The Psychological Effects of Placing Children in Detention Centers - Essay Example

The Psychological Effects of Placing Children in Detention Centers You’re Name University The Psychological Effects of Placing Children in Detention Centers Children who are forced to have to stay in a detention center have been found to be confronted with a myriad of adversities in their lives, especially those children who are very young. For example, the Tampa incident in itself was found to have caused psychological harm to many of the children who were with families trying to seek asylum in Australia in 2001. Some youth’s develop thoughts of suicide or they have specific symptoms of confusion, emotional trauma and other psychological problems occurring to them due to the traumatic events that they are witness too. This is especially true in Australia as it is commonly known that they are not all that welcoming of immigrants entering into their country be they children or adults (Klocker 2004, p. 1). The occurrence that took place in 2001, lead Australia to develop more concrete political barriers to try and ward off asylum seekers in the country. However they do have detention centers set up for families who still appear at the border and many times the children are treated no differently from the adults that are held at these various detention centers. The conditions of these centers have been viewed as a violation of human rights as the Australian government has not been allowing proper medical care of these immigrants, and the children have been found to be suffering because of this. Furthermore, for those mothers with children who have carried hope for a better life through seeking asylum in other nations soon see this as disillusionment. This is specifically the case in countries such as Australia as the treatment is discriminative and inhumane to those who people who come there seeking help and assistance (Mares et al 2002, p. 91). Australia appears to be one of the strictest border control countries there is in regards to immigrants coming into the country. It has been found that 94% of the immigrants that arrive by boat in Australia are women and children and are kept isolated away from the main Urban Immigration Detention Centers. Furthermore there are no adequate mental health care assessments of the children in particular and definitely there is an inadequacy of medical care for them (Mares et al 2002, p. 92). Due to the adverse environment that the children are surrounding by such as adult depression, post traumatic stress disorder, and other mental and health ailments, they are not able to function in any sense of normalcy. For example many of the children stop eating, they can’t sleep, they suffer from a variety of medical ailments, and they also can fall into depressive states to the point where they actually try to take their own lives. Some families beg for their children to be taken out of the detention center by someone, who could give them a better life as the following quote shows, Please take our children, find a place for them away from here. They will change to savages not humans. Our toddler doesn’t trust in us anymore. He can’t play, he won’t eat, and he can’t sleep well (Mares et al 2002, p. 93). It is extremely disheartening to know that children are being treated in this manner and being faced with conditions so deplorable that they aren’t even given proper care. This leaves many asking what happened to the compassion that should be in these detention centers. What makes the situation worse is to hear the youth speak of their personal thoughts and feelings about their situation. Many of them state that they do think of killing themselves quite often due to the overwhelming sense of sadness and hopelessness surrounding them everyday. Older youth claim that the war in their own country is far better than having to exist in the detention centers in Australia (Mares et al 2002, p. 93). There are suppose to be laws to prohibit treatment such as this but when looking at the situation in this country, one has to ask where is the protection for these people? Within the country of England there is a great difference found as to how the children of immigrants seeking asylum are treated in comparison to what they face in Australia. The law in England is very clear and abuse on immigrants is considered to be unacceptable and intolerable as well. Children who arrive in England with their parents are often taken into foster care by English natives until permission to enter in to the country is granted to the parents by the governmental bodies of law (Stevens 2002, p. 616). It is of course realized that the treatment given to immigrants in England is filled with far more empathy than any shown in the country of Australia and why this exactly is, is uncertain. Furthermore, the country of Britain provides many forms of support for those seeking asylum in the country. They are provided appropriate medical care and living arrangements are made for them as soon as possible in the way of a clean and comforting environment. As was stated the children are well cared for until the family gets their immigration paper work taken care of and then they are reunited. Once approved, they receive items like cash vouchers to buy food and essential living items and other belongings that they might need to help them start a new life. However, while in the detention centers they might be somewhat over crowded but at least they are allowed to have access to medical care, religious facilities, educational opportunities, interpreters, and even given legal advice as well. The children are allowed to stay with their parents if it is their wish to do so as it is not seen to bring on any form of adversity towards their mental health or physical well being. However, as was stated the much younger children are cared for by foster families (Stevens 2002, p. 622). Children in the UK who are among families being detained barring approval of entry into the various countries do not show the same mental health problems as those in detention centers in Australia. For example, in the Woomera detention center that lies in Australia there have been known suicide pacts among the youth due to how they have been inhumanely treated and also due to what they have had to bare witness too as well (Holloway 2002). Children have made threats such as ingesting poisonous materials, cutting themselves with shards of glass, or even jumping through the barb wire that ties off the area from the border into the main part of the country of Australia. These are just some of the examples that have been found among the children in these detention centers. It is highly understandable why children develop the mental health problems and physical ailments that they do when they are forced to have to watch actions of adults sewing their lips together, or going on hunger strikes, and to the more extreme intentionally inflicting harm upon themselves by jumping off detention building roofs into strands of barbed wire. Many children can not handle this type of emotional strain and suffer breakdowns due to the stress of their situation yet the Australian border police do little to nothing to put these children at ease and make their lives more comfortable (Holloway 2002). The various mistreatments at this specific detention center can be validated as three carer’s who were working there decided to speak out regardless of any legal repercussions that they might face (Debelle & Taylor 2002). These carers have stated that the environment of Woomera is very unsafe for young children to have to live in. It is the reason why so many of them would rather commit suicide than have to face another day of living in such a horrific atmosphere such as Woomera presents. Therefore, by many human activists’ opinions there is no logical reason why young children who are innocent to what is happening in the world should have to be subjected to such violence and inhumane atrocities against them due to what appears to be solely racism and discrimination due to national origin (Debelle & Taylor 2002). Although some detention centers in Britain and England are far better than the ones being described in Australia they are far from perfect as well, and even the United States detention stations for children are far from providing fair and equal treatment to immigrant children as well. The state of Florida is one very good example bring inclusion of the United States detention camp into this literary research. Many immigrant children are denied any rights to legal services in the US if they are being detained in camps without any guardian supervision whatsoever (Comtex News Advisory 2003). In the Kroms detention center it was found that many children had been being detained there for many months, being subjected to shackling and strip searches as if they were criminals. Also they are being held in facilities where juveniles who have committed violent crimes are being penalized as well which does not seem like a humane place to have to be detained, yet some US officials state the facility is far better than some of the detention centers in Australia (Comtex News Advisory 2003). Amnesty International has been trying to gain support for immigration children in order to grant them with the rights they already should have. The following statement emphasizes how the treatment of these children is immoral and holds no logical reasoning when these children have already been confronted with enough brutality in their own country that they are fleeing from. Before seeking refuge in the US these children already endured terrible suffering such as torture, sexual abuse, or the loss of family to civil unrest. To then detain them for prolonged periods of time and without access to their families or legal help is simply unjustified (Comtex News Advisory 2003). In conclusion there are some similarities as well as great differences between how nations treat immigrant children. The issue is that children are not responsible for the wars that have taken place in the world, they are simply innocent bystanders. When one considers what they have already been put through it is not understandable why other nations must continue to mistreat them in the ways that they do. Of course, what is known is that until some policy is developed to make a difference in how these young children are treated it will undoubtedly continue. Thereby one can only hope that there will be changes soon to rectify the adversities these children are experiencing everywhere around the globe. Notes 1. Comtex US Newswire, “FL Detention Centers Featured in AIUSA Report Exposing Mistreatment, Lack of Access to Counsel for Immigrant Children,” US News Wire (2003):1. 2. Debelle, Penelope & Taylor, Kerry, “Woomera Carers Speak Despite Gag,” The Age Magazine (2002). 3. Holloway, Grant, “Detainee Children in Suicide Pact,” CNN News Report (2002): 1. 4. Klocker, Natascha, “Community Antagonism towards Asylum Seekers in Port Augusta, South Australia,” Australian Geographic Studies 42 (2004): 1-17. 5. Mares, Sarah & Newman, Louise & Dudley, Michael & Gale, Fran, “Seeking Refuge Losing Hope: Parents and Children in Immigration Detention,” Australasian Psychiatry 10 (2002): 91-96. 6. Stevens, Dallal, “The Nationality, Immigration, and Asylum Act 2002: Secure Borders, Safe Haven?” The Modern Law Review 67 (2004): 616-631. Read More