Caring for Children and Young People Booklet Essay

Unit 10 caring for children and young people assignment 2 of 2, report There are 3 types of maltreatment: abuse, neglect, bullying and harassment. Abuse can be physical, emotional (intellectual) and sexual. Signs of physical abuse are: * Unexplained injuries that sound untrue or doesn’t fit in with the injury * Injuries on a non-mobile baby or head injuries on a child who is less than one year old * Nervous behaviour, jumpy, watchful and cautious, scared of psychical contact – shrinking back when touched * Difficulty in making friends and trusting others * Refusing to undress for physical education or medical examination, wearing too many clothes in warm weather to cover up the injuries * Chronic running away and school absences * Repeated attendance at accident&emergency * Self-harm and self-destructive behaviour, being bullied * Aggression towards others, bullying others * Lying, stealing, getting into trouble with the police Signs of emotional abuse are: * Delayed development – emotionally immature for age, physically small and intellectually behind peers * Nervous behaviour such as rocking , hair twisting , self-harm * Speech disorders * Extremes of passive or aggressive behaviour * Fear of making a mistake and a overreacting to a mistake * Fear of new situations but can be over friendly with strangers * Continually putting themselves down * Inability to be spontaneous * Inability to concentrate Signs of sexual abuse are: * Medical problems in the genital area, sexually transmitted illnesses, bed wetting * Being overly affectionate and sexually knowing – demonstrating sexually inappropriate behaviour, flirting or graphic, sexualised play * Changes in behaviour – withdrawn, sad or even more extreme – depression, self-harm and attempts to suicide * Eating  disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, loss of appetite or compulsive overeating * Behaving than much younger child for example thumb-sucking or having a cuddly toy * Thinking badly about them and at the same time trying to be ultra-good and overreacting to criticism * Being afraid of someone they know, not wanting to be alone with them, lack of trust * Being scared of physical contact and fear of undressing Signs of child being neglected are: * Poor personal hygiene * Underweight or constantly hungry, may be stealing food * Always tired and cannot concentrate to learn or play * Clothing inadequate for weather, too small, dirty * May have untreated medical conditions e.g. cough, cold * No friends, might be bullied, socially isolated * Destructive tendencies Risk of maltreatment can be within family, outside family for example in care setting or strangers. Children and young people are more at the risk to be maltreated by people known by them. When a child has specific learning difficulties, communication difficulties, specific development delay, genetic influence, difficult temperament, physical illness, academic failures and low self-esteem then the child is more at risk for maltreatment. Consequences of maltreatment vary depending on child’s age and the type of maltreatment. The long term consequences of maltreatment on children and young people who are not helped effectively have a personal cost and a cost to a society as a whole. Children with constant fear that is experienced when being abused can affect brain development with long life consequences. Brain scans show the difference between abused children and non-abused children. Child from 0 to 3 years needs to bond – make a secure and trusting relationship with the main caregiver in order to develop health. Ability to feel empathy, compassion, trust and love is based on these early experiences. If bonding is not there then the relationship between caregiver and child is not right. There are four theories of maltreatment: medical, sociological, psychological and feminist. The medical model of child abuse is where abuse is viewed as a disease which is called the battered-child syndrome which is a clinical condition is children who  have received abuse and is a cause of permanent injury or even death. The sociological model of maltreatment defines child abuse in terms of social judgement of parental acts which are considered inappropriate by cultural standards and practices. Sociological models focus on contextual condition such as poverty that give rise to abuse. The psychological model of maltreatment is an attachment theory and says that a child needs to develop a relationship with at least one caregiver for development to occur normally. The feminist model say that feminist believe that men like to have all power and they can get it by abusing children or to regain power if they have lost it. If child abuse is suspected then it should be immediately reported. It depends on where the child abuse is suspected, people should always follow the policies of the setting and implementing safe working practices. For example if you work in school or nursery you would talk to the designated person for example manager or head teacher. People should write down causes for concern as and when they happen recording as much information down as possible and writing down only the facts. So if a child tells you something you should write it down exactly as they said it and not what you think they mean. Depending on what has been disclosed would depend on how you react. For example if child has a bump on their head and is very quiet about it and doesn’t tell you it doesn’t mean that they have been abused. You have to know their parents too. If a child discloses something which is of concern to you for example they reveal that they have been abused then action should be taken immediately to ensure child’s safety. A person has a responsibility to maintain confidentiality according to policies of the setting. Person who is suspecting the abuse should always listen and communicate at children or young person’s pace and without any pressure and always take the child seriously. Strategies and methods that can be used to support children, young people and their families where abuse is suspected or confirmed is that person should be respectful towards these children and have a child centred approach. Active support should be provided which empowers children and young people. Their self-confidence, self-esteem, resilience and assertiveness should be supported because it is really low when people were abused and it is needed to really support children and young people because it would have affected them. You should always share information and not to keep secrets from them but giving  information according to their age because you wouldn’t want to give too much information or inappropriate information for example to a 3 year old and you would talk differently with children than with young people. For families it is important to develop supportive relationships with parent and families and involving parents in the assessment of children needs to help them not to make the same mistakes in the future and to make them know what the children needs to have. People should always help parents to recognise the value and significance of their contributions and encourage them to develop their parenting skills. To minimise the effects of abuse you should always encourage expression of feelings within acceptable boundaries to help them deal with their emotions and to help them improve their self image. Helping them to build self esteem and confidence is also really important, for example by play therapy or counselling. Rasheed, Elizabeth; Irvine, Jo; Hetherington, Alison. BTEC Level 3 National Health and Social Care. London, GBR: Hodder Education, 2010. p 224. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/southessex/Doc?id=10448710&ppg=235 Copyright  © 2010. Hodder Education. All rights reserved. http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/ncfv-cnivf/pdfs/nfnts-childneglect_e.pdf http://forums.nurseryworld.co.uk/showthread/c23d171e-b642-4e2a-a09c-d21a022f5ca5/ The Battered-Child Syndrome, July 7, 1962. (brak daty). 03 19, 2012 http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/181/1/17.abstract