Child Protection

A guide for teachers and child care professionals

Freda Briggs, Russell Hawkins

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9781000319378
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Early Childhood Education

'.a valuable resource book for teachers, child care workers and school administrators on preventing, identifying and handling cases of child abuse and neglect. [It includes] a unique international perspective on child protection.' Associate Professor Sandy K Wurtele, University of Colorado

'Many books stop at the what should be done, but this book goes beyond that to tell us the how. It is sound, practical and most welcomed.'

Wilma Bartlett, The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, UK

Teachers and early childhood workers are the only professionals in contact with abused children for long periods of time. Although they are seldom aware of their importance, they can provide the child's best defence against abuse.

Abused children exhibit identifiable behaviours and perform less well in school than their peers. Educators and caregivers can learn to observe children's development and respond to their special needs.

Schools have always taken responsibility for teaching children to stay safe from traffic, fire, water and electricity. They are also in the best position for teaching children to stay safe with people.

Child Protection is a comprehensive guide to the common forms of child abuse and neglect. It offers practical help for the identification of child abuse and neglect and the support of the child victims and, in particular, the provision of curriculum for child protection.

Freda Briggs, formerly a teacher and social worker is Professor Child Development at the University of South Australia. She is also the author of From Victim To Offender, Why My Child?, Developing Personal Safety Skills In Children With Disabilities, Keep Children Safe and Child Sexual Abuse: Confronting The Problem. Russell Hawkins is a psychologist in private practice and a senior lecturer in Psychology at the University of South Australia.

1
CHILD PROTECTION IS EVERYBODY’S BUSINESS

Child abuse and neglect are triggered by a combination of forces at work in the individual, the family, the community and the culture. Such complex causes require a multiprofessional response that is sensitive to cultural diversity and other special needs. Thus, the prevention and treatment of child abuse have become shared responsibilities between government agencies and services involved with children, families and the community. Most important on the list of ‘human services’ are the teaching and child care professions.

STATE OBLIGATIONS: CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

On 20 November 1989, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Within a year, 141 countries had either signed the Convention or had become State Parties to it by ratification or accession. Australia became a State Party by ratification. New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom became signatories without ratification and the United States became neither (Alston & Brennan 1991).

By signing the Convention, countries agreed that ‘The child shall be protected against all form of neglect, cruelty and exploitation. He shall not be the subject of traffic in any form’ (Principle 9).

Furthermore, under Article 19 it was agreed that:

1. State Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation including sexual abuse while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child.
2. Such protective measures should, as appropriate, include effective procedures for the establishment of social programmes to provide necessary support for the child and for those who have the care of the child, as well as for other forms of prevention and for the identification, reporting, referral, investigation, treatment and follow-up of instances of child maltreatment described heretofore, and, as appropriate, for judicial involvement.

Article 34 requires that:

Children shall be protected from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. Governments shall take appropriate measures to prevent:

1. the inducement or coercion of a child to engage in any sexual activity;
2. the exploitative use of children in prostitution or other unlawful sexual practices;
3. the exploitative use of children in pornographic performances and materials.

Article 39 states that:

Governments shall take all appropriate measures to promote physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of child victims of any form of neglect, exploitation, abuse, torture or any other form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

CHILDREN’S RIGHTS VERSUS ADULTS’ RIGHTS: SOCIETY’S CONFLICTING VALUES

Although child protection is a worldwide concern, Western society is the most vociferous in condemning child abuse. The sincerity of that commitment must be doubted, however, when we examine our dual sets of values and the public outcries that occur when children’s rights are promoted.

Society concedes that children should have some rights but only when those rights don’t diminish or impinge on adults’ rights, parental authority or the right to maintain traditional parenting practices. As we approach the 21st century, there is still a lingering notion that ‘what happens behind closed doors is no-one else’s business’. Crime reports in daily newspapers confirm that some men still perceive themselves as having total ownership and control over their wives and children. ‘I will do what I like with my kids and nobody is going to stop me’ is a statement often heard in criminal and family courts. Although several European countries have adopted legislation to ban the use of corporal punishment, the same proposals have met with strong public opposition in Australia and the United Kingdom. Peter Newell, a promoter of British children’s rights, commented on the irony that we don’t condone hurting animals but we protect parents who decide to hurt their children. In British and Australian society, children form the only group that is not protected from violence (Newell 1995).

It is worrying that, although half of all cases of serious physical abuse that reach the courts start out as ‘punishment’, the Australian Family Society maintains that parents ‘know best’ and should have the right to ‘bring up children’ and ‘discipline’ them as they see fit without government intervention and legislation (Eastick 1995).

Although child protection experts have long known that family privacy facilitates child maltreatment, policy makers throughout the Western world are being urged to introduce privacy legislation to stop state intrusion into cultural mores and family life. Furthermore, in many states and countries, professionals are given a choice as to whether they acknowledge and report child abuse or collude with the offender and ignore it.

DEFINING CHILD ABUSE IN A MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY

Although legal and operational variations are found in definitions of child abuse and neglect, all refer to the protection of children from emotional, physical and sexual harm. Current debate in multicultural societies revolves around what parameters should be included in those definitions.

One of the problems is that techniques used to socialise children differ within groups and cultures and what is regarded as normal adult behaviour in one context may be viewed as abusive in another. If we lack a cross-cultural perspective, we are apt to view our own practices and standards as the only ‘right’ ones. On the other hand, if we value cultural interests more highly than the humane treatment of children, we may ignore evidence of child abuse and condone or even justify lower standards of care for children from other cultures.

Korbin identified three levels of abuse, the first of which encompasses practices which are considered to be acceptable in the culture in which they occur but are viewed as abusive by outsiders (Korbin 1977, p. 9). Migrants often protest that some long-established Western practices are detrimental. They cite such examples as the isolation of young children for punishment, placing them in separate bedrooms and allowing infants to cry themselves to sleep.

The second level of abuse identified by Korbin 0991, p. 66) encompasses individual abuse or neglect which exceeds the boundaries of behavioural standards set by the abuser’s ‘own community’. While Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom are reconsidering the legitimacy of smacking children, it remains a very common form of punishment in all three countries. The Department of Health report (England and Wales), Child protection: Messages from research, noted that 75 per cent of British infants are hit by their parents during their first year of life which, ‘statistically speaking’, confirms that hitting babies constitutes ‘normal’ British parenting behaviour (Department of Health 1995).

Similarly, Rosalie Duke’s Australian survey 0995) showed that 97 per cent of parents and 94 per cent of children were smacked in childhood and although the children hated it, most intended to use smacking for punishment when they became parents. It was even more disconcerting to find that 60 per cent of teachers who were trained to use positive child management techniques in their professional work believed that it was acceptable for parents to smack their children.

The third level of abuse defined by Korbin 0991, p. 67) relates to societal conditions which may be beyond the parents’ control, such as poverty, poor housing or lack of sanitation.

Arguments continue as to when authorities should step in to stop harmful cultural practices and to what extent migrants should have to conform to the legal requirements of the host country when they conflict with their traditional parenting practices. Should we, for example, ignore the fact that our child labour laws are being flouted because the families are migrants from countries where children are expected to contribute to the family income? Should we ignore the fact that young migrant children are left in charge of younger siblings because these responsibilities were accepted as ‘normal’ in their homelands? Should we permit East African parents to submit children for facial scarification or allow Sudanese Muslims to infibulate their daughters when they live in London, Sydney, Toronto or Auckland? Should governments allow migrant adults to import child brides because such arrangements are acceptable in the bridegroom’s birthplace?

In recent times, there have been heated arguments between child advocates and proponents of multiculturalism. There is, for example, a division of opinion relating to female genital mutilation. Multiculturalists (of both sexes) argue that this is an established cultural practice which should be tolerated in multicultural societies. Child advocates insist that it be banned as a barbaric form of child sexual, emotional and physical abuse and an unacceptable method of controlling females. Some Western medical practitioners have entered the debate, publicly defending their participation in genital mutilation on the grounds that, if parents insist on subjecting their daughters to this form of surgery, it is better undertaken by doctors than left in the hands of grandmothers using razorblades.

Significantly, female genital mutilation was ‘wholly condemned’ as a ‘vicious’ and ‘harmful practice’ in a joint statement made by religious leaders from Islam and Coptic Christian faiths, Imam Tajaddine Al-Hillaly in Australia and Sheik Mansour Leghaei, representative of the Shi’ite tradition of Islam in Iran. They proclaimed that ‘All prophetic traditions which support this practice are fabricated’ (Ceresa 1995). Unfortunately, this welcome statement is unlikely to end the practice or the debate.

In the meantime, while Western society condemns genital mutilation and harsh initiation rites, it turns a blind eye to the circumcision of baby boys, often undertaken for no better reason than that ‘his dad was circumcised’.

In their report, Culture: No excuse, the New South Wales Child Protection Council makes it absolutely clear that educators and child care workers must never excuse or ignore evidence of child abuse or neglect on cultural grounds. The Council is concerned that physical abuse and neglect are often discounted as ‘cultural practice, leaving children from non-English-speaking backgrounds at high risk of abuse’ (NSWCPC undated, p. 4). The Council noted that physical abuse is most likely to be ignored when fathers proclaim that, as ‘head of the household’, they have both a right and a duty to inflict physical pain on children ‘for their own good’.

While a knowledge of the cultural framework in which abusive behaviour occurs is vital for guiding professionals on when and how to intervene, intervention itself ‘on the grounds of suspected abuse should never be inhibited or delayed by cultural considerations’ (NSWCPC undated, p. 5).

REPORTS OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT

During the year ending 30 June 1994, there were 74 436 reports of child abuse and neglect made to statutory authorities in Australia, that is, approximately 1.2 per cent of the child population. This represents a 26 per cent increase over the previous year. Of the fully investigated cases, 44 per cent of reports were substantiated (Angus & Woodward 1995).

Boys and girls were represented almost equally at all ages in substantiated cases of physical and emotional abuse and neglect but sexual offences against girls were reported three times more frequently than offences against boys. This should not be interpreted as evidence that boys are at less risk than girls but rather that they are less likely than girls to disclose offences. Reasons for under-reporting are discussed in chapter 8. The most frequent reporters were:

• friends and neighbours;
• school personnel;
• parents and guardians;
• police (Angus & Woodward 1995).

In Tasmania and South Australia, teaching is the profession responsible for making the most reports.

In the twelve months to 30 June 1994, the New Zealand Department of Social Welfare received 30 552 complaints of child maltreatment, an increase of 10 per cent on the previous year. For a small country with only 900 000 young people under the age of 17, New Zealand’s Commissioner for Children cites some chilling statistics (Barber 1995).

• Child abuse reports are made at the rate of 500 a week and the nature of abuse has become increasingly serious.
• New Zealand has the highest youth suicide rate in the world.
• New Zealand has the sixth highest infant death rate from child abuse in the world.
• New Zealand has the second highest percentage of single parent families which UNICEF describes as having ‘a close and consistent connection’ with children growing up in poverty.
• In a survey, teachers had identified 22 600 undernourished school children and more than a third of schools provided free food for hungry children.

In England, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) estimates that three or four children die each week following child abuse and neglect (NSPCC Annual Report 1993a, p. 1). This charitable organisation, which has accepted responsibility for child protection since 1883, spent an astonishing £3’) 4 million on protection projects during the year 1992–3. Ninety per cent of this money was donated by the public. They responded to 48 136 calls for help, 87 per cent of which came via their Child Protection Telephone Helpline.

With a child population of about 10.9 million (0–17 years) in England, there were 24 700 new substantiated cases of abuse during the year ending 31 March 1993. Although this may seem to be a very high number of reports, it is actually less than the number of substantiated cases in Australia where the child population was less than 4.3 million. This suggests that child abuse cases in England are under-reported. The lack of emphasis on the teacher’s role in child protection is further confirmed by the fact that schools and preschools were ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Preface
• 1 Child protection is everybody’s business
• 2 Emotional abuse
• 3 Emotional abuse in care and education settings
• 4 Institutional and system abuse
• 5 Child neglect is neglected
• 6 Physical abuse of children
• 7 Children living with domestic violence
• 8 Child sexual abuse
• 9 Children’s revelations of sexual abuse
• 10 Protecting children with disabilities
• 11 Understanding our feelings about child maltreatment
• 12 Child protection in the secondary school
• 13 The need for personal safety education programmes
• 14 Developing a child abuse prevention policy
• References
• Index