Child safeguarding practices in light of the Deserving/Undeserving paradigm: A historical & contemporary analysis

BackgroundContemporary child protection systems in the UK need to be seen in light of the late nineteenth century child rescue movement, at a time of curbs in public spending, shifts in attitudes towards children’s welfare and the development of social work. There are similarities in the social, institutional and legal contexts, between the nineteenth century and today, centralising ‘deservedness’, that determined and determines children’s access to services.ObjectiveThe current article compares historical data and practices of children in care in the UK, encompassing 1881–1918, with contemporary data and practices, through the lens of the deserving/undeserving paradigm, inherited from the Poor Law of 1834.Participants and SettingDrawing on two data sets, namely historic children’s case files (N = 108), 1881–1918 from the Children’s Society (a philanthropic institution) highlighting the perception of custodians, doctors, professionals, as well as children and parents, and current data from interviews with young care leavers and safeguarding practitioners (N = 42), our research focuses on the most disadvantaged children with complex needs and damaging (pre)care experiences.MethodsData is analysed using thematic content analysis, framed within critical realist ontology, taking account of stratified non-linear dynamics of processes at different levels.Results and ConclusionIn both data sets the inability to support certain children is justified by referring to their complex needs and mental health and behavioural problems., Here, the child is held accountable and placed in the ‘undeserving’ category and consequently misses out on help and support, highlighting a need for awareness, and reflective and reflexive practice among practitioners/professionals.     

A changing child welfare workforce: What worker characteristics are valued in child welfare?

A child welfare system is responsible for making difficult decisions. Child welfare workers are charged with assessing and determining when a child is in need of protection, including when it is necessary to intervene on behalf of children when their caregivers’ abilities and/or situation is deemed to put them at risk of abuse or neglect. Although the child welfare workforce in Ontario attended to an estimated 125,281 child maltreatment investigations in 2013, little is known about the skills, education, and experiences of these investigating workers. Notwithstanding assumptions about the qualifications and characteristics necessary for effective child welfare practice, few studies explicitly link the specific characteristics of workers to children, youth, and families achieving positive case outcomes. These assumptions have been shaped by a multitude of factors including knowledge of human resources, professional standards, and educational requriements. This study examined data from five cycles over twenty years of Ontario Incidence Studies (-1993, -1998, -2003, -2008, -2013) to provide a profile of child welfare workers. This is the first study to examine the changing profile of child welfare workers in any province in Canada and provides a foundation for developing effective recruitment and professional development strategies, and promoting a positive work environment. Policy and practice implications for the changing needs of these families are discussed.     

Math Fluency: Accuracy Versus Speed in Preoperational and Concrete Operational First and Second Grade Children

Cognitive abilities as well as math fluency play an important role in mathematical skills. Understanding the relationship between cognitive abilities and mathematical skills is imperative to teaching effective arithmetic skills. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between cognitive ability and math fluency with 38 first and second grade elementary aged children. Results demonstrate that preoperational children lacked the speed of concrete operational children but achieved comparable levels of accuracy when completing arithmetic problems.     

教育发展目标的超前性与可行性之间的矛盾——对美国《不让一个学生掉队法》所面临的问题分析

美国《不让一个学生掉队法》着眼于解决基础教育的现实问题,强调通过降低学校之间存在的教学质量的不平等性和各类背景不同的学生之间在学习成绩方面的差距来保证每个学生都合格,并以此来达到提高整体的教育质量水平的目的。但是,这一看似较为现实的教育发展目标,由于要同时解决教育的质量和平等性问题,存在着目标所要求的管理体制与现行体制之间的矛盾和目标所要求的测评技术与现有技术之间的矛盾,对学校教学也带来一些负面的影响。教育发展目标对促进教育的发展的作用不是完全能够由超前性所决定的。调和目标的超前性和可行性之间的矛盾,对顺利实现政策目标、保证政策效果有着至关重要的作用。     

Exposure to violence,typology, and recidivism in a probation sample of domestic violence perpetrators

The present study investigated the predictive utility of self-reported domestic violence perpetrators’ exposure to violence in their family of origin and patterns related to this exposure through the use of longitudinal analyses on a sample of 228 men on probation in Lake County, Illinois. Differences in typology, recidivism, recidivism frequency, and violent behavior survival patterns in men with a history of domestic violence perpetration and with varying levels of family of origin violence exposure were examined. Findings suggest that those who witnessed interparental violence (either alone, or in combination with experiencing violence) were most likely to be classified as Generally Violent offenders (e.g., perpetrators who direct violence toward their family and others), compared to those who did not report experiencing or witnessing violence. In addition, results also indicate that men who experienced both witnessing interparental violence and receiving physical abuse in childhood were more likely to recidivate more frequently compared to those who did not report experiencing or witnessing violence. No significant findings for typology and recidivism were noted. Clinical and policy/practice implications are discussed.     

Type and severity of child abuse and college students'' lifetime suicidality

Objective: The present study compared reported histories and severity of child sexual abuse, child physical abuse, and both, in college men and women.Method: Four hundred and eighty-six consenting undergraduates completed measures of suicidality, sexual abuse (SA), and physical abuse (PA). Based on their responses, they were categorized into 12 mutually exclusive groups: no PA/no SA (n = 234), moderate PA/no SA (n = 78), severe PA/no SA (n = 34), no PA/mild SA (n = 21), moderate PA/mild SA (n = 12), severe PA/mild SA (n = 5), no PA/moderate SA (n = 20), moderate PA/moderate SA (n = 15), and severe PA/moderate SA (n = 10).Results: Participants who reported both severe sexual and severe physical abuse reported more lifetime suicidality than participants who reported either mild sexual and/or physical abuse. Those who reported sexual abuse involving invasive sexual acts such as rape, and physical abuse involving behaviors that resulted in physical injury to the child, were more suicidal than those who reported less severe abuse. In addition, although combined sexual and physical abuse correlated with increased suicidality, unexpectedly, there was no interaction. Finally, women students endorsed more reasons for living than men and about the same level of suicidal ideas and global suicidality, despite a greater likelihood of having been abused.Conclusions: The absence of an interaction between sexual and physical abuse suggests that this increased suicidality is additive rather than multiplicative. An implication is that college counseling personnel need to be aware of the suicidal risk of women and men students reporting either sexual or physical abuse.     

Persistence of pediatric post traumatic stress disorder after 2 years

One-hundred and fifty-six children were randomly evaluated at an inner-city juvenile/family court. These children were removed from their parent's custody subsequent to a finding of severe child maltreatment. From our original sample of 156 children, 62 met strict criteria for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Fifty-two of these 62 were successfully recruited and participated in the 2 year re-examination. Each PTSD diagnosis was conferred by the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents (DICA). From our sample of 52 PTSD children re-examined after 2 years, 17 (32.7%) retained the full PTSD diagnosis, while 67.3% did not meet criteria.     

When the child gets in the news? A case study on the national written media in Turkey

The main purpose of this study is to analyze news stories regarding children in the national print media in the last five years using top eight newspapers in terms of circulation and evaluate these news stories based on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was issued by the UN and signed by Turkey. The research was undertaken as a case study. The study data were collected from top eight newspapers in terms of circulation between 2010 and 2014 in order to reveal when and how newspapers at national level represent children and the scientific content of impressions in the national media. Results show that children appear in the national media in mostly negative cases. In conclusion, it was observed in this study, children’s rights to life, development, protection, and participation were violated at both national and international levels. In this sense, news reflects the truth about “children’s rights violations”. However, the way that children appear in news and reflection in media constitute a secondary children’s rights violation.     

Effects of witness characteristics on the perception and reportage of child abuse

Vignettes depicting the physical mistreatment, psychological mistreatment and neglect of children were used in an experimental design to test for bias in perception and reportage of child abuse. Subjects were 160 jurors and 176 child protective service (CPS) and police personnel. Jurors born before 1945 were less critical of such mistreatment than those born later. Female jurors pledged to report mistreatment more often than did male jurors, and they pledged to report the abuse of a female victim more often than a male victim. The other groups did not show this bias in reporting. Findings might explain discrepancies between studies of the incidence of child abuse and reportage of it.     

Musicality in the Language of Picture Books

The authors of picture books who write especially melodic language are doing more than simply offering up work that is pleasing to the ear. They are accessing more of the whole child. In this article five picture books will be discussed for their musical attributes: Now One Foot, Now the Other, by Tomie dePaola, The Cat in the Hat, by Dr. Seuss, Knuffle Bunny, by Mo Willems, Mirandy and Brother Wind, by Patricia C. McKissack, and Click Clack Moo, by Doreen Cronin. Drawing on the observations of scientists, educators, and composers, I will discuss what an extraordinary aid a picture book with musical sounding language can be in the nurturing and development of the young child’s intellect, emotional life, and social skills.