Understanding Academic and Social Issues

This assignment requires a thorough understanding and analysis of several provided research papers. The papers explore diverse topics encompassing intellectual disabilities, violence against women, human rights, learning disabilities, elder abuse, stigma, stress, peer victimization, and child maltreatment. Students must critically examine each paper's findings, methodologies, and implications for further research and societal impact.

Running head: SAFEGUARDING HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
Safeguarding Health and Social Care
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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SAFEGUARDING HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
Table of Contents
AC. 1.1 Why vulnerable groups may be vulnerable to abuse and/or harm to self and other.....1
AC 1.2 Review the risk factors which may lead to incidence of abuse and/or harm to self and
others..........................................................................................................................................3
AC 1.3........................................................................................................................................5
References..................................................................................................................................7

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SAFEGUARDING HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
AC. 1.1 Why vulnerable groups may be vulnerable to abuse and/or harm to self and
other
People with learning disability or suffering from challenging behaviour are vulnerable
to harm, abuse and exploitations under settings in which they are intended to receive care,
protection and sanctuary1. There are multiple factors that contribute towards abuse and these
include nature of the abuser and the abused, the society and organizational variables2. Abuse
is mostly perpetrated via malicious individuals who target people with challenging behaviour
deliberately. Moreover, according to reports, too many vulnerable people reside in
assessment and treatment units and these units increase the vulnerability of the people with
learning disability of getting victims of abuse3. Increase level of sick leaves in hospitals along
with high rate of staff turnover, shortages of skilled health care professionals, long working
hours, compassion fatigue, stress and development of authoritarian style of care contribute to
increase in the vulnerability of abuse among the vulnerable population4. Increase in the
patient pressure and lack of proper training among the staff may be cited as a reason behind
the restraining of the patients of Winterbourne View hospital under chair or forced
medication. Concerns have also been raised against the use of the agency staff where less
information is available about the quality of their work. The manner in which the staffs treat
and perceive people with learning difficulties is also significant4. According to BBC news,
corrupt and abusive care practices may be justified via “neutralization of moral concern”
whereby individual with learning disabilities are perceived as less than complete human
1 Chapman, S.L.C. and Wu, L.T., 2012. Substance abuse among individuals with intellectual
disabilities. Research in developmental disabilities, 33(4), pp.1147-1156.
2 Holmes, K.M. and O'loughlin, N., 2014. The experiences of people with learning disabilities on social
networking sites. British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 42(1), pp.1-5.
3 Fyson, R. and Cromby, J., 2013. Human rights and intellectual disabilities in an era of ‘choice’. Journal of
Intellectual Disability Research, 57(12), pp.1164-1172.
4 Ravoux, P., Baker, P. and Brown, H., 2012. Thinking on your feet: understanding the immediate responses of
staff to adults who challenge intellectual disability services. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual
Disabilities, 25(3), pp.189-202.

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SAFEGUARDING HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
being, with negligible human rights and values5. Numerous beliefs may be cited to justify the
abusive actions against the vulnerable groups. These beliefs include a perception of people
with learning disability as “other” and of lower status, the concept that they do not understand
what is happening around. Disrespectful actions and behaviours may potentially harm the
overall consequences, increasing the risk factors of substance abuse among the vulnerable
people. Homophobic and sexist mind set accelerates the risk that certain sexually derogatory
behaviours may be accepted, unrecognised and unchallenged6. Infantilizations, treating or
perceiving people with learning disabilities as children further increases the vulnerability to
physical and emotional abuse, where the staff are ambivalent in regards to rights of the
children and accept physical or sexual punishment of children or people with learning
disability as legitimate7. For example patients of Winterbourne View hospital are punished in
a barbaric mode like cold punishment showers and mouthwash into another's eyes. Jokes at
times are misunderstood by the people with learning disabilities as they suffer from low self-
esteem and thereby creating distress, humiliation, making them more vulnerable to abuse.
According to a report published by BBC, abuse of people with learning disabilities in remains
under-reported and often hidden. Even if the victimised individual highlights or discloses the
events of abuse, it went unheard or remains neglected. This series of neglection even after
repeated complains generates frustration or a sense of failure among them. This sense of
frustration along with the feeling of low self-esteem and humiliation transforms into tendency
of self-harm8. Like patients in the Winterbourne View hospital were found seeing jumping
out of the second floor window in an attempt to escape. However, this can also termed as an
act of self-harm along with desperate act to freed oneself from brutal torture.
5 BBC News. (2015). Learning disabilities abuse warning. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-
34204824 [Accessed 17 Jan. 2018].
6 Marsland, D., Oakes, P. and White, C., 2015. Abuse in care? A research project to identify early indicators of
concern in residential and nursing homes for older people. The Journal of Adult Protection, 17(2), pp.111-125.
7 Scott-Sheldon, L.A., Terry, D.L., Carey, K.B., Garey, L. and Carey, M.P., 2012. Efficacy of expectancy
challenge interventions to reduce college student drinking: A meta-analytic review.
8 Paterson, L., McKenzie, K. and Lindsay, B., 2012. Stigma, social comparison and self‐esteem in adults with an
intellectual disability. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 25(2), pp.166-176.

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AC 1.2 Review the risk factors which may lead to incidence of abuse and/or harm to self
and others
People with learning disability or with challenging behaviour are vulnerable to crimes
like interpersonal violence, physical or sexual assault. This is due to the fact that regardless of
population, sex and gender, they are often least able to identify danger and are least capable
of protecting themselves or obtain assistance within the criminal justice system9. The
traditional explanation of significantly high rate of abuse among the children with disability
and people with learning difficulty is referred to as Dependency Stress Model. According to
this model, people with learning disability or challenging behaviour are dependent on their
care givers, this increase in dependency results in increase in stress among the care givers and
the care givers in turn abuse their charges because they cannot cope up with the increases
level of stress10. However, majority have criticized this model via citing that the model is
constructed with a motive to excuse the offenders or even transforming the offenders as
victims of high level of stress. According to the Counter-Control Model, when one individual
exert control over another individual, the second individual counter-reacts with counter
control. Therefore victimization can be ascertained on the parameter of relative power of the
counter-acting individuals. From this point of view, people with learning disabilities would
frequently become the victim of abuse in comparison to the healthy population because they
lack power and are comparatively less successful in availing assistance from strong
protectors11. As per the Routine activities or Lifestyle Model, the nature of the potential
victims influences the expectation and the structural constraints under which they must adapt.
All these adaptations amalgamate the role of expectation along with structural constraints to
influence lifestyles of daily routines. Lifestyle in turn determines the amount of exposure to
9 Hauerwas, L.B., Brown, R. and Scott, A.N., 2013. Specific learning disability and response to intervention:
State-level guidance. Exceptional Children, 80(1), pp.101-120.
10 Scott, R. and Howard, A., 2013. 10. Models of Stress. Social stress, p.259.
11 Blake, J.J., Lund, E.M., Zhou, Q., Kwok, O.M. and Benz, M.R., 2012. National prevalence rates of bully
victimization among students with disabilities in the United States. School Psychology Quarterly, 27(4), p.210.

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SAFEGUARDING HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
the potential offenders and the risk of victimization. The model also identifies numerous
conditions that must happen in order to stage a crime like exposure of the potential victim in
front of the offender, motivation to commit the crime, willingness to avail criminal means to
achieve that end via the potential offender and offender’s belief that the expected end can be
attained without paying severe penalty. Thus the model highlights different possible
explanations for the risks of victimization among the people with disabilities12. Institutional
care may function to isolate the people with learning difficulties from the source of protection
(police) or to provide exposure towards potential offenders. An offender may select an
individual with disability as a victim out of the sheer belief that apprehension is less likely to
occur and punishment can be dogged or less severe12.
Disability may directly increase the risk factor of getting victimise of serious physical,
metal and sexual and use. For example learning disability hampers the judgement,
psychological development or intellectual ability, thereby making them vulnerable to abuse.
Other direct effects of disabilities include lack of physical strength (people with challenging
behaviour) and lack of sense of apprehension. Thus people with learning disability or
challenging behaviour may get victimized both when they comply too easily and when the
refusal of comply ignites retaliation13.
AC 1.3. Give and analysis of the impact of social and cultural factors on different types
of abuse and/or harm to self and others
Expectations and rules of behavioural norms within the culture or social group at
times encourage violence. Social and cultural rules are highly influential in defining the
12 Bunch, J., Clay-Warner, J. and Lei, M.K., 2015. Demographic characteristics and victimization risk: Testing
the mediating effects of routine activities. Crime & Delinquency, 61(9), pp.1181-1205.
13 Sentenac, M., Gavin, A., Gabhainn, S.N., Molcho, M., Due, P., Ravens-Sieberer, U., Matos, M.G.D.,
Malkowska-Szkutnik, A., Gobina, I., Vollebergh, W. and Arnaud, C., 2012. Peer victimization and subjective
health among students reporting disability or chronic illness in 11 Western countries. The European Journal of
Public Health, 23(3), pp.421-426.

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SAFEGUARDING HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
behaviour of an individual including the act of violence upon others. Norms can not only
protect from violence but also can support or encourage the use of it. For example, the
cultural acceptance of violence, either as ordinary procedure of resolving conflict or as
normal way of rearing child, is a risk factor for different types of interpersonal violence.
There are several cultural and social norms that support abuse for example child
maltreatment. Female children or girl child are valued less in the society in comparison to
male and thus the sexual or mental abuse over the disable or even the normal girl child went
unnoticed. In the Eastern countries, it is believe that disabled girl child deserves to get
victimised of abusive behaviour as they (girl child) as consider defaulter for their birth
disability. Moreover, the society also supports harassment of the disabled child who lacks
intellects and belongs to low educational within the family14. Society and culture also
supports the violent behaviour of men over female as they consider it is the right of the men
to assert power over women because men are considered to be socially superior. Mental
health problems like challenging behaviour or lack of intellect or learning disability is
considered to be embarrassing and shameful. This prevents the victimised disabled individual
from seeking help15. This prevalent social and cultural ethos made the local social services
and English national regulator (Care Quality Commission – CQC) to stay indifferent or
unresponsive to complain made against the mal-treatment faced by the residents of
Winterbourne View hospital.
Both the social and the cultural model of disability preach that disabled people must
try to overcome their disability in order to join the race of main stream people. This basic
difference in thoughts creates the partition among the disabled population and the normal
14 Stoltenborgh, M., Bakermans‐Kranenburg, M.J., Alink, L.R. and IJzendoorn, M.H., 2015. The prevalence of
child maltreatment across the globe: Review of a series of meta‐analyses. Child Abuse Review, 24(1), pp.37-50.
15 Fulu, E., Warner, X., Miedema, S., Jewkes, R., Roselli, T. and Lang, J., 2013. Why do some men use violence
against women and how can we prevent it. Quantitative Findings from the United Nations Multi-Country Study
on Men and Violence in Asia and the Pacific. Bankok: United Nations Development Programme, United
Nations Population Fund, United Nations Women and United nations Volunteers.

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SAFEGUARDING HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
healthy population, because such discrimination signifies that the disabled people are
intrinsically of less value due to their disability factor. This cast a devastating implication for
the disabled person’s ability to develop and grow16.
16 Briant, E., Watson, N. and Philo, G., 2013. Reporting disability in the age of austerity: the changing face of
media representation of disability and disabled people in the United Kingdom and the creation of new ‘folk
devils’. Disability & Society, 28(6), pp.874-889.

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SAFEGUARDING HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
References
BBC News. (2015). Learning disabilities abuse warning. [online] Available at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-34204824 [Accessed 17 Jan. 2018].
Blake, J.J., Lund, E.M., Zhou, Q., Kwok, O.M. and Benz, M.R., 2012. National prevalence
rates of bully victimization among students with disabilities in the United States. School
Psychology Quarterly, 27(4), p.210.
Briant, E., Watson, N. and Philo, G., 2013. Reporting disability in the age of austerity: the
changing face of media representation of disability and disabled people in the United
Kingdom and the creation of new ‘folk devils’. Disability & Society, 28(6), pp.874-889.
Bunch, J., Clay-Warner, J. and Lei, M.K., 2015. Demographic characteristics and
victimization risk: Testing the mediating effects of routine activities. Crime &
Delinquency, 61(9), pp.1181-1205.
Chapman, S.L.C. and Wu, L.T., 2012. Substance abuse among individuals with intellectual
disabilities. Research in developmental disabilities, 33(4), pp.1147-1156.
Fulu, E., Warner, X., Miedema, S., Jewkes, R., Roselli, T. and Lang, J., 2013. Why do some
men use violence against women and how can we prevent it. Quantitative Findings from the
United Nations Multi-Country Study on Men and Violence in Asia and the Pacific. Bankok:
United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Population Fund, United Nations
Women and United nations Volunteers.
Fyson, R. and Cromby, J., 2013. Human rights and intellectual disabilities in an era of
‘choice’. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 57(12), pp.1164-1172.

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SAFEGUARDING HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
Hauerwas, L.B., Brown, R. and Scott, A.N., 2013. Specific learning disability and response to
intervention: State-level guidance. Exceptional Children, 80(1), pp.101-120.
Holmes, K.M. and O'loughlin, N., 2014. The experiences of people with learning disabilities
on social networking sites. British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 42(1), pp.1-5.
Marsland, D., Oakes, P. and White, C., 2015. Abuse in care? A research project to identify
early indicators of concern in residential and nursing homes for older people. The Journal of
Adult Protection, 17(2), pp.111-125.
Paterson, L., McKenzie, K. and Lindsay, B., 2012. Stigma, social comparison and self‐esteem
in adults with an intellectual disability. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual
Disabilities, 25(2), pp.166-176.
Ravoux, P., Baker, P. and Brown, H., 2012. Thinking on your feet: understanding the
immediate responses of staff to adults who challenge intellectual disability services. Journal
of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 25(3), pp.189-202.
Scott, R. and Howard, A., 2013. 10. Models of Stress. Social stress, p.259.
Scott-Sheldon, L.A., Terry, D.L., Carey, K.B., Garey, L. and Carey, M.P., 2012. Efficacy of
expectancy challenge interventions to reduce college student drinking: A meta-analytic
review.
Sentenac, M., Gavin, A., Gabhainn, S.N., Molcho, M., Due, P., Ravens-Sieberer, U., Matos,
M.G.D., Malkowska-Szkutnik, A., Gobina, I., Vollebergh, W. and Arnaud, C., 2012. Peer
victimization and subjective health among students reporting disability or chronic illness in
11 Western countries. The European Journal of Public Health, 23(3), pp.421-426.

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SAFEGUARDING HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
Stoltenborgh, M., Bakermans‐Kranenburg, M.J., Alink, L.R. and IJzendoorn, M.H., 2015.
The prevalence of child maltreatment across the globe: Review of a series of meta‐
analyses. Child Abuse Review, 24(1), pp.37-50.