Child abuse on the front page: Learning lessons from the
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Transcript Child abuse on the front page: Learning lessons from the
Identifying Neglect:
What professionals can do
Patrick Ayre
Department of Applied Social Studies
University of Bedfordshire
Park Square, Luton
email: [email protected]
web: http://patrickayre.co.uk
A child centred approach
The purpose of assessment is to understand
what it is like to be that child (and what it will be
like in the future if nothing changes)
Why do parents neglect?
We need to understand the interaction
between:
3 Ns: Nurture, Nature, Now
Circumstantial factors and fundamental
factors
Why do parents neglect?
Circumstantial
Poverty
Particular relationships
Lack of
skill/knowledge
Temporary illness
Lack of support
Environmental factors
Fundamental
Lack of parenting
capacity
Deep seated
attitudinal/behavioural/
psychological problems
Long term health issues
Entrenched
problematical drug
/alcohol use
The effects of neglect
Howe identifies 4 types of neglect
Emotional neglect
Disorganised neglect
Depressed or passive neglect
Severe deprivation
Each is associated with different effects
and implications for intervention
Emotional neglect
Sins of commission and omission
‘Closure’ and ‘flight’: avoid contact,
ignore advice, miss appointments, deride
professionals, children unavailable
However, may seek help with a child who
needs to be ‘cured’
Intervention often delayed
Emotional neglect: parents
Can’t cope with children’s demands:
avoid/disengage from child in need; dismissive
or punitive response
Six types of response:
– Spurning, rejecting, belittling
– Terrorising
– Isolating from positive experiences
– Exploiting/corrupting
– Denying emotional responsiveness
– Failing medical needs
Emotional neglect: children
Frightened, unhappy, anxious, low self-esteem
Precocious, ‘streetwise’
Withdrawn, isolated, aggressive: fear intimacy
and dependence
Behaviour increasingly anti-social and
oppositional
Brain development affected: difficulties in
processing and regulating emotional arousal
Disorganised neglect
Classic ‘problem families’
Thick case files
Can annoy and frustrate but endear and
amuse
Chaos and disruption
Reasoning minimised, affect is dominant
Feelings drive behaviour and social
interaction
Disorganised neglect: carers
Feelings of being undervalued or
emotionally deprived in childhood so
need to be centre of attention/affection
Demanding and dependant with respect
to professionals
Crisis is a necessary not a contingent
state
Disorganised neglect: carers
Cope with babies (babies need them) but
then…
Parental responses to children
unpredictable; driven by how the parent
is feeling, not the needs of the child
Lack of ‘attunement’ and ‘synchronicity’
Disorganised neglect: children
Anxious and demanding
Infants: fractious, fretful, clinging, hard to soothe
Young children: attention seeking; exaggerated
affect; poor confidence and concentration;
jealous; show off; go to far
Teens: immature, impulsive; need to be noticed
leads to trouble at school and in community
Neglectful parents feel angry and helpless:
reject the child; to grandparents, care or gangs
Depressed neglect
Classic neglect
Material and emotional poverty
Homes and children dirty and smelly
Urine soaked matresses, dog faeces, filthy
plates, rags at the windows
A sense of hopelessness and despair (can
be reflected in workers)
Depressed neglect: carers
Often severely abused/neglected: own
parents depressed or sexually or
physically abusive
May have learning difficulties
Passive helplessness response to
demands of family life
Have given up both thinking and feeling
Depressed neglect: carers
Listless and unresponsive to children’s
needs and demands, limited interaction
Lack of pleasure or anger in dealings with
children and professionals
No smacks, no shouting, no deliberate
harm but no hugs, no warmth, no
emotional involvement
No structure; poor supervision, care and
food
Depressed neglect: children
Lack interaction with parents required for
mental and emotional development
Infant: Incurious and unresponsive; moan
and whimper but don’t cry or laugh
At school: isolated, aimless, lacking in
concentration, drive, confidence and selfesteem but do not show anti-social
behaviour
Severe deprivation
Eastern European orphanages, parents
with serious issues of depression, learning
disabilities, drug addiction, care system at
its worst
Children left in cot or ‘serial caregiving’
Combination of severe neglect and
absence of selective attachment: child is
essentially alone
Severe deprivation: children
Infants: lack pre-attachment behaviours of
smiling, crying, eye contact
Children: impulsivity, hyperactivity, attention
deficits, cognitive impairment and
developmental delay, aggressive and coercive
behaviour, eating problems, poor relationships
Inhibited: withdrawn passive, rarely smile,
autistic-type behaviour and self-soothing
Disinhibited: attention-seeking, clingy, overfriendly; relationships shallow, lack reciprocity
Capturing chronic abuse
Judging the quality of care is an essential
component of any assessment but how well
do we do it?
Judgements subjective and prone to bias
Intangible: Difficult to capture and compare
High threshold and acclimatisation
Neglect is a pattern not an event
The pattern of neglect: atypical
The pattern of neglect: typical
Intervention
Intervention
The pattern of neglect
'Good enough' level
Intervention
Intervention
The pattern of neglect
Intervention ceases
'Good enough' level
Intervention
Intervention
The pattern of neglect
Cumulativeness
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Threshold for
intervention
Failure of cumulativeness
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Threshold for
intervention
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GCP provides:
Framework for making assessment
Baseline measurement
An element of objectivity
Judgement about care
Reliable standardised evidence
GCP uses
Pre-referral assessments
Snapshot assessments
Contribution to CAF assessments
Contribution to Core Assessment (parenting
capacity)
Self-assessment (parents and carers)
Young person’s assessment of parenting
Tool for setting goals and assessing progress
Tool to facilitate discussion
GCP users
Health visitors
School nurses
Social workers
Family centre workers
Education staff
Why choose GCP?
Child focused
User friendly
Common language
Promotes partnership
Why choose GCP?
Evaluates strengths as well as
weaknesses
Allows progress to be assessed
A relatively objective measure
Allows help to be targeted where
needed
Domains of Care
Stimulation
Sensitivity
Responsivity
Self
actualisation
Reciprocity
Overtures
Esteem
Love and belongingness
Safety
Approval
Disapproval
Acceptance
Present &
absent
Physical needs
Maslow, A. 1954
Nutrition. Housing, Clothing,
Hygiene & Health
What to observe
A. PHYSICAL
B. SAFETY
Nutrition
Quality,
Housing
Quantity,
Clothing
Preparation,
Hygiene
Organisation,
Health
C. LOVE
D. ESTEEM
Grades of Care
Grade 1
Grade 2
Grade 3
Grade 4
Grade 5
Level of care
All
child’s
needs
met
Essential
needs
fully met
Some
essential
needs met
Most
Essential needs
essential
entirely
needs unmet unmet/hostile
Commitment
to care
Child
first
Child
priority
Child/carer
at par
Child second Child not
considered
Quality of
care
Best
Adequate
Equivocal
Poor
Worst
Wirral rating
No
concern
No
concern
Recommend
prevention
support
Child
protection
Child protection
and legal
strategy meeting
Scoring
Rating 1
5
Use on every child in the family
Use with different carers
Complete with the parent/carer
Use information, observation, records
Scoring
Complete individual scores for each
sub-area
Transpose to the record sheet
Agree action, targets and timescales
Targeting Items of Care
Targeted
Areas
1
2
3
4
5
Current
Score
Target
Score
Timescale Reviewed
Score
Unique Advantages
Common language, common reference
Objective measure – child focussed
Effective tool to promote partnership
assessments and planning with parents
User friendly
Comprehensively covers all areas of
care
Child and carer specific