Policy, Legal, and Ethical Issues in Protecting Australia's Children - Case Study Example

Sociology (Authors Name) (Institutional Affiliation) Policy, legal, ethical issues Policy The national framework for protecting Australia’s children 2009-2020 is an ambitious, long term initiative that was adopted by the council of Australian government in 2009 and aimed at protecting the Australian children against the negative vices associated with child abuse and neglect. The initiative brought together a coalition of organizations committed to the wellbeing of children comprising of non-governmental organizations, state and territory governments and the commonwealth that vowed to work together ensure its success. The national framework is comprised of six supporting outcomes they include; The right of children to live in safe supportive families, Children and families access adequate support to promote safety and intervene early, Risk factors for child abuse and neglect are addressed, Abused and neglected children receive the support and care they need for their wellbeing , Support for indigenous children by their families and the community, Prevention of child sexual abuse and exploitation through provision of adequate support. Survivors should also receive adequate support. In relation to case 2 of Natasha and her sister Emily the relevant outcome is the need for use of efficient prevention strategies to protect the children from all sorts of sexual exploitation and abuse and the support of survivors of sexual abuse. Natasha is currently being sexually abused and should receive support through special therapeutic and legal responses. Emily on the other hand is in danger of sexual abuse from the same perpetrator. Sexual abuse occurs in almost all settings and institutions in the society, including the family (Frost 2009). Perpetrators of sexual abuse are commonly found in social settings such as the school, churches, and community organizations and even online on social media sites. Some of these sexual abuse perpetrators are close friends and family members, for example in Natasha’s case she is being sexually abused by her 19 year old half-brother who was living with them for almost six months now. These actions have gone unnoticed by her parents due to their busy work schedules and also the fact that they rarely communicate and interacted with their children. Natasha’s father has a demanding job and is frequently away from the family her mother on the other hand works for a local restaurant and is usually called in for night shifts. The solution to curbing the evil vice of sexual abuse lies in creating awareness. Creating awareness in children and young people helps to reduce sexual abuse as they would now easily detect actions that would lead to the act. There is also great need to educate the children about the dangers of internet as a platform that promotes sexual abuse. This can be achieved by increasing support for community based initiatives that are geared towards raising sexual abuse awareness (Munro 2011). Children and young people who also exhibit sexually abusive behavior should also be approached earlier in order to curb sexual exploitation as in the case of Natasha who has become rebellious both in school and at home and is behaving in a sexualized manner with her fellow students and teachers. Therapeutic programs should also be introduced to help victims of sexual abuse and young people who display sexually abusive behaviors. Structures should also be placed to ensure that victims of sexual abuse have access to effective treatment and appropriate support. Legal The legal implication that supports Natasha’s situation is found in the South Australian Children’s Protection Act 1993 Division 16 which provides for the removal of children from danger. The law states that if an officer believes on reasonable grounds that a child is in a situation of serious danger it is necessary to remove the child from harm (or further harm), the officer may remove the child from any premises or place, using such force (including breaking into premises) as is reasonably necessary for the purpose. An officer here implies a police officer or an employee of the department of child protection services. Natasha and her sister Emily face the threat of repeated sexual abuse from their half-brother thus they are protected under this law. The officer’s doubt is supported by the school counselor who is convinced that Natasha is being sexually abused by her half-brother. There have also been ongoing conflicts between Natasha and her family members for the past twelve to eighteen months indicating that there is tension within the family. The law further state that if an officer removes a child and the child is not returned to his home, the officer must deliver the child into the care of such persons as the Chief Executive, or the Chief Executive’s nominee. Ethical issues The Australian Association of Social Workers code of ethics is used to inform and guide the ethical practices of social workers. The code highlights the values that individuals working as social workers should posses. The codes are used to instruct the workers on the best ethical approach to use while pursuing their professional objectives. The workers are subject to the codes. The code gives preference to three core values; the respect for persons, social justice and professional integrity. The respect for persons states that every human being has a right to wellbeing, self-fulfillment and self-determination. The social worker therefore is expected to respect the dignity, worth and autonomy of every person including the rights of individuals and groups. The social workers is tasked with fostering the autonomy, justice and wellbeing of individuals. The workers should also respect group identity, interdependence, and the collective needs of a particular community. The social justice value states that the society has a core obligation of ensuring that there is justice in the community. Societies should aim at providing protection to all its members at all times. The social workers aim is to promote justice by championing for changes in social systems and structures that preserve inequalities and injustices. The social worker moreover should work towards eliminating all social vices that violate human rights. This value supports the participation of the community in implementing societal processes, decisions, policies and services. Professional integrity values are focused on the values that a social worker should posses. They include honesty, transparency, reliability, empathy, reflective self awareness, discernment, competence and commitment. Social workers are expected to priorities the needs of others over their own. Their key responsibility is to use their authority to serve humanity while they maintain a high level dignity and responsibility. The legal intervention of removal of children from danger is supported by the value of social justice embedded the code of ethics. It is the sole duty of a social worker to advocate for social justice in the society and also to protect human rights especially for the disadvantaged. In the case of Natasha and her sister Emily it is important for the social worker to protect them from sexual abuse from her half-brother Social work practice approach There are various key issues that are evident in case study 2 of Natasha and Emily. The most evident one is that Natasha is being sexually abused by her 19 year old half-brother and Emily is facing threat of being abused by the same person. The changing behavior being depicted by Natasha also indicates that she has a psychological problem that is associated with the repeated sexual abuse from her half-brother. Natasha’s sister Emily is also showing signs of behavioral change implying that she may also be a victim of sexual abuse from the same perpetrator. She has become rebellious and also declining in her studies. Natasha followed the same trend after she was sexually abused. The key issues in this case is to provide Natasha with the necessary support she needs to overcome the trauma of sexual abuse including administering therapeutic treatment and intervening earlier in the family to protect Emily and her younger sister Tara who is aged 8 from being sexually abused. Social Work Practice Social work practice can be defined as the application of social work value, techniques and principles by a social worker in pursuit of his/her professional objectives. These objectives may include, helping people obtain tangible services, offering counseling and therapeutic services to individuals, families and groups, helping the community to improve social services by participating in policy and decision making and participating in the legislative process. Successful social work practice requires that an individual has knowledge of human development and behavior, of cultural, economic and social institutions and of the interaction of all these factors (Parton 2005). Social work practice approaches therefore, can be defined as the step-by-step guides that help social workers understand client reasoning. This social work approaches include; problem solving, task-centered, solution-focused, cognitive-behavioral and crisis management (Green 2012). The problem solving approach is aimed towards; understanding the problem, looking for possible solutions and helping the client pick out a solution on his own. The client then tries out the solution and then the social worker evaluates the success of the solution. The task-centered approach involves the social worker breaking down the problem into small tasks that the client can work towards accomplishing. The social worker motivates the client by using deadlines, rehearsals and contracts that make the client feel successful (Howe 2009). The solution-focused approach begins with the solution and helps the client establish steps that will lead to the solution. This approach provides the client with a vision of the future and helps him work towards attaining this future. The cognitive behavioral approach is a therapeutic approach that addresses behavioral issues such as dysfunctional emotions and maladaptive behaviors. The approach aims at solving behaviors that cannot be solved using rational approaches. Such behaviors include mood, anxiety, personality and drug and substance abuse (Schacter 2010). In the case of Natasha this approach is the most relevant to use by the social worker. Natasha has been portraying several behavioral changes that are as a result of sexual abuse. She has been behaving in a sexualized manner with her peers and teachers and also there has been a drastic drop in her school performance. She has also become very rebellious both in school and at home. This implies that Natasha is in great need of a therapeutic approach that will help her get through the trauma of sexual abuse. Successful implementation of intervention methods requires individual skills in communication and also knowledge in building, maintaining and sustaining relationships with clients. Social workers use a series of steps and processes to help clients resolve their problems. These steps include collecting information about the client which is known as assessment, diagnosing the information in order to make sense of it, working together with the client to develop a plan that will change his/her problem which is referred to as the treatment plan and finally evaluating the problem to determine whether the process has been helpful. Social workers use what is referred to as psychosocial test as an intervention plan to get information about the client. A psychosocial test is divided in a number of sections. The first section is a brief description of the client such as age, marital status and family composition. The second section is a brief history of the client. This is important as it guides the social worker through understanding the current problems the client is experiencing (Lindsay 2009). The third section of the test is referred to as the diagnostic statement. This statement gives us insight on the most relevant problem that the client is experiencing and the potential causes of the problem. The fourth and final section contained in the test is the treatment plan. This plan describes the goals of treatment during a period of time and is an agreed document between the social worker and the client. The treatment plan aims at answering the question how long will it take to treat the problem? The successful implementation of the treatment plan is dependent on the quality of the collaboration between the client and the social worker and a focus on the strengths of the client (Trevithick 2012). After successful administration of the test a social worker evaluates the improvement of the worker. Determining if a client has improved is not an easy task; however there are various guidelines that a social worker can use to identify positive change. They include; the history how long a client experienced the social condition before seeking treatment. The longer the client experienced the condition the less likely the client will recover. Outside verification allows us to evaluate the client’s progress outside work or school without the client misleading us. Psychological tests can also be administered to the client. Better test scores imply that the client is improving. Statistical tests can also be used to determine whether the client is improving or not. Other factors that can help us to evaluate the client’s performance can be by asking the client, asking other professionals and asking people in the client’s life (Walker 2011). In the case o f Natasha a cognitive-behavioral approach is used and its success will be determined by the change in Natasha’s behavior over a period of time. Improvement in Natasha’s performance in school will express the proper functioning of the intervention approach. A change in her rebellious attitude in school and at home will also highlight the effectiveness of the therapeutic treatment that is administered under the cognitive-behavioral approach. Collaboration with the client depends on the relationship between the client and the social worker. The client-worker relationship is reinforced when the social worker responds to the client with warmth, genuineness and empathy. This simply means that the social worker should truly be concerned with the emotional wellbeing of the client (Thompson 2010). This approach has proved to be effective especially to the female gender. The clients often open up about their problems when the social worker shows that he/she is genuinely concerned about the client. In the case of Natasha and Emily being empathetic about their issues will help the social worker be able to understand the factors that are causing conflict between Natasha and her family members. Natasha besides the school counselor lacks a person who can lend her a listening ear and help her through the trauma of sexual abuse. The social worker therefore should be empathetic and sympathetic of Natasha’s situation in order to be able to be successful in turning around her situation. References Frost, N. and Parton, N. (2009) Understanding Children’s Social Care: Politics, Policy and Practice. London: Sage. Munro, E. (2011) The Munro Review of Child Protection: Final Report. A Child-Centered System. London: Department for Education. Parton, N. (2005) Social Work Models, Methods and Theories: A Framework for Practice. Lyme Regis: Russell House Publishing. Thompson, N. (2010) Theorizing Social Work Practice. Basingstoke: Palgrave. Green Lister, P (2012) Integrating social work theory and practice: A practical skills guide. Abingdon: Routledge. Schacter, D. L., Gilbert, D. T., & Wegner, D. M. (2010). Psychology. New York Howe, D (2009) A brief introduction to social work theory; Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Lindsay, T (2009) Social work intervention. Exeter: Learning Matters. Payne, M (2005) Modern social work theory, 3rd edition, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Teater, B (2010) An introduction to applying social work theories and methods. Maidenhead: Open University Press. Trevithick, P (2012) Social work skills and knowledge: A practice handbook, 3rd edition. Maidenhead: Open University Press. Walker, S and Beckett, C (2011) Social work assessment and intervention, 2nd edition. Lyme Regis: Russell House Publishing, Ltd Read More