week 3 module notes - children

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The University of Newcastle *

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2001

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Sociology

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Apr 3, 2024

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Rights of the Child: Balancing Care and Control social workers engage in partnerships with the families they support and take a holistic approach to child protection. Sometimes, in extreme situations where there is a serious risk of harm or danger, social workers are required to take stronger action to safeguard children. In addition to being mandatory reporters, we often have the legal or social powers and duties to act on serious risk of harm. For example, removing children from the care of their birth parents. How we go about balancing care and support with protection and safeguarding has been one of the greatest sources of debate, both within and outside the social work profession. In fact, balancing care and control is one of the defining features of social work and provides a tension that is not always easy to reconcile. An important first step is to adopt a rights-based approach consistent with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). Australia is a signatory of the Convention and many of its principles are embedded within the child protection legislation we explored last week. Social work adopts a rights-based approach consistent with the Convention. Accordingly, social workers are committed to ensuring that: i. The best interests of children are the primary concern. ii. All children are heard. Children should be consulted about, and take part in making, decisions affecting their life with regard to the child’s age or ability to understand. iii. All children have the right to be given information about decisions and plans concerning their future and personal history, having regard to the child’s age or ability to understand. iv. These rights are afforded to all children regardless of their race, religion, abilities, gender, beliefs or any other factor. v. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds have a right to services, supports and interventions that are culturally sensitive, competent and aware Voices and Rights of Australian Children For social workers, a children's rights perspective includes:  Acceptance that children are people now, not people in the making, and that they should be respected and valued as complete human beings from the point of birth. This still allows for an acknowledgement that children will change and develop over the years.  Recognition that childhood is valuable in its own right and not just a stage of development towards adulthood. This requires an emphasis on working to promote children's present self-fulfilment and happiness, in addition to focusing on their future adult lives.  Respect for the agency of children, and not under-estimating the knowledge and insights they possess about their own needs and history. While social workers

have access to information that may not be shared with children, we should not assume that we know more about a child's life than the child.  Commitment to exercise statutory power in accordance with the best interests of the child, their right to have their views taken into account and taken seriously, without bias or discrimination. Social workers must recognise that alternative care, provided outside the informal family or community environment, carries extensive risks to children and young people. Cultural Rights The following information has come from the hard work of the Grandmothers Against Removals (GMAR) formed in Gunnedah, NSW. GMAR advocate against the removal of Aboriginal children from their immediate and extended families, as well as for greater Indigenous community involvement with the NSW Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ). The number of Aboriginal children being forcibly removed from their families by child protection agencies nation-wide is at an unprecedented high, with NSW having the highest rate of removals. On 2 October 2014, the Senate of the Federal Parliament of Australia agreed to note that: . ..“New South Wales children from Aboriginal communities are being removed from their families at an unprecedented rate with more than 6,000 Aboriginal children, representing about one in 10 Aboriginal children, in out-of-home care in New South Wales...”. The existing legislation and policies for making decisions about Aboriginal children at risk of harm mandate greater involvement of Aboriginal communities. The Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW) (Links to an external site.) (‘the Act’) provides legislative guidance for child protection decisions and actions:  the safety, welfare and well-being of the child or young person are paramount;  account must be taken of the culture, disability, language, religion and sexuality of the child or young person and (if relevant), those with parental responsibility for them;  in deciding what action is necessary to take to protect a child or young person from harm, the least intrusive intervention that is consistent with protecting them from harm and promoting their development must be chosen; and  if a child or young person is placed in out-of-home care, they are entitled to a safe, nurturing, stable and secure environment and to maintain relationships with people significant to them, including birth or adoptive parents, siblings, extended family, peers, family friends and community. The Act also sets out specific provisions for actions and decisions affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families:  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are to participate in the care and protection of their children and young people with as much self-determination as possible; and  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, kinship groups, representative organisations and communities are to be given the opportunity to participate in decisions made concerning the placement and other significant decisions made under the Act about their children and young persons.

Anti-Oppressive Practice As social workers, our legal and professional assessments, decisions and responsibilities can be implemented in either oppressive or in empowering ways. Anti-oppressive social workers argue that existing social divisions and inequalities also shape our relationships with clients, and we must actively therefore seek out ways of reducing the disempowering effects of these divisions. Anti-oppressive practice definition: 'A form of social work practice which addresses social divisions and structural inequalities ... to provide more appropriate and sensitive services by responding to people’s needs regardless of their social status. Anti-oppressive practice embodies a person centred philosophy, an egalitarian value system concerned with reducing the deleterious effects of structural inequalities upon people’s lives; a methodology focusing on both process and outcome; and a way of structuring relationships between individuals that aim to empower users by reducing the negative effects of hierarchy in ... the work they do together’ (Dominelli, cited in Dominelli, 2009, p. 53). The aim of this stance is to avert, as much as possible, replicating oppressive social relations in practice, by working from within a framework of five core principles: 1. Critical reflection on self in practice 2. Critical assessment of service users’ experiences of oppression 3. Empowering service users 4. Working in partnership 5. Minimal intervention The three central approaches to anti-oppressive practice are:  An emphasis on the structural origins of issues faced by clients;  Social change as an important aspect of practice;  Critical analysis of practice relationships, and trying to transform those relationships accordingly. 1. Think about why people use substances. Do you think there are positive and negative reasons why parents use alcohol or other drugs? List some. Positive Negative - Social - Relaxing 2. What are some stereotypes you are aware of about people who have alcohol or other drug use problems? What messages have you received from the people in your life about substance use?

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3. How do you think your own biography might influence your assessment of risk in statutory child protection? How would you apply anti-oppressive theory or human rights concepts and ideas to analyse and respond to a specific situation in the documentary?  What forms of oppression are the children or families subject to? (Keeping in mind major social divisions, for example class, sex, and other forms of discrimination)  What dominant ideas or discourses will shape service provision to the children and/or family and your role as a social worker? The children and families in this documentary were subject to many types of oppression due to cycles of intergenerational trauma and racial discrimination, including cultural oppression and class oppression. Racism was primarily discussed throughout, but I am of the belief that socioeconomic status played a part. These negative systemic oppressional cycles essentially stem from colonisation and the discriminatory and oppressive policies that went along with that. This intergenerational trauma can play a large role as to many Aboriginal people became involved in substance abuse and the negative behaviour that follows. In this documentary, Helen’s children are taken away from her really quickly and there was a failure to consider what options there were for the children and if removing them was necessarily the best option. Removal of a child from the family should be the absolute last option, especially surrounding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people considering the incredible trauma surrounding this topic for these people. As a social worker, it would be crucial when working with indigenous clients to practice with application of anti-oppressive theory, also utilising strength’s perspective and ecological systems theory. By applying anti oppressive theory, each individual situation would be assessed personally and identifying struggles, strengths, past traumas, and goals for the future. To utilise strengths-based perspective, as a social worker I would work with Aboriginal families and assist in identifying their own personal strengths and how to best mobilise these. Ecological systems theory is useful to be a holistic measure in ensuring a social worker is aware of all aspects of their clients lives, and to further understand the family situation and dynamics under a broader lens. In other utilise both the Strengths Perspective and Ecological Systems Theory in situations such as these. By using Strengths Perspective, it would be about working with Aboriginal mothers and families and identifying their own strengths and how to mobilise them so that they themselves can be the best parents for their children. The Ecological Systems Theory can also be utilised as a holistic measure to ensure children remain connected to their micro, exo and macro systems. In doing so, this allows parents to see the needs and importance for their children to be connected to their education, health services, friends, extended family members and social services.

week 3 module notes - children

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