Child Abuse

Question 1

Safeguarding and paramount

Answer 1

All statutory bodies have a duty under children’s act 2004 s.11 to promote the welfare and best interests of Children.
Each country has a safeguarding board and the 3 key members are:
Police, social care and health.

Question 2

Risk and vulnerability factors

Answer 2

• Parental mental health problems
• Deaf and disabled children
• Parental substance misuse
• Domestic abuse
• Looked after children

Question 3

Definition

Answer 3

Child abuse is defined as any form of maltreatment of a child. Somebody may abuse or neglect a child by inflicting harm on them, or by failing to act to prevent harm.
Children may be abused in a family or in an institutional or community setting by those known to them or by other. They may be abused by an adult or adults, or by another child or children.

Question 4

Significant harm

Answer 4

Although there is no absolute criteria for determining whether or not harm is ‘significant’,, local authorities such as social services, police, education and health agencies work with family members to assess the child, and a decision is made based on their professional judgement using the gathered evidence.
Sometimes a single, traumatic event may constitute significant harm.

Question 5

The children’s act 1989 states:

Answer 5

Harm means ill-treatment or the impairment of health or development including, impairment suffered from seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another.
Development means physical, intellectual, emotional, social or behaviour a; development.
Health means physical or mental treatment
Ill-treatment includes sexual abuse and forms of ill-treatment which are not physical.

Question 7

Main aspects

Answer 7

• physical
• sexual
• emotional abuse
• neglect of a child

Question 8

Congenital marking of the skin

Answer 8

Congenital marking of the skin are not bruises. Babies are born with congenital dermal melanocytosis which is a blue-grey marking on the skin usually affecting the lower back and buttock region of newborn babies. These birth marks are also known as Mongolian blue spot.

Question 9

Professional curiosity

Answer 9

Professional curiosity and communication skills to explore and understand what is happening with an individual or family. It is about enquiring deeper and using proactive questioning and challenge. It is about understanding one’s own responsibility and knowing when to act, rather than making assumptions or taking things at face value.

Question 10

Sexual abuse

Answer 10

Sexual abuses include contact abuses and non constant abuses.
Children and young people may fear they will be judged, not believed or that nothing will change, especially if the child has disclosed in the past and this was their experience.

Question 11

Emotional abuse

Answer 11

Emotional abuse is any type of abuse that involves the continual emotional mistreatment of a child. It’s sometimes called psychological abuse. This includes humiliating, jokes, threatening, pushing them too hard

Question 12

Neglect

Answer 12

The persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s healthy or development. For example, providing food, clothing and shelter.

Question 13

Child cruelty

Answer 13

If anyone who is 16 years or over will fully assaults, ill-treats, neglects, abandons, or exposes a child, or procures a child to be assaulted, ill-treated, whether physically or otherwise, neglected, abandoned, or exposed, in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering or injury toy health, whether the suffering or injury is a physical or psychological nature, they are guilty of an offence.

Question 14

AWARE

Answer 14

Appearance
Words
Activity
Relationship
Environment

Question 15

Section 47

Answer 15

the local authority has a duty to make enquiries, or cause enquiries to be made, where it reasonably suspects that a child is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm.

Question 16

Section 17

Answer 16

places a general duty on all local authorities to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need.

Question 17

Powers of entry

Answer 17

If an offence is reasonably suspected of there is a reasonable suspicion of harm to a child, an officer will usually be acting legally in obtaining entry.
Powers of entry include:
PACE 1984 sec 17 (1) (b)
Pace 1984 sec 17 (1) ( E )
Children’s act 1989 s.48 warrant
Common law

Question 18

Police protection

Answer 18

Where a constable has reasonable cause to believe that a child would otherwise be likely to suffer significant harm he may:
Remove the child to suitable accommodation and keep him/her there
Or
Take such steps as reasonable to ensure the child’s removal from any hospital or other place, in which he/she is accommodated is prevented.