Staff writer – Maureen Gordon
The area of protecting children is an emotive issue and very often when a case hits the headlines it cites the incompetence of the professionals who failed to spot the signs and symptoms of the abusive situation in the family before it was too late. Often there are scapegoats; someone must be blamed for the tragedy.
I worked in the field of child protection for many years and was involved in investigations with families who were reported to have abused their children in some way.
It was often a traumatic and stressful time for the child/young person because they had disclosed or someone found out that something was happening at home. Personally if I was on duty and such a call came, I knew it was unlikely that I would be leaving the office at 5pm an inner panic would also set in because I never knew for sure what I would be confronted with. It could be a combination of threatening and angry parents, and bewildered child and parents. On top of that there would also be the other professionals who would be part of the process to deal with.
Often the young person’s main fear was what is going to happen to me now that I have told. Will I be allowed to go home, will I be taken away from my family, and will my parents go to jail. What I have found out is that most children are often fiercely loyal and protective of a family member or members and are often reluctant to get them into trouble.
Photo courtesy sciencephoto.com
Or they have been threatened not to tell anyone or something bad may happen to them or the family. The young person may also feel that they are the cause of the problem. It is an awful dilemma to be in. When I deal with cases of child protection now I try to relieve the young person’s anxiety by telling them that they obviously want whatever is happening to them to stop and that is why they have informed an adult, and that they are not trouble.
But I wonder, does the average parent know what constitute abuse and not just the physical things that can be seen. Do they know when they have gone too far, for some parents I suspect that this is a grey area. And worse still do they understand the process of dealing with the local authority once abuse in whatever form has been disclosed.
The issue of Child abuse is a serious cause for concern in the U.K and should be throughout the World. High profile cases in the U.K about the prolong abuse and eventual death of usually young children brings into focus the gravity of the situation and produces a public outcry. What is the outcome to all of this, we are now seeing a rise in the number of children being removed from their families and placed in the care of the local authority. The question to ask is; are they any safer and protected there?
These are food for thought I value your feedback
