Bernadette Josephine Saunders

Structured Risk Assessment Procedures: Instruments of Abuse

Child protection services in Australia and elsewhere face increasing internal and external demands. As a response to these pressures, in part at least, services are increasingly implementing some form of risk assessment procedures. This article examines the practice implications of the increasing use of risk assessment instruments in child protection services. It highlights the complexity of the concept of risk as the basis for a future-oriented assessment activity. The authors suggest that this change of time frame (from what has happened to what might happen) may be detrimental to children. Through a critical review of the literature, the authors question whether risk prediction is possible and discuss the limitations of risk assessment instruments which omit some risk factors and may ignore the perspective of the child. The authors challenge the validity of risk assessment instruments in statutory settings and suggest that the protection of the organization may be a major objective in their implementation. Copyright

The gender neglect and textual abuse of children in the print media

In recent years the relationship between the media and child abuse has been subjected to closer scrutiny. Research at Monash University into the media portrayal of child abuse has led the researchers to examine the language used by the print media to represent both children who have been abused or neglected and the offences committed against them. This paper presents two findings from this research. The analysis firstly found that a child who has been abused or neglected may be objectified in print media language even when the child’s gender is previously identified. Secondly, the analysis found that the language used to describe the sexual abuse of children may serve to reduce the seriousness of offences. These phenomena, termed ‘gender neglect’ and ‘textual abuse’, are highlighted by examples from UK and Australian print media. The authors argue that ‘critical language awareness’ is important for children, just as it has been identified in research that examines the representation of women in print media. Copyright 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Can we Conquer Child Abuse if we don’t Outlaw Physical Chastisement of Children?

Initially, this paper was delivered as a keynote address at the 17thispcan International Congress held in Hong Kong in 2008. It addresses the question: Can we conquer child abuse if we don’t first outlaw physical punishment of children? It is argued that children’s low status in society and children’s less than optimal development are inextricably linked to corporal punishment in childhood, as is the physical abuse of children that all too frequently begins as disciplinary violence, often euphemistically described as “smacking”, but tragically escalates, resulting in injuries and even death. Attention is drawn to increasing evidence from research around the world that reveals the futility and avoidable negative consequences of physical chastisement, and the paper ends on an optimistic note foreseeing the end of the corporal punishment of children in Asia and elsewhere – a world in which children’s rights are respected and children’s childhoods are freed from the pain and fear of disciplinary violence.

Ending the Physical Punishment of Children by Parents in the English-speaking World: The Impact of Language, Tradition and Law

Ending the physical punishment of children remains an enormous challenge. In societies which tolerate even limited physical punishment as discipline or control, it is a response to children that adults may unthinkingly adopt simply because they can. This paper primarily focuses on the language, traditions and law prevailing in English-speaking, common law countries – Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom – that have ratified the CRC but have not yet fully outlawed physical punishment. New Zealand, the first English-speaking country to ban physical punishment, and the United States which has neither ratified the CRC nor fully outlawed physical punishment, are also discussed. Separately, language, traditional attitudes and practices, and laws impacting children’s lives are considered, with a view to envisioning a status quo where adults and children are accorded equal respect as human beings and any degree of physical violence towards children is regarded as an aberration.

Why do we condone the ‘physical punishment’ of children?

Societal tolerance of violence perpetrated between family members is evident in the generally unchallenged views condoning parents’ physical assault of children in the name of ‘discipline’. The authors suggest that such views reflect society’s devaluation of children and a denial of children’s basic human rights. This paper addresses the following areas related to the sanctioned physical punishment of children: the ‘fuzzy’ distinction between physical punishment and physical abuse; the law; the power of words; the media’s role and impact; parental explanations and motives for using physical punishment; the effects of physical punishment on children; the alternatives to physical punishment; and the reason this issue is so important, both for children and for society.

Infringement systems in Australia: A precarious blurring of civil and criminal sanctions?

The infringement notice system is used extensively in Australia to address the effect of minor law breaking with minimum recourse to the machinery of the formal criminal justice system. However, while many people view this system as an expedient approach to this issue, it also has the potential to perpetuate and entrench disadvantage for marginalised members of the community, often disproportionately caught up in the system. Many of these people are living in relative poverty; their living conditions falling below general community standards, affecting ‘adequate health and dental care, housing, education, employment opportunities, food and recreation.’1

The complexities of cultural support planning for Indigenous children in and leaving out‐of‐home care: the views of service providers in Victoria, Australia

Indigenous children and young people are over-represented at all stages of the Australian child protection system. Policy and legislative initiatives exist in the state of Victoria, Australia aiming to support the connection between Indigenous children and young people in state care and their culture and community. This exploratory research involved focus group consultations with seven child and family welfare agencies to investigate the impacts, barriers, benefits and limitations of cultural support planning for Indigenous young people in, and leaving care in, Victoria. Findings indicated that cultural planning was of value when it could be completed. However, various shortcomings of current systems were identified including limited resourcing of Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations to generate plans and provide direct and secondary consultation services to implement plans, difficulty gathering information for plans and some Indigenous young people expressing disinterest in connecting to their culture and community. Complexities in the relationships between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous agencies that aimed to support Indigenous young people in care were also acknowledged. Participants identified a number of strategies to improve outcomes, such as facilitating better relationships between agencies, promoting opportunities for ongoing cultural training for staff in mainstream agencies and improving the resourcing of Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations to deliver planning and to support cultural connections.

Whose Rights? Children, Parents and Discipline

This article outlines the current state of the law on the physical discipline of children and argues the case for legal change in Australia. It also identifies the politics of the ongoing debate and its potent symbolism - claims that physical parental punishment amounts to child abuse and state-sanctioned violence, pitted against claims that parental rights and the privacy of the home will be violated by state regulation of physical punishment.

Friend or foe: the media’s power to inform and shape societal attitudes towards people with acquired brain injury

Abstract Media representations play an integral role in modern society, informing the public about a range of issues affecting their communities. Using qualitative content analysis, this article reports on the study of a sample of Australian media coverage, spanning 30 years, covering issues associated with acquired brain injury (ABI) and related cognitive disabilities. The analysis explores how the media both portray and actively shape public perceptions about people living with ABI, the lived experience of the condition, and its broader social implications. The authors identify a range of themes arising in the sample that communicate specific ideas about ABI, disability, and deviance. Importantly, they identify how these themes are able to either construct or reinforce dominant understandings of disability and deviance through both their content and structure.

‘I am not drunk, I have an ABI’: findings from a qualitative study into systematic challenges in responding to people with acquired brain injuries in the justice system

The over-representation of acquired brain injury (ABI) amongst prisoner and juvenile justice populations is a significant issue across jurisdictions. This article reports on the findings of over 100 interviews conducted in Victoria, Australia with people who have an ABI, as well as key stakeholder groups who work in, or with, the justice system. The study identified systemic problems faced by people with ABI along multiple points of the justice system continuum. Improved identification and diagnosis of ABI, well-resourced support for those with the condition, comprehensive training to improve ABI literacy among all stakeholder groups, and a more appropriate and therapeutic approach to people with ABI in the justice system are all recommended.