Essay on Child Abuse: Protection, Intervention, and Prevention

This essay delves into the pervasive issue of child abuse and neglect, emphasizing the critical need for comprehensive protection, intervention, and prevention strategies. It highlights the alarming statistics on child abuse, including the high percentage of cases involving biological parents and the increased risk of mortality and morbidity among abused children. The essay underscores the importance of making child protection a collective responsibility, moving beyond the confines of governmental and institutional efforts to engage every member of society. It examines the tactics used by offenders, such as grooming and manipulation, and the devastating effects of abuse on victims, including trauma, psychological issues, and long-term health consequences. The essay calls for breaking the societal silence surrounding child sexual abuse, changing the language used, and supporting victims in their rehabilitation. It also explores the role of child protection practitioners and therapists in providing counseling services and creating safe environments for children and families. Ultimately, the essay argues that protecting children requires courageous conversations, challenging assumptions about perpetrators and victims, and taking action to safeguard children in the community.

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Child Abuse and Neglect, Protection, Intervention and Prevention
Child protection is everybody's business
02-Apr-18
(Student Details: )

Essay
All children in this world need to be taken care of, to be cared and loved and to be kept
safe by those who have been given this responsibility, which in normal situations is imparted
with the parents. Yet, there are a number of children who feel unsafe, who have been orphaned,
and who have been forced into sex trade and prostitution, and even have to scavenge the streets
on daily basis (Dingwall, Eekelaar & Murray, 2014). These are the children who would never
know what the normal life of a person is; till the time something dramatic changes in their lives,
they would never feel safe and secure in this world. Even though this is a very shocking
situation, it is quite prevalent in Australia and there are still a number of children who are in dire
need of protection (Higgins & Katz, 2008). The Children’s Fund of the United Nations has given
the statistics on biological parents being child abusers, and this figure stands at 80%. Then there
is the risk of death as a result of maltreatment which is 3 times higher than the ones aged below
one year, in comparison to the to the ones age between one to four. They face double the risk in
comparison to the ones in between the ages of five to fourteen. There is at least one child who
dies each week due to cruelty of an adult and the figure of abuse and neglect is not known (Royal
College of Midwives, 2008). The problem is increased as majority cases go unreported. Due to
this situation being so grave, there is a need for taking proactive measures to safeguard the
children. Further, it is not enough for such measures to be taken solely by the authorities and the
child protection has to be made the business of every person, to truly save the innocent lives.
In the recent history, there have been a string of major sexual assault scandals on the
children in Australia, as well as, in a number of other nations. These instances create a feeling of
disgust and urge the people to turn their faces away from this ugly reality. However, turning
faces does not confront the problem and there is a need for taking up collective action as it being
a mutual responsibility for protecting the children (Widom, Czaja & Dutton, 2014). This can be
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Essay
done only by acknowledging that such instances of child abuse, sexual assault and other
problems faced by children take place on daily basis and that there is a need to talk about these
issues. The silence of society on child sexual abuse only safeguards the perpetrators and this
allows for the abuse to be continued. The instances of child sexual assault are very common and
even more common than one can think about (Young & Widom, 2014). The 2013 report of
Australian Institute of Family Studies highlighted that there were as many as one in three girls
and one in six boys who had experienced sexual abuse (Australian Institute of Family Studies,
2017). In the media, it was reported that there had been a mass scale of sexual exploitation in
Rotherham in UK of 1400 children in between 1997 and 2013, which highlighted the total failure
of social services and also of the police in making timely interventions (The Conversation,
2014a). There are a number of examples in the Rotherham report on the manner in which the
children had been groomed up for eventual abuse in the public view and how they got
inappropriate gifts and men’s attention (Rotherham, 2013).
As per the conducted researches, the offenders plan the sexual abuse of children typically
in a careful manner. They use tactics like grooming the children where the offer compliments
and presents to the children (CASAC, 2018). A trusting relationship is often established by the
offender with the friends and family of child, where they trick and manipulate them to bring
down the chances of abuse being discovered. As a result of this series of deceit, the offenders are
able to isolate and divide the children away from their friends, sibling and particularly from the
non offending parents (Dietz, 2018). This allows for the abusers to protect themselves which
ensures that they get constant and uninterrupted access to the children, which in turn allows them
to have power over the target child and the ones in the life of the child (Black, Wollis,
Woodworth & Hancock, 2015).
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Essay
In the grooming techniques, secrecy is the base of success and has a very powerful
impact over the child. Due to the rule which is against breaking the silence being reinforced in
the families, along with being enforced through social and cultural contexts, the survivors, be it
children or adult, face shame, fear and guilt in coming out with their stories (Van der Kolk,
2017). Some of the common effects of being trained to be sexually available and silent are fear
of retribution, mistrust of self and others, protection of other, over responsibility, sense of
powerlessness and self blame (Kagan, 2014). There is a need to change this outlook and there is
a dire need to break this societal silence, which requires changing the language being used and
the notions surrounding child sexual abuse which degrade them, to be removed. There is a need
to change the outlook where the victim is treated like damaged goods and even making the
assumption that the offender is a sick weirdo (MacIntosh, Fletcher & Collin-Vézina, 2016).
However, as the instances of child abuse are so common, the society commonly interacts
with the victims and the perpetrators, and this often includes the people liked and admired by all.
This frequency of problems shows that the sexual offenders are not sick or evil or even
paedophiles but simple friends and family members. This shows that a number of victims of
sexual abuse are able to deal with the abuse effects, live their lives in a productive manner and
are able to contribute towards the well-being of the society (Harper & Perkins, 2018). And then
there are cases where the victims have improper brain development, lower language
development, impaired socio emotional and cognitive skills, anxiety, cerebral palsy or blindness
from head trauma, drug abuse, alcoholism, smoking and a higher risk for liver, lung and heart
diseases, along with high chances of cancer, obesity, high cholesterol and blood pressure. There
are physical, psychological, behavioural, and even economic repercussions of child neglect and
child abuse (CDC, 2016).
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Essay
This entire scenario of the instances of child abuse takes place in the society and it is the
society which brings out the views presented above, related to child abuse, particularly the
victims of it. Due to deep rooted context of it, it becomes important for every player in the
society, be it the big businesses, the government, the institutional bodies, and even the general
public, to take steps bringing the instances of child neglect and child abuse down, and for
eradicating the same from the society (Barth, Courtney, Berrick & Albert, 2017). Fortunately,
there is no requirement of doing much in this context. As such instances are based on secrecy
and take place in silence; the antidote to this disease is to bring the issue to the light. When such
happens, there is a need to support the victims in their rehabilitation process and making the
victims liable for their offence. There is a requirement of creating the atmosphere which
encourages the individuals to raise questions on the uncertain or confusing practices and
behaviours for taking actions before the children could be harmed (Itzin, 2018). So, the people
have to take the risk of questioning a potentially paranoid looking adult behaviour towards a
child. There are other responses to the people who experience childhood sexual abuse like
collective social action, community development and preventive approaches but these are
restricted to the practice’s margins (The Conversation, 2014b).
There are certain services, like the government funded West Street Centre, which is a
community based organization located in Wollongong, New South Wales, which offers a
substitute. This centre links the group work of individuals to community and collaborative efforts
and individual talk based group therapy for tackling the violence and abuse issues. The survivors
of child abuse are made to join with others, where they not only speak about their experiences
but also challenge secrecy, as the emphasis is given to listening to the other community
members. This allows for the victims to find a new way for the community and for their families.
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Where a child hears an adult talking about their sexual abuse story, they learn from their example
and follow such example (Fraser, 2006). The protection of children is not a job which can be
relegated to a single authority, be it in school, police or the social services. It is the responsibility
of every person. All the children would be protected when the everyday citizens make it their
personal responsibility for ensuring the child protection. This requires taking up hard
conversations, changing the very hypothesis regarding perpetrators and victims and having the
courage of acting where they have issues or concerns regarding the children in community
(Jewell, 2006).
There is the disturbing truth revolving around the human behaviour which is both devious
and dark and can result in harm to children. In this context, the role of practitioners specializing
in field of child, youth and family therapy is of significance. This is because these practitioners
work in the child protection field on daily basis are aware of the evils behind this menace and
they know how the children feel and what they go through, when they become the victims of
child abuse and child neglect. The child protection practitioners see with a weary resignation
when the child abuse results in moral panic, upon the news hitting the media and a political mess
being created. Then there are claims of an utter failure in preventing abuse by such practitioners,
which should have been obvious to everyone, and there is moral outrage regarding abuse of
human rights by social workers and police on suspicions regarding obviously unreasonable
matters (Jones, 2012).
The public anger regarding the bad treatment of children is quite understandable. Though,
the past experiences have shown that such episodes end very frequently in disruptive lurches in
regulation. Evidence has shown that the understanding in some of the abuse forms has been
improved in a drastic manner in the last thirty years or so. The child protection system across the
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globe is improving. And yet, instances of child neglect and child abuse are present, which are
particularly difficult to detect and the decisions regarding these are quite agonising. The high
profile cases show that even the intelligent and most powerful individuals can miss the signs and
also ignore the clues which appear to be obvious in retrospect. These are some of the daily
challenges faced by child protection practitioners and even the ones who provide therapy (Jones,
2012).
The role of counselling practitioners or that of child, youth and family therapists relates
to counselling services for the children and for their family members as well, in cases of physical
and emotional abuse, domestic violence and neglect cases. These practitioners provide the
children with focused and trauma informed services by making use of the family systems
approach. They make attempts for the children to feel safe again and help them in coping up with
the trauma faced by them (Bryce, 2017). The resolution of trauma not only involves making
sense of the event which caused such trauma, but also allows the child to learn the manner in
which they can regulate their emotions. In doing so, the practitioners work with the family, in
order to create a safe environment, and for enhancing the social supports, and resiliency of the
child. There is a need for the carers and parents to agree and to be willing in this therapy process
(Mid North Coast Local Health District, 2017).
The goal or the objective of such measures being taken is to give the children their right
of feeling safe at all times, along with feeling that they are cared for. The children are assisted in
coping with the effects of abuse and their families are supported in keeping the children safe,
along with working towards preventing child abuse and neglect in community (Howe, 2005). A
child, youth and family therapist works towards the behavioural and emotional problems, which
result from the traumatic events; in the problems associated with parenting, attachment and
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Essay
family; towards maintaining the young person or child living with their family; and acts as an
interventionist aiming to both address and stop the effects resulting from abuse on young people
and children. This involves using measures like family and individual therapy and counselling,
advocacy and support, therapeutic group work, comprehensive progress and assessment reports,
court preparation and support, community education and awareness related activities, reparative
parent and even secondary consultation to the NSW Health staff and the other agencies regarding
child protection issues (Mid North Coast Local Health District, 2017).
The role of such practitioners is further enhanced due to the link of child abuse with
mental health. Experiencing abuse in adolescence or childhood is deemed as a major risk factor
for connection to parents, poor attachment, general adjustment problems and poor mental health.
These factors leave the children vulnerable. So, the child, youth and family therapists have to
take special care in ensuring that the risks associated with mental illness and disorders are
properly diagnosed and are timely treated (Tilbury, Osmond, Wilson & Clark, 2007). To put this
in reality context, the studies have suggested that the victims of childhood physical abuse have
40% chances of being diagnosed with high depressive disorder in some stage of their lives, and
30% chances of being diagnosed with disruptive behaviour disorder. Over one third of the sexual
and physical abuse victims develop post traumatic stress disorder. There is also the risk of self
harm and suicide (Commonwealth of Australia, 2005).
The magnitude of this problem is so big that the child, youth and family therapists alone
cannot do much. There is a need to adopt broad spectrum of programs and services to deal with
this problem. The initial one is to undertake the primary prevention activities for preventing
abuse from taking place, and for raising public awareness through general parenting education
programs, media campaigns, children personal safety programs and the generalized regulations
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Essay
and rules applicable on child care. There is a need for adopting secondary prevention activities,
which target the ones who are at risk, through support services, substance abuse treatment
programs, respite for families with special needs, and parenting education sessions for the high
risk parents. Lastly, there is a need to adopt the tertiary prevention programs where the focus is
on families with abusive or violent behaviour (Commonwealth of Australia, 2005).
The role of general public is enhanced in terms of reporting the child abuse or neglect
cases. This is because the offenders seldom report their own crimes, and the children are often
not able to raise their voice. In such context, in order for the children to reach child, youth and
family therapists or other helping individuals, the general public, particularly near such abused
child, need to raise their voice. The role of people near the children in such cases cannot be
emphasized enough. There is a need to evaluate each action of children and raise the voice even
at slightest of doubt. This may result in people blaming false allegation charges, but for the
safety of children and for making them feel safe again, this is a worthy risk to take. The role of
child, youth and family therapists comes a lot later, even when they indulge in preventive
programs due to the lack of reach which they have to the child, particularly to the vulnerable and
neglected children (Commonwealth of Australia, 2005). Even with the protection measures in
this regard, for instance, the United Nations Convention on the Right of the Child, which provide
that the children have to be made feel safe and cannot be abused, these programs are not
successful till they are actually adopted at the very basic level, by every person involved (Lundy,
2014). The governments of the state also have adopted by measures like issuing child safety
practice manual to help in this context (Queensland Government, 2018). There are also national
policies drawn in Australia in context of child protection being everyone’s business (Council of
Australian Governments, 2010).
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Essay
Thus, to bring this discussion to its end, it can be concluded that child abuse and neglect
is a serious issue, which is being faced by a well developed nation like Australia. There have
been norms which have been adopted at both international and national levels, but these often
fall short. The reason for this stems from the fact that both perpetrators and victims are members
of the society and the society at present rules by silence. There is a need for raising awareness
regarding people to come out with such knowledge of child being abused or being neglected.
This is because the children often fear a lot of factors, which act as a hurdle in them raising their
voice. Further, the offenders indulge in such grooming schemes, that they are never seen as
offenders by the families or the child, resulting in the child becoming an easy victim. There is a
need for overall measures to be adopted, whereby the children are properly protected. In this
context, the role of child, youth and family therapists is enhanced as they ensure that the mental
state of victims and their family members is good and they help the children and families in
coping up with the traumatic incident. Their role is also crucial as a bad mental health could
result in a number of problems, which even includes the child become suicidal. Despite the
measures adopted by the regulatory authorities, and the prominent role of child, youth and family
therapists, there is a need for everyone to play a proactive role in protection of children, so that
the children can be made to feel safe again.
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Essay
References
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m
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