario. From the
checkup it had been concluded that there were no other signs of physical harm to Lara except
bruises on her upper arms. The boy was underweight which generated the need for further
investigation. However, there were several cuts and bruises found on his body which was
explained as injuries caused during playing outside (Houston, 2015). This encouraged the social
worker to investigate with his teacher who showed concerns on the boy's behavior. She also
reported difficulties in contacting with parents to discuss her concerns about the boy. It can be
critically assessed that the care professionals should carry out a detailed assessment of the
children and family needs in order to prevent any significant harm to children in the future. In
order to facilitate the assessment, it is important to consider the strengths and burdens which
influence abilities of the parents to take proper care of Lara and Thomas (Blacklock and Phillips,
2015).
Strengths and burdens influencing the parent's ability to care for children
On assessing details about family background it was found that Emily, mother of Lara
and Thomas had a troubled childhood. She had weak bond with her parents. She had mild
learning difficulties and used to attend special school. Emily's parents failed to take proper care
of her due to which it greatly affected her psychological development. Her parents left her at a
very early age. Lack of proper care, support and love hampered the psychological development
of Emily as a child. She was taken care at foster home for most of the time during her childhood.
She became pregnant at the age of 15 and gave birth to Thomas. In the medical assessment of
Thomas it was found that he is underweight and looked very young of his actual age. The reason
for his slow development can be related to Emily's teenage pregnancy. During teenage female
body is not biologically well developed to conceive baby. Teenage pregnancy take a toll on both
mother's as well as baby's health. Besides this, teenage mothers lack essential knowledge on
parenting. They need proper guidance and skills to meet nutritional as well as emotional
requirements of self and their new born babies (Flower and Ritchie, 2015). In the given scenario,
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Emily had no one in her family to support her except her elder sister Maureen and her husband.
They supported Emily and Thomas for the first five years. They helped Emily in finding a job so
that she could became independent and take good care of Thomas. After joining work Emily
came in contact with Spencer and became pregnant with Lara. This was an unexpected news for
Spencer but Emily convinced him to live with her and Thomas. It was a better decision taken by
Emily as it would provide a familiar atmosphere to both children. It is very important for the
development of children to receive love, care, affection, support and guidance from both the
parents (Gershoff, Purtell and Holas, 2015). Spencer had expectations with Emily to take good
care of home and wanted her to be more energetic about her responsibilities. On the other hand,
Lara used to think that it is the duty of Spencer to be with her because of Lara. It has been
observed that expectations when not meet in the desired manner leads to emotional distress and
frustration. In the given scenario, Lara was very affectionate with her father but was more
withdrawn and confrontational with her mother. It is due to the fact that Emily abstain Lara to do
things she wanted to do. This annoyed her and therefore she used to revolt Emily by showing
aggression. Emily instead of dealing her with love showed anger. On the contrary Spencer was
more affectionate towards Lara as compared to Thomas. The discriminatory behavior of Spencer
created distrust in the boy. Thomas had mild learning difficulties and was not socially confident.
Her teacher reported deterioration in his behavior. He liked to spend most of his time staying
outside home to avoid Spencer. He indulged in small thefts at school. He found Lara irritating
and demanding. The discriminatory behavior of Spencer with Thomas encouraged him to believe
that things would get better if his real father would come to him. As a care taker Spencer failed
to develop bond with the boy and assess hi care needs (Agnich and Hale, 2015).
Identifying main risks and types of harm in the development of children
From the family assessment it is been evident that there are certain risks of potential harm
to both children in the family. Since Emily herself had learning disabilities during childhood it
increase the risk of development of learning disorder sin both children (Low, Roland, Baird and
Chantler, 2015). However Thomas was already affected with the disability and had learning
support at school. Another risk include development of behavioral problems to both children due
to discriminatory behavior of Emily towards Lara and Spencer towards Thomas. Further the
child may involve in criminal activity was quite obvious behavior in Thomas. In addition to this,
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there are significant harm to both children in the given case. Talking about Lara, she might be
more prone to physical abuse in future by her mother. She behaved aggressively when her needs
are not fulfilled in the desired manner (Gershoff, Purtell and Holas, 2015). On the other hand,
Thomas is more prone to emotional harm and neglect. The discriminatory behavior of Spencer
towards Thomas put him at the risk of developing disturbed behavior which limits the future
growth opportunities for the child.
Policies and theories related to development of children
There are several theories related to child development. These are as follows:
Erik Erikson's Psychosocial Theory
The theory explains that personality of an individual develops in a sequential form
throughout his life stages. Development of Ego Identity is the most important element of Erikson
psycho-social stages (Cherry, 2015). According to this theory, the ego identity of individual
changes constantly due to experiences and information an individual acquire while making
interactions with others on a daily basis. Identity refers to the beliefs, values and ideals that assist
in shaping the behavior of an individual. Childhood is considered a very important stage in a
person's life where the identify is formed. If this stage is managed properly the later development
of children becomes easy whereas if it is manged poorly it leads to development of severe
behavioral problems in the individual which remain throughout his life. The virtue of the first
psycho-social stage is trust. The child depends entirely on parents and care givers for food, care,
love, warmth and safety. At this stage if the child develops the trust he feels safe. Failure to
develop trust results into development of mistrust and fear among children. In the given case
both the children have mistrust and feel that the world is inconsistent as their care givers are
emotionally unavailable to them.
Piaget's Constructive Theory
According to this theory, children build their own learning through experience. When
children come across a new information they attempt to gather and assimilate it into their own
learning of the world (Meinck, Cluver, Boyes and Mhlongo, 2015). The theory helps parents and
teachers to let children acquire their own knowledge rather than simply asking them to follow the
set instructions.
Policies to keep children safe
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There are several policies in UK legislation in keeping children safe from harm. These are as
follows:
Children Act 1989: The act is formulated in order to protect the children from potential harm. It
further defines the roles and responsibilities of parents to keep their children safe and meet their
care needs (Children Act 1989, 2015).
Children Act 2004: It further strengthens Children Act 1989. It encourages partnership between
local agencies such as police, health care providers and jurisdiction to cooperate in promotion of
well being of children and young people (Children Act 2004, 2015.). It laid down regulations to
monitor the functions of foster parents to safeguard the rights of children and protect them from
significant harm.
Child Protection Plan
Child Protection Plan refers to a plan created by local authorities which include measures
to keep the children safe from harm and improving conditions for the family. Emily and Spencer
need to be informed about the plan which include the reason for implementing this plan, services
which would be offered and responsibilities of parents in child protection (Child maltreatment.
2014). On the basis of detailed assessment, the local authorities need to create an effective plan
to protect Lara and Thomas in the given scenario. The reasons that generated the need of
developing a child protection plan include Emily's previous registration with child protection
plan (Child abuse - child protection plans, 2015). In addition to this, the presence of bruises on
Lara's arms and family investigation encouraged the local authorities to create the child
protection plan for the children.
Advantages and Disadvantages of formal Child Protection Plan
The advantages of formal child protection plan include protection of kids from physical
and emotional abuse as well as negligence. The plan is specific and measurable. The key worker
involved in the case is responsible for coordinating effectively to the core group. The plan
include regular visits to the family to offer emotional and practical support to family members. In
addition to this, other services such as domestic help and nursery would be provided to the
concerned family (Palmer, 2015). The plan is also beneficial in allocating specific roles and
responsibilities to the concerned entities involved in the plan. Thus no conflicts would take place
related to responsibilities clam. Besides this, proper monitoring of actions will encourage
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effectiveness of the designed child protection plan. If any entity fails to meet their roles and
responsibilities then in that case the local authority can apply for court order (Manson, 2015).
The disadvantages of the plan include the denial of parents to allow social workers in
their homes if the plan is in place. But if they suspect danger to children they can apply for
emergency protection order to take children away from parents.
Conflicts that may arise between professionals, agency roles and family members
There may be certain conflicts which may arise during the implementation of child
protection plan to keep the children safe in the given context. The differences in attitudes ,
beliefs and values of health professionals and local agencies may give rise to conflicts. Further
lack of effective communication skills regarding the child protection plan may cause certain
issues (Lee, 2015). For example if the family wanted to move to a new location that it becomes
very important for the family to inform local authorities. If they fail to communicate this
information to the local authorities then court legal actions can be taken against the parents of the
children.
Thus it can be concluded from the above discussion that keeping children safe from harm
is very critical for parents as well as local authorities. Since childhood is a very crucial stage of
an individual's lifespan as the identity formation takes place majorly at this stage. A child carries
perception, learning and experience of existing stage to the next stage which creates the base of
psychological development. The stage need to be managed very effectively to broaden the scope
of potential growth opportunities for the child. The development is hampered when significant
harm is caused to children. The significant harm is categorized mainly into physical abuse,
sexual abuse, emotional abuse and negligence. These types of harm affects the physical and
psychological development of children. Therefore it becomes very critical to carry out a common
assessment in a very effective manner. On the basis, this assessment, a detailed evaluation of
family needs and risk factors need to be done. There are several policies that promote child
protection and well being of children. Local authorities are involved to formulate a proper child
protection plan on the basis of critical assessment of family background. The Child Protection
Plan is beneficial in protecting the child from potential harm.
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REFERENCE
Books and Journals
Agnich, L.E. and Hale, M., 2015. Committing Mass Violence to Education and Learning.
Contexts. 14(2). pp.82-83.
Ainsworth, F. and Hansen, P., 2015. Understanding Difficult Parental Behaviours During a Child
Protection Investigation. Children Australia. 40(01). pp.20-22.
Blacklock, N. and Phillips, R., 2015. Reshaping the Child Protection Response to Domestic
Violence Through Collaborative Working. Domestic Violence and Protecting Children:
New Thinking and Approaches. p.196.
Carlton, M., 2015. Safe-guarding & Child Protection Policy. Policy. 2014.
Chandler, J. and Maidment, L., 2015. Safeguarding Children, Young People and Adults Policy.
Policy.
Coates, D., 2015. Working with families with parental mental health and/or drug and alcohol
issues where there are child protection concerns: inter‐agency collaboration. Child & Family
Social Work.
Emerson, E. and Brigham, P., 2015. Exposure of children with developmental delay to social
determinants of poor health: cross‐sectional case record review study. Child: care, health
and development. 41(2). pp.249-257.
Flower, L. and Ritchie, C., 2015. 9 Taking risks: living with danger–the benefits and safeguards.
Challenge and Change for the Early Years Workforce: Working with Children from Birth to
8. p.153.
Gershoff, E.T., Purtell, K.M. and Holas, I., 2015. School Corporal Punishment Effects on
Children. In Corporal Punishment in US Public Schools (pp. 37-46). Springer International
Publishing.
Houston, S., 2015. Reducing Child Protection Error in Social Work: Towards a Holistic-Rational
Perspective. Journal of Social Work Practice. pp.1-15.
Kimbrough-Melton, R.J. and Melton, G.B., 2015. “Someone will notice, and someone will care”:
How to build Strong Communities for Children.Child abuse & neglect. 41. pp.67-78.
Lee, T., 2015. Child Welfare Practice in Domestic Violence Cases in New York City: Problems
for Poor Women of Color. Women, Gender, and Families of Color. 3(1). pp.58-87.
Low, D. and et.al., 2015. Safeguarding children and improving their care in the UK.The Lancet.
386(9991). pp.313-314.
Manson, W., 2015. “Keeping Children Safe”: the Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme in
Scotland.Journal of Sexual Aggression.21(1). pp.43-55.
McManus, M.A., Almond, L., Rhodes, H. and Brian, D., 2015. The Co-occurrence of Risk
Factors for Intra-familial Child Homicides and Suspicious Child Deaths in England and
Wales.JOURNAL OF INVESTIGATING CHILD DEATH. 1(1). p.32.
Meinck, F. and et.al., 2015. Risk and Protective Factors for Physical and Sexual Abuse of
Children and Adolescents in Africa A Review and Implications for Practice.Trauma,
Violence, & Abuse. 16(1). pp.81-107.
Palmer, S., 2015.Toxic childhood: How the modern world is damaging our children and what we
can do about it. Hachette UK.
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Rasool, S., 2015. Help-Seeking After Domestic Violence The Critical Role of Children. Journal
of interpersonal violence, p.0886260515569057.
Online
Children Act 1989, 2015. [Online] Available through
<http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1989/41/contents>. [Accessed on 23rd Dec 2015].
Children Act 2004, 2015. [Online] Available through
<http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/31/contents>. [Accessed on 23rd Dec 2015].
Cherry, K, 2015. Erik Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development. [Online] Available
through <http://psychology.about.com/od/psychosocialtheories/a/psychosocial.htm>.
[Accessed on 23rd Dec 2015].
Child maltreatment. 2014. [Online] Available through
<http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs150/en/>. [Accessed on 23rd Dec 2015].
Child abuse - child protection plans, 2015. [Online] Available through
<https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/relationships/children-and-young-people/child-abuse/local-
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Scenario summary
In the given scenario, Lara is a two and a half year old lively girl whose mother Emily finds her
very difficult to handle. Emily follows the suggestion of nurse worker who persuades her to
visit health visitor so that they can develop strategies to assist her in managing little girl's
behavior. The health visitor completes a common assessment after two and a half year and
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notices bruises on upper arms of Lara. When asked, Emily lied but eventually admitted that
the injuries are caused to Lara due to grabbing of her arms and shaking her. She also
mentioned that Lara had become very difficult to handle lately. The health visitor advised
Emily to walk away from Lara whenever she feels frustrated. Emily then gave the consent for
family need assessment and health visitor made contact with Social Care Services in order to
receive further assistance. Social Care services found that there were no records of Lara with
them but Emily's records were found in the neighboring Children's Services. This created
urgency to refer Lara under Child Protection Procedures immediately to Social Care Services
(Blacklock and Phillips, 2015).
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