Question

CASE STUDY

Christopher aged 12 (White UK), Amy aged 8 (dual heritage Caribbean/White UK) and Kerry aged 3(dual heritage Caribbean/White UK) have been removed from their mother (White UK) who is an alcoholic and who attacked Christopher in a drunken rage after Amy disclosed sexual interference by him.

The children do not have the same father and Kerry’s father, Andy (UK born Caribbean) recently left the family home after social services discovered he has sexual offences against children. (This was brought to light when Andy’s other child Mary aged 14 went to social services and informed them about her father and abuse in the family. This is the basis of the previous task above). Their maternal grandfather (White UK), is also a sex offender and it is suspected that he has had unsupervised contact with the children. The maternal grandmother (White Irish), suffered from psychotic illness throughout her life and is currently in hospital.

Amy and Kerry are also displaying sexualised behaviour and Christopher is vey aggressive. He has bitten the foster carer and has been excluded from school for hitting other children and sexual interference with another child.

Amy and Christopher are not doing well in school in any event. They are not learning and are shunned by the other children. The foster care finds faeces about the house and suspects it is Christopher, who has also been discovered hording food in his bedroom.

Kerry is showing signs of developmental delay. She does not give eye contact, she head bangs and does not like to be touched. She was extremely distraught to be removed from her mother and absolutely will not accept comfort from the foster carer, but occasionally will do so from Christopher and Amy.

CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING

1. Your impressions of the children’s attachment style

2. How the world and adults may seem to the children?

3. How you would engage with the children in light of this?

4. What type of assessments would the children need and by whom?

5. What would be their care needs in the short and long term?

6. The advantages and disadvantages of separating the children or keeping them together.

7. How would you consider the children’s contact with family members

thats is the caae study and I have to write an essay taking the points below into consideration .

Answer 1

The case study mentioned above is a sort of complicated case which has to be taken care in a professional and therapeutic manner. It brings spotlight on the dark sides of many families which are still existing in our society. The after effects of all these issues are affecting the young children and adolescents of these families than anything. The future of these young people are being affected the most. When it reaches to the level of physical and sexual harassment it has to be brought to an end no matter what.

After long period of sufferings and harassment, these young people are left with severe mental traumas, that can haunt them for the rest of their lives. Children who come from these kind of backgrounds may have different sort of behaviour problems. But they are never supposed to be blamed for what they are going through and what they have become. A child's living conditions and surroundings determine his/her character development. Its normal for children to resemble the way their elders or parents behave. Its not their mistake to be born in such a family wherein they are subjected to different physical and mental abuses.

They might presume that every adults are like their family members who are abusive and offensive in nature . These children are prone to have negative thoughts and negative temptations. For them, the world is a place of assaults and conflicts, because that is what they have grown watching. In addition, they are prone to suffer from post traumatic stress disorders after witnessing or experiencing such dreadful events.

These children are best to be engaged by professionals who holds enough knowledge and experience in handling such complicated cases. They should be handled with love, care and delicacy . We should be friendly as well as caring and loving, so as to gain their trust and love. These children may have suspicion on almost every person they encounter with. In such a situation, its our responsibility to gain their trust and act accordingly by providing them care and resolving their issues.

They have to undergo physical as well as psychological assessment done by a physician who has specialisation in child psychiatry or psychology.

These children require love, support, care and protection above all. During the initial care period, they should be protected from the person who has abused them. And they should be provided with love and care. In long term, serious decisions have to be made regarding where the child is supposed to live and who takes care of them. They should be provided with physical and mental treatments until their condition improves.

Deciding whether to separate or let the children to stay together is a crucial part . As one of the children has expressed such kind of abusive behaviour, it should also be accounted. Nevertheless, its necessary to consider the damage which can cause to their relationship when they are been separated for a long period of time. However, during the initial periods, the child with behavioural issues should be provided with psychological and counselling therapies. Sudden separation can lead to the development of a huge gap between these growing children at this particular age. Even if the children are allowed to stay together, there should always be a supervision by the elders to prevent the occurrence any such negative incidents.

It is better to separate the children or save the children from such criminal minded people, even if they are in close blood relation to the children, as fast as possible. It's much better to separate them away from those eagle eyes than letting them live with them. Even if the parents or relatives are ready to have them back, its relatively dangerous for the children to be left alone with them. It will be more like giving them licence to continue their immoral activities. Instead, they should be interrogated and prosecuted for their unforgivable actions.

  

After all, we can hope to have a better future in which children and women are safe and secure. And let us work together hand in hand to bring about new changes, and make our world a better place for everyone.