The role of supportive relationships to reduce the risk of abuse and neglect

An article posted by the Australian Institute of Family Studies explains the long-term effects of child abuse and neglect for adult survivors. The article explains that there are many different types of child abuse which falls in the categories of physical, emotional, neglect, sexual and witnessing family violence. Abuse can also intentional or sometimes even unintentional. Also, different sub-types of maltreatment may be related to different negative outcomes. The author

Bandura’s social learning theory and Bowlby’s attachment theory. Each of these theories has similarities and distinctions regarding the mechanisms that underlie the impact of child abuse. This essay will examine these competing theories to determine which mechanisms are most strongly supported for families at high risk for child abuse and/or neglect (Begle, Dumas & Hanson, 2010).

Although family relationships can provide stability and a sense of wellbeing, they can also involve physical violence, verbal and emotional abuse, sexual abuse and neglect (Holmes et al., 2016, p.

physical abuse in high-risk families (those families with violent adults, alcohol and drug abuse and mental health issues)

This will in turn build a relationship based on trust, mutual respect and understanding between the care worker or professional and the service user. By using appropriate verbal and

The government White Paper (2006) focuses on the need for individualised care and calls for service to be tailored around the needs of the individual and not the service provider. It aims to place the individual in control of their life and promote independence, by providing a more flexible service, with a view to a reaching and fulfilling a healthy old age. In addition, violence, stress and abuse which pose a threat to an individual’s overall well being, must be identified and addressed. The nurses did not view Joe as an individual because they did not give him the opportunity to choose what he wanted to eat, or allow him to get dressed before leaving his room. To adopt a more individualised approach, the nurses should have let him choose what tine to get up in a morning, allowing him to get dressed and further choose what he wanted to eat for breakfast, therefore adhering to The White Paper guidelines.

This for example could mean the support of an individual who is deaf and needs to find other ways to express their needs and preferences. A health and social care service provider could put the service user in touch with British Sign Language interpreters, Deaf-blind interpreters, lip-speakers, note-takers and speech-to-text reporters. Another reason that an individual may need this kind of support is if they do not speak English and require an interpreter. This is particularly common in hospitals. The interpreter may be a friend or relative or even a person specifically hired to be an interpreter in health

For the purpose of this essay, I will refer to the aforementioned placement as “Brampton Lodge” in order to maintain anonymity. During the first few weeks of my placement as I was finding my feet and settling in, I found myself at a loss as to what to do as there were only female service users present. Due to policies in place at Brampton Lodge, female service users could only receive personal care from female support workers. This was not much of a concern to me as it was necessary for me to remain mindful of the individual at question’s privacy, dignity and personal preferences. However, in the forthcoming weeks as male residents began to arrive, I found myself becoming more directly involved within their personal care.

When working with all the individual family members it will be important to recognise and support their individual needs. This means they will all have the same quality of care and support. During this stage of recognising and supporting their needs it will be important for the care worker to show respect to the individual’s experiences, lifestyle and background to avoid stereotyping or being discriminative to the individual. For example, taking into account John; it would be easy to show discrimination towards him because of his heavy drinking and being verbally and emotionally abuse towards Jean. This is why care workers must show a non-judgmental

Several studies show that the abuse caused by the adult child on the older adult has a strong correlation with social relationships among one another, with people outside the family and the social isolation of the abused elderly (von Heydrich, Schiamberg, and Chee, 2012). There is limited or no social support systems for the older adult or the child caregiver. One way of looking at social isolation is viewed that the caregiver is using the isolation as a weapon against the abused elderly. With isolation enforced then it prevents outsiders

The keys to preventing child abuse and neglect are to recognise that all families face some stress and to intervene as early as possible to support vulnerable families. It’s easy to think that child abuse and neglect is just a problem for ‘certain’ families. The reality is that parenting today is complex, challenging and a steep learning curve for many. A third of new parents for example, has never held a baby before; many families are far away from the support of their extended families and old friends; most parents are in the labour force - often working long hours; and 20 per cent are lone-parent families. Many families are also coping with domestic violence, poverty, alcohol or drug addiction, mental illness or a childhood history of abuse.

“According to best estimates, between 1 and 2 million Americans aged 65 or older have been hurt, exploited, or mistreated by someone they depend on for care” (Halphen, Varas, & Sadowsky, 2009, p 13). To assess for social support and abuse/neglect a series of questions should be asked regarding this issue. During the admission process there’s a series of questions that nurses must ask regarding violence and abuse. This assessment is always completed while the patient is alone. It’s important to view nonverbal behaviors when the questions are being asked and when the questions are answered. After interviewing the patient its best to complete a physical examination looking for any signs of abuse. If a patient is living at home with a

Community overcoming Relationship abuse (2015) says, The effects of exposure to an abusive parent and to domestic violence/abuse will vary depending on the age of the child or teen (and often, gender), the length, frequency and severity of the abuse, the child or teen’s relationship with the non-abusive parent, whether they are themselves targets of abuse, and/or have access to a support network. It is important to know that children and teens will show different symptoms depending on all of these factors. The younger the child and the longer the exposure to abuser the more critical it is to ensure her/his immediate emotional and physical safety, interrupt trauma and support their healing (p. 9).

Writing this essay proved to be very difficult. I sat at my desk for countless hours, starring at a blank page, trying to think of memory that had meaning to me. It came to a point where I just sat and thought back to all the experiences I’ve encountered in my short 16 years of life. It eventually dawned on me sitting in worship after teaching my first graders. That night a friend of my family was speaking about her job to the congregation. She told us about how she is an advocate for domestic abuse. As she was speaking a particular memory came to my mind.

I have been the victim of physical abuse, on several occasions, by more than one partner.