Case Study: Mia - Child Protection, Needs, and Ethical Considerations

This case study presents an analysis of an 8-year-old girl named Mia, who is experiencing neglect and sexual abuse. The assignment identifies current and potential child protection risks, including parental substance abuse, homelessness, and the sexual abuse by her mother's boyfriend. It discusses Mia's unmet bio-psycho-social needs, such as inadequate nutrition, sleep deprivation, and emotional support, highlighting the impact of these factors on her well-being. The assessment explores vulnerability and protective factors, emphasizing the significance of family structure, economic stability, and the child's physical and social environment. The analysis weighs and prioritizes information, focusing on ensuring child safety through immediate actions, such as reporting the abuse and providing therapy. The case study underscores the role of healthcare workers and community support in addressing the child's needs and improving her circumstances. The assignment emphasizes the importance of ethical considerations and the need for a child-centered approach to practice.

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Mia case study

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Introduction
An 8-year-old girl named Mia lives with her mother who was 24 years old. The mother was
in abusive relationships as well as she was also involved in the abuse of drugs and alcohol for
many years. They were homeless as the mother had left her boyfriend. When the assessment
was done in school it was evidenced that Mia was very tired and almost half slept in school.
In addition, there was the packet of condoms that were found in Mia's possession. She was in
a withdrawn and teary state. She was appearing very distressed as well as upset. She
expressed a group of sadness as well as she had lower self-esteem. In this case study, it has
been evidenced that Mia was neglected by her mother; she has not been taken care of. In
addition, she was also sexually abused by her mother’s boyfriend. In this assessment, the
focus will be on current, potential child protection risks and concerns. In addition, the bio-
psycho-social needs of the patient will be discussed that have not been addressed. In this
regard, the focus will be on the child theory, practice principles and relevant legal and
cultural issues and ethical issues. In this, the different information will be weighted up and
prioritised.
Current or potential protection risks and concerns
Risk factors are known to enhance the likelihood of experiencing and perpetrating child
abuse and neglect. It involves the combination of the relational, community as well as
societal factors that can cause the issue of child abuse and neglect (Assink et al., 2020). As
per the case study, Mia was 8 years old and she lives with her mother. Her mother was
involved in several abusive relationships as well as she was also involved in abused drugs
and alcohol. They were also homeless. The major current or potential risk and concerns that
were associated with Mia were that the caregiver who was her mother Rachel was associated
with drug and alcohol issues. In addition, the mother did not understand her child's needs and
development. The other issue was that Mia was abused and neglected as children. She was
sexually abused by her mother’s boyfriend. The other risk factor was the financial status of
the caregiver with the low income and lower financial status. These aforementioned factors
were the potential risk factors in the case of Mia for the victimisation (Palusci and Ilardi
2020). The two major among them was the case of sexual abuse that was experienced by Mia
by her mother Rachel’s boyfriend Josh. He had given him a condom and she was staying with
him for many nights. He did this when his mother was too drunk and sleepy. She was told not
to reveal that as this was a special friendship secret. Sexual abuse was a significant risk factor
and issue for Mia as this can cause both serious physical as well as emotional harm to the
children in short term as well as long term (Sanjeevi et al., 2018). It has both short-term and
long-term consequences. This include in short term, children may suffer from sexually
transmitted infection and physical injury. In the longer term, it may affect the child with
depression, post-traumatic stress disorder as well as anxiety and eating disorder. They can
also do self-harm and misuse drugs and alcohol. The issue of neglect in children was
evidenced such as Mia was tired and sleepy in school. She was isolated from her friend's
group; she does not want to take part in the group. She was withdrawn and in a teary state and

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distressed and upset (Watt et al. 2019). It has been evidenced that when the school staff had
called her mom, she did not pick up the call and kept it on hold. She was facing the issue of
neglect by her mom as she was unaware of the bullying that was happening to her. She was
appearing very distressed and upset as she was kicked out by the newly established friendship
group (Font and Maguire-Jack 2020).
The aforementioned condition Mia can be interlinked with the child-centred approach to
practice as this will involve the policies, procedures as well as practices to support children
and young people. Her mother should have focussed on Mia by play and should have
focussed on the children's needs, interests and capacities (Takaffoli et al. 2018). In addition,
family-centred approaches can be used in family welfare as well as in child welfare. This will
help in preventing and responding to child maltreatment and supporting and preserving
families (Ford et al., 2018). This can be helpful in the case of Mia, as she was involved in
drug and alcohol abuse and sexual relationships with many. This will provide support to the
mother and she will be taking more care of her child Mia. This will help improve the patient
and family experience with health care as well as a reduction in conflicts and improve the
health of children living with chronic conditions.
Bio-psycho-social needs of the child that has not been addressed
In the case of Mia, the biological needs that have not been addressed were the growth and
development needs. In addition, there were no proper nutritional needs fulfilled in Mia as due
to financial constraints she was not getting good food. Other biological needs that were not
addressed were proper sleep for Mia as she was always tired and half-slept in classes. The
psychological needs that were not addressed in Mia were her lower self-confidence and lower
self-esteem in her (Beerbower et al. 2018). The mom Rachel was not involved in knowing
her issue in the school as she was being bullied as well as she was threatened and eliminated
from the newly established friend’s group. She was not providing her safe and secures
surrounding as she was abused sexually by one of his friends and this can hamper her mental
state. The social needs that were evidenced in the case of Mia were financial constraints that
were faced by them, they were homeless. In addition, Mia was also away from her biological
father. In this regard, as the social worker was involved in helping Mia with all the situations
that she was dealing with, the workers have many different roles and responsibilities. Some
of the legal and ethical considerations include avoiding any kind of harm to the child and
taking consent. It also involves keeping the privacy and confidentiality of the child and not
revealing any things. Fulfilling all the legal requirements associated with the sexual abuse
that happened to Mia. In addition, they should identify all the risks associated with the
children. They should also focus on the needs such as recreation, socialisation as well as self-
responsibility and decision making (Pourbordbari et al., 2022).
Vulnerabilities and protective factors that can inform the assessment process
Various vulnerability factors often affect the person and the assessment technique. Some
important vulnerable factors are physical, social, economic, and environmental factors. All
these factors play an important role and shape the child's behavior (Ogunjimi et al. 2021).

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Child development often occurs through various stages, and physical factors play an
important role in those stages. In this case study, it has been mentioned that the child Mia, did
not receive healthy surroundings, which affected her well-being. Mia's mother was a drug
addict, so she could not take adequate care of the child. She did not pay full attention to the
needs of the child due to she suffered from mental trauma and emotional abuse. In the case
study, it has also been observed that Mia's mother's boyfriend was abusive towards the child.
Hence, the case study states that the physical environment of the child is not safe, and this
affects their well-being. Social factors also play a major role; in this case, the major social
factor is family and its structure (Pezzoli et al. 2019). The family structure is not well-
defined, and this affects the child negatively. It is important to have an adequate family
structure so children's actions can be checked and proper guidance can be provided. Another
major factor is the economic factor, this ensures health and other essential components of the
person are taken care of. In this case study, the economic condition of Mia’s mom is not great
because she did not complete her education adequately. She tried to contact her other friends.
However, they were busy and hence could not speak to her. It is important to have proper
funds to take care of a child and provide them with all the facilities; if parents lack to do so, it
affects the child's development (Cerna-Turoff et al. 2021). Last is the physical factors such
as violent environment, such as parents fighting regularly. Then other than this negative
pressure from friends. In this case study, both these factors are highly prevalent. Due to
disturbances at home, she could not maintain a friendship with her friends. She was often
seen as depressed, anxious and sad (Morris et al. 2019).
Some vital protective factors are parents' resilience, social connection, concrete support at the
time and emotional competence for children. All these are important factors, and parents play
a major role in the child's well-being. However, Mia did not take care of the child effectively;
hence this affected her well-being. The child should be able to develop a deep bond with the
parents. However, Mia's mother was distant from her in this case and hence could not
develop that bond. Mia faced many issues at school, she was unable to make friends, and she
also faced abuse from her stepdad. However, she could not share any of these concerns with
her mother. This lead to a negative impact on mental health (Ten Have et al. 2019).
How information be weighed up and prioritized
In the above section, lots of information is present; it is important to analyze all the
information correctly and then present important factors. The factual assessment of the child

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is highly important; it will help to understand the child's different needs and how they can be
used effectively. The health care worker should comprehensively assess the child's situation,
and all little details should be taken care of. In this situation, the role of community workers
is highly important because they understand the situation's intensity well. They should be
able to link all the factors and points, and nothing relevant should be missed. Any harm be it
past harm, current harm or risk of harm, should be taken care and child safety should be
ensured (Maguire-Jack and Font. 2017).
The most important thing to take care of is the physical surrounding of the child. The
physical surrounding plays an important role when taking care of the child. Children should
receive a loving and caring environment to realize their full potential. However, the child did
not receive a caring environment in the case study. Instead, Mia's stepdad abuses her sexually
(Quiroz et al. 2020). This can hamper the child's development, and along with it, it will also
affect the growth of the child. In addition to it, it will harm the mindset of the person. The
social worker should aim to improve the physical surroundings and take immediate action
toward the person. In this case, immediate action should be taken against the person who
abused Mia.
Immediate steps should be taken to ensure child safety, and these steps are mandatory
reporting of the incident. In addition, the child should be sent for therapy, so any mental
trauma faced by the child can be taken care of. Several factors affect the child's well-being
and safety, such as patient involvement. Hence, Mia's mother should be briefed about the
situation, and protective measures should be taken immediately. Various support services are
present which take care of the person's mental state (Lefebvre et al. 2017). These are essential
elements. Hence, it should be taken care of. There are several factors which indicate a child is
at risk of harm (Yoon et al. 2018). Some factors are low weight for age and any physical
problem such as sores or dental decay. Some other factors are the poor standard of hygiene,
poor texture or complexion. The parents should observe their children closely, and when they
encounter any red flag, it should be immediately reported to the concerned authority
(Wangamati et al. 2018).
Conclusion

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This essay has mainly talked about the concerns of child abuse and how this affects the child.
It has been mentioned in the essay that child abuse leads to a negative effect on the mind, and
hence immediate action should be taken. There are several factors which lead to child abuse.
Hence, all these factors should be taken care of. Some of the factors are physical, social,
economic, and environmental. All these factors have been explained in detail in the essay.
The child-centred theory and practice principle, in addition to the family and respectful child
practice approach, helps in the person's recovery. The essay also discusses in detail the legal,
ethical and cultural responsibilities of the worker's duty of care. In cases of child abuse or
child negligence, adopting an adequate assessment process is necessary. This assessment
process helps the person get an adequate overview of the situation. The essay has adequately
highlighted that there is a need to address the bio-psycho-social needs of the child. This
ensures that all the needs of the children are taken care of to maintain their health and well-
being.

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