In addition, Views on social class range from poverty in forms such as inadequate housing, low income, poor health and impoverished communities (Hyslop, 2016). Families who are socially or economically marginalised are commonly ethnic minorities, Indigenous and those who are underclass poor are misrepresented (Perry, 2012). A key factor in child abuse lies in the high risk family situation the children may be living in. The cause of risky family environments can be a result of socio-economic pressure which can impact the families as well as failing as a caregiver or personal characteristics. Hyslop (2016), states maltreatment of children can be solved if families are located and monitored frequently, but in other cases their child or children can be put into care in the result of this. Social workers are seen to have a big influence on the subsequent outcomes. If the maltreatment is related to socio-economic disadvantage it can be seen as a control mechanism rather than a strategy for social change. The Minister of Social Development states “poverty is no excuse for abuse” (2012).
All children should be offered the same opportunities. Local policy will be based on national policy but with information relevant to the local area (e.g. contact details, list of professional bodies etc.)
Not the least of my problems is that I can hardly even imagine what kind of an experience a genuine, self-authenticating religious experience would be. Without somehow destroying me in the process, how could God reveal himself in a way that would leave no room for doubt? If there were no room for doubt, there would be no room for me.-
Neglect and abuse towards children still occurs in society today as it did in pre-industrial times. Adult control over children can take the extreme form of physical neglect, or physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. Some may say due to figures from charities such as Child Line rising there is a ‘dark side’ to family life, where children are victims. This shows in some cases the status of children hasn’t changed over time.
Child maltreatment has serious implications for social work, because of the difficulties in intervening or preventing the occurrence of child maltreatment. Social work’s primary missions involve improving human well-being and human potential and assisting the vulnerable populations. In cases of child maltreatment, social worker’s need to be able to effectively recognize and respond to incidents of child maltreatment; as well as, effectively identify the causes of child maltreatment in order to treat and prevent it.
Grace Abbott once said, “Child labor and poverty are inevitably bound together and if you continue to use the labor of children as the treatment for the social disease of poverty, you will have both poverty and child labor to the end of time.” Child poverty is one of the biggest issues facing Canadian children today. Child poverty can significantly shorten a child’s life. One of the major reasons child poverty in Canada is so high is because of low wages. These children have a disadvantage to all the other children in Canada. There is major inequality among these children. There are many problems that come out of child poverty and effect the children directly. This paper will talk about the four major effects of child poverty; health issues and nutrition, emotional and behavioural issues, education, and their home environment. (Introduction: dimensions of children’s inequality, 2003).
It is known that the children are unable to determine their life circumstances, their families, and care solely for themselves without supervision. With this being said, children have little to no jurisdiction in determining the situations that they are confronted with. Most of the time when we ponder child poverty we think of low-income families or lack of food in the household, but it extends beyond that to “an environment that is damaging to their mental, physical, emotional and spiritual development” (“Children Under Threat,” 2005). Unfortunately, the prevalence of youth poverty in the United States may seem uncommon to those who are personally unaffected by the crisis; however, statistics show that 15 million children (21% of all children) live in families with incomes below the federal poverty threshold (Child Poverty, 2017). Moreover, when considering the demographics of impoverished children the following are true: a child in the U.S. has a 1 in 5 chance of being poor and the younger they are the poorer they are likely to be, and a child of color is more than twice as likely to be poor than a White child (Child Poverty, 2017). Research proves that poverty is the single greatest threat to a child’s well-being as it decreases the likelihood of a child graduating from high school, and it increases the chances of them becoming involved with the criminal justice system (Ending Child Poverty Now, 2017).
Child maltreatment is characterized as “all intentional harm to, or avoidable endangerment of, anyone under 18 years of age” (Berger, 2014, pp. 236). Subtypes of child maltreatment includes child abuse (intentional harm inflicted on a child physically, emotionally, or sexually) and child neglect (failure to provide physical, educational or emotional needs) (Berger, 2014). Lower socioeconomic status (SES) and dysfunctional families can increases the risk for child maltreatment (Harpur, Polek, & van Harmelen, 2015). Additional circumstances that can increase the risk for child maltreatment is low maternal education, single-parenthood, non-biological caregivers, and parental substance abuse (Harpur et al, 2015). In 2012, in the United States,
Social worker in charge of particular cases of a suspected child maltreatment must initially complete a core assessment of the child and his family's situation. This process is crucial for planning of an intervention with a positive outcome (Parker and Bradley, 2003). In the assessment, under the ecological model, the practitioner must recognise different systems, such as the child, family or neighbours, and surrounding environments. If the assessment asserts that a child fits a category of a child in need within these systems, defined in the Children Act 1989 as a child 'unlikely to achieve or maintain (...) a reasonable standard of health or development without the provision for him of services by a local authority' (Children Act, 1989, section 17), the social worker must organise a form of an intervention. He or she must assess which part of the environment requires a change, and where are stress factors negatively affecting the child and the family. At the same time, the child should be given resources, and a certain level of autonomy, and to be treated as the centre of the assessment (Teater, 2010). In the ecological perspective, it might be easier for the social worker to relate to the adults' needs (Davies and Davies, 2011). However, the focus of the assessment should be child-centred, protecting the child's health and wellbeing (Every Child Matters, 2004)(Department of Education, 2011).
Spiritual empathy is to be able to feel and understand what another person is feeling or trying to communicate. As social workers, we work with clients who are going through a life crisis. A life crisis would be anything that threatens the clients well being. Stress and anxiety can lead to health problems and damaging dysfunctional behaviors. To best serve our clients we have to show spiritual empathy. Spiritual methods of therapy are controversial among workers in the health field including social workers. Many are not comfortable using spiritual interventions. Being spiritually empathetic can help the social worker notice signs of spiritual need. I believe that spiritual empathy is crucial in order to help the client’s needs. In
In the United States and in countries all over the world, poverty has extreme impacts on a
There are hundreds of songs about the heart: from falling in love to the feeling of heartbreak, the heart has become a core part of today’s media. Similarly, it is the literal core of the human body. The heart has always been the source of a profound interest among humankind. Due to the evolution and progression of medicine, doctors are now able to replace hearts where they once treated arrhythmia with beer (Science Articles). But while significant advances in medical practices have certainly been made, doctors are still human. And humans are, and always have been, biased. In point of fact, there remain disturbing inequalities in the medical fields. Specifically, the heartbreaking sparsity of women in medical studies, especially in the cardiovascular
Child abuse is horrible and it affects everyone in one way or another. Before 1963, there were no laws to protect the kids from abuse but thanks to social workers and other judicial people, there were laws passed (Pfohl). This paper is going to explain why it is so important for social workers to protect kids by talking about this history of abuse and why social workers need to be around. It will also discuss what social workers do today to prevent kids from being hurt. Social workers are useful in just about every aspect of life but in my opinion this is one of the more important jobs of a social worker because your protecting those of the future. Abuse isn’t just
Throughout the course of history, millions of children have been victims of physical abuse; it has been shown that the effects of this abuse can profoundly influence ones mental and physical health in the span of his or hers life.
Although the extent of child abuse is difficult to measure, it is recognized as a major social problem, especially in industrialized nations. It occurs in all income, racial, religious, and ethnic groups and in urban and rural communities. It is, however, more common in some groups, especially those below the poverty line.
Child welfare is one of the most important sociological topics today. It is a concept that is used to describe the combination of efforts and services that are designed with the primary objective of maintaining and promoting the safety as well as the wellbeing of children and ensuring that families have the necessary support they need to ensure that their children have been successfully cared for. In essence, child welfare is social work that is focused on the welfare of children (Keddell, 2014). Child welfare is a broad topic that involves, among others, child protection from abuse, support for families to effectively care for their children, investigation of child maltreatments and neglect, and support for children in