How do children and parents understand child abuse under the social and cultural background of China? Do parents beat their children as child abuse? How do they explain the causes of violence and its influence on parent-child relationship? Then, let's analyze the ethical dilemma of intervening in child abuse for everyone, and welcome your reference.
Proposition and background of the problem
From April to August, 2004, the author worked as a resident social worker in a middle school in Guangzhou, and participated in a project on child protection, which was carried out in the school where the internship was held? Action plan to prevent child abuse of young journalists? Group. By watching domestic news reports on child abuse, watching posters and public welfare films promoting child protection at home and abroad, playing sitcoms, going out to interview community residents, and shooting public welfare films together, the group allows teenagers (junior high school students) to express their views on child abuse based on their own experiences and some news reports, enhance their ability to distinguish any behavior that may cause physical harm, improve their sensitivity and social responsibility to child abuse, and advocate it in the community.
In the process of group development, can members confess their childhood quilt cover? Domestic violence? Their experiences, reviewing their own experiences and feelings of current views, their trust and frankness in the group, let social workers feel the power of the group. However, the author found that the severity of domestic violence suffered by some team members far exceeded the author's imagination, and the author also encountered some difficulties in the intervention.
The case owner GXS is one of the cases of serious abuse. She often wears long-sleeved clothes in hot weather, and social workers suspect that she is in danger of being abused at present, so they invite her to join the group. In group activities, GX cried four times because she saw the pictures shared by social workers and heard the information shared by team members. GX S revealed that she was violently treated by her father from/kloc-0 to the sixth grade, and her mother divorced when she was 3 years old because she couldn't stand her father's domestic violence. She also wants to run away from her father and live with many relatives. Her father threatened to explode with leather shoes, belts, sticks, iron pipes and gas tanks. Her father would take it out on her if he was drunk, unhappy and had no money. When she was about 5 years old, one day she was sleeping in her room, and her father sneaked in to touch her sex organs. Every time this happens, she will bite her father's arm hard. Because in the past, my father hit people seriously, and his arm was prone to inflammation and pus in summer, so he wore long sleeves to avoid being seen by others.
In the fourth activity of the group, when the social worker turned to a poster, some members said that the abused children would still remember the abused experience even after the incident, and even hurt themselves like the people in the poster? . Then GX shouted:? Yes, just like me! ? At that time, G X S walked up to the author, took out a knife from his pocket and said, M i s s like him, I often cut myself with this. ? It turned out that the case owner started from the third grade of primary school, and when he remembered those experiences of abuse, he cut himself from time to time. The case owner showed the social worker that all her ten fingers were cut by herself, and they were all small wounds, saying that they were easy to recover.
In four months, social workers interviewed G X S six times and found that the teacher knew nothing about her past abuse experience and current self-abuse behavior. Although her biological mother knew, she couldn't help her leave her father. Social workers, as the main interveners in improving the development environment and dealing with the main crisis of the case, will encounter many ethical dilemmas in the process of intervening in the case, including cultural, legal and rational. The author hopes that through the analysis and thinking of these dilemmas, the intervention and thinking of social work in child abuse cases can be promoted.
Analysis of Ethical Dilemma of Social Work in Child Abuse
The Construction of Child Abuse by Parents and Children in Traditional Culture
How do children and parents understand child abuse under the social and cultural background of China? Do parents beat their children as child abuse? How do they explain the causes of violence and its influence on parent-child relationship?
In the process of group work, social workers guide group members to share their strict discipline or domestic violence. Team member T X said with a smile that her parents used to beat her with clothes hangers, brooms, sticks and belts. At that time, she thought her parents had gone too far. F Y H said that his mother made him kneel down because he often surfed the Internet. L CH said that his father made him kneel on the beach for half an hour, and his knees were bleeding. These players all think that these corporal punishments by parents are not abuse. They did do something wrong at that time, and their parents did it for their own good. Team member LZJ and the case leader GXS think that his father's violence against him is abuse, because his father often takes it out on himself. And T X's mother thinks that parents beat their children just to discipline them? And repeatedly stressed that he is? For the good of the children? , is it? Out of breath? She believes that only those who intentionally and maliciously beat and scold children are abused.
China's traditional culture tolerates and recognizes domestic violence to a certain extent, and many people recognize and even believe in domestic violence? Is it a kiss, a curse, or love for a dutiful son who doesn't grind people under a stick? Only a few people who often beat their children half dead and black and blue will be blamed. People tend to show tolerance and understanding to abusers with good intentions and motives, and many children tend to agree with their parents. For the good of the children? . Therefore, when social workers face the problem of child abuse, it is difficult to change people's deep-rooted ideas. At the same time, when the child is facing the problem of abuse, what does the social worker tell the child to do? Your parents are hurting you? Will it strengthen children's hostility to their parents? In essence, social workers must face great challenges if they want to get involved in such problems.
Mental abuse is difficult to assess and intervene.
For a long time, many people have been accustomed to simply understanding child abuse as physical injury to children, while mental injury is in a collective unconscious state. Because of this one-sided cognition, some parents often treat their children in a cold, exclusive, isolated and intimidating way, and consciously or unconsciously engage in mental abuse.
Team member X LY said in the group that she was often driven out of the house by her parents when she was a child. This confession was heard by the team members, who all said that they were driven out of their homes by their parents and refused to eat. Many players said that they had been humiliated by their parents, which made them feel stupid, bad and worthless. Threatened by family members to throw away or drive out of the house; Witness parents quarreling or violent behavior. T X and L S X, as only children, said that they were left out by their grandmother and were accused? Why are you not a boy? . Although none of the above has brought physical harm to children, it has caused psychological trauma to children, so that some players will cry when they see some related pictures or videos.
Social workers feel the distress and frustration of team members, but it is difficult to assess the duration, regularity and repetition, frequency and serious consequences of mental injuries suffered by children. Without enough information, many mental injuries will disappear. However, the ethical value and moral responsibility of social workers require social workers to change the parent-child relationship. To this end, social workers tried to get in touch with the parents of the team members and asked if they could make home visits and talk about parent-child relationship, but most of them were rejected by parents and even team members. A parent even accused her daughter of not participating in the activities of the social work station. Learning is important? Social workers feel helpless because their daughter is not allowed to continue to participate.
Dilemma conflict between professional ethics and laws and regulations
Social workers are based on? Protect life and do the least harm? The principle of professional ethics should ensure that the case owner is no longer in danger of being abused, protect the life safety and physical health of the case owner, and reduce the psychological trauma of the case owner. However, at present, China's legal system is not perfect, and the protection of children by existing laws is far from enough. In addition, social workers have no legal right to intervene in child abuse cases, and they have to bear certain risks when they intervene. After the intervention, it is likely that the abuser will not be punished, but will get worse. There is no law that can deprive abused parents of custody, and there is no institution to take in abused children. Abused children cannot leave their original living environment, and the possibility of eliminating abuse is very small. In this case, it is difficult for social workers to provide a safer environment for the case owner.
Professional boundaries and dual and multiple relationships
GX confessed to the author that she told her past experience because she was her good friend. She never told anyone about these things, and stressed that if a social worker told anyone about her, she would no longer be a friend. However, social workers are novices in such serious cases of child abuse and self-abuse. They have no relevant practical experience and need to discuss with supervisors and tutors, which will inevitably reveal some information of the case owner, which is contrary to the case owner. Secret? Promise.
In addition, the case owner confided to the social worker on the basis of admitting that the social worker was a personal friend, and even asked the social worker to buy her drinks or snacks. ? When there is more than one relationship between social workers and case handlers, whether it is professional relationship, social relationship or business relationship, it is a double or multiple relationship. Double or multiple relationships may exist at the same time or occur one after another. ? It can be seen that the relationship between social workers and case owners is a single limited relationship, and once there is a friend, partner or even sexual relationship, it will form a dual relationship. For social work in China, it is unrealistic to completely ban the appearance of dual relations. In China's interpersonal relationship, there is no intimate relationship with the case owner? Friends? Relationships make it difficult for the case owner to trust social workers. However, if this relationship is left unchecked, it may lead to the ethical dilemma of further service. When it comes to privacy issues, such as child abuse, dual relationships are more likely to occur. Will this blur the professional boundaries and lead to the confusion of social workers' professional roles, or pay too much attention to the case owner or ignore the actual needs of the case owner? This dual relationship will bring trouble to the case owner and social workers.
conclusion
The survival and development of children is not only the responsibility of parents, but also the responsibility of the state. The state has the responsibility to prevent children's rights from being violated by enacting laws and regulations and providing services. The improvement of the legal system and the establishment of the child protection mechanism can also effectively support social workers to undertake their own duties and tasks, reduce hesitation and struggle in ethical dilemmas such as the legal system, and strive for the greatest rights and interests of children.
At the same time, because the family is a private field, it is difficult for even professional social workers to get involved in the family and get in touch with children in need without parents' consent. At the same time, due to the special affection and power relationship between parents and children, children rarely ask outsiders for help. Therefore, for the more common cases of parents beating their children, the intervention of social workers should first help parents, and help their children through changes in their attitudes and behaviors, only for children? Authorization? The effect is not great.
Ethical dilemma is an important issue that runs through the whole process of social work, and it is the most severe test that every social worker faces. When dealing with child abuse, social work should be clear about its responsibilities and principles: first, to ensure that children are not harmed in the family, and second, to ensure that parents' responsibilities and rights in the family are not harmed. Therefore, social workers should think about how to design a legal right to intervene in the private family field and protect children without destroying the family as much as possible.
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