Icebreaker
Safe to Belong
Types of abuse
Responding
Our Responsibilities

Types of abuse

What is Child
Abuse?
✤ Somebody may abuse or neglect a child
by inflicting harm, or failing to act to
prevent harm.
✤ A child is defined in the Children's act
1989 as anyone under 18.
✤ May suffer more then one category of
abuse.

✤ Definitions of child abuse came from the joint government department
document Working Together to Safeguard Children (1999):
NEGLECT
EMOTIONAL PHYSICAL
SEXUAL

NEGLECT
✤ Allowing a child to wear
inappropriate clothing
✤ Providing inappropriate food
✤ Lack of supervision
✤ Insufficient safety provision
✤ Exposure to undue cold
✤ Unnecessary risk of injury

PHYSICAL
✤ Hurting a child in any way
✤ Giving a child alcohol
✤ Giving medication without
permission
✤ Intensity of the training beyond
the capacity of the individual

SEXUAL
✤ Forcing a child to take part in
sexual activities; whether or
not they are aware of what's
happening
✤ Inappropriate physical contact
✤ Involving children watching
pornographic material or
watching sexual acts

EMOTIONAL
✤ Shouting
✤ Threatening or taunting
children
✤ Constant Criticism
✤ Bullying
✤ Unrealistic pressure to perform

EMOTIONAL
✤ Smothering a child’s
development through over-
protection
✤ Some level of emotional abuse
is involved in all types of ill
treatment of a child, though it
may occur alone.
✤ Domestic violence, adult
mental health problems and
parental substance misuse may
expose children to emotional
abuse.

BULLYING
✤ A child who is bullied may be
suffering any of the types of
abuse defined above, It may
take many forms but the main
types are:
✤ Physical (e.g.. hitting, kicking,
theft)
✤ Verbal (e.g. sectarian / racist
remarks, name calling)

Who can
abuse?
✤ Abusers don’t look like
abusers!
✤ More likely family member or
within social sphere
✤ Over 80% in a child’s home or
or the perpetrator
✤ Children may suffer abuse
from other children and young
people

Group Work
✤ Split into 4 groups and
brainstorm and present to the
rest of the group what could be
signs and symptoms a type
abuse.

Responding

Read Case Study
What might make you worry?
✤
Is the child doing something that is ✤
quiet and withdrawn, a loner
unusual for the child?
✤
never wants to go home
✤
Is the child over-friendly with
strangers? ✤
tired looking
✤
Do you recognise any or some of these ✤
frequent bruises (particularly on
behaviours in the child? fleshy parts)
✤
frequent mood changes ✤
gives the impression of being
unloved and unhappy.
✤
unusual eating patterns, i.e. always
hungry
✤
change in appearance

If you suspect
child abuse:
✤ Do realise that your concerns
could be significant and should
be passed on.
✤ Do contact your organisations
Child Protection Officer (if you
have one), Social Services or
NSPCC.

If a child tells you something has
happened:
✤ Do allow the child to do the ✤ Do record the conversation as
talking. soon as possible afterwards (it
is very important to use the
✤ Do listen - take the child child's own words).
seriously.
✤ Do share your concerns with a
✤ Do remain calm and caring. Social Worker - you are not
expected to handle it alone.
✤ Do allow the child to finish.
✤ Do tell the child what you are
going to do.

If a child tells you something has
happened:
✤ Don't postpone or delay the ✤ Don't interpret what you have
opportunity to listen. been told, just record it.
✤ Don't ask leading questions. ✤ Don’t discuss the incident with
anybody other then need to
✤ Don't allow your own feelings know
(such as anger, pity or shock) to
surface. ✤ Only the social services, the
police and the NSPCC have the
✤ Don't make false promises (that legal right and responsibility to
you will keep 'the secret', for investigate the case
example)

What happens in an emergency?
✤ Often help can be given to the family without resorting to legal action.
✤ In certain circumstances, it is necessary to protect the child by way of
removal from it's family.
✤ This step cannot be taken without adequate evidence and no social
worker may remove a child from the care of their parents without
obtaining an Order from a court.
✤ In certain circumstances, a police officer may remove a child without
recourse to a court or magistrate when acting in the child's best
interests in order to afford protection.

✤ You become aware of the following about a very
talented ten year old boy in your group:
✤ 1)
He has been late for practice most times in the last
month.
✤ 2)
Other young people in the group do not want to
socialise with him as he is ‘smelly’.
✤ 3)
His parent arrives to collect him on a regular basis
under the influence of
drink or drugs.

✤ Some parents who have a drug/alcohol issues still
provide good parenting.
✤ In itself parental substance abuse is not necessarily
abusive but it does increase the risk of all forms of
abuse and neglect
✤ Professionals working with the child should be aware
of the situation and monitor it.
✤ Make a note, date and securely file.

Our Responsibilities

Our Responsibilities
✤ Any organisation that comes into ✤ Appoint a Child Protection Officer
contact with children should have a
child protection policy ✤ Examine the activities organisation
carries out
✤ members, staff and users of the service
should all be involved in writing your ✤ Risk assess
child protection policy and should be
aware of the policy when it is put into
action
✤ All staff that come into contact with
young people need to be police checked
(CRB).
✤ Develop a Child Protection Policy

Helpful Harmful
(to achieving the objective) (to achieving the objective)
Strengths: Weaknesses:
Internal
(Attributes to the
organisation)
Opportunities: Threats:
External
(Attributes to the
environment)
1. How can we Use each Strength?
2. How can we Stop each Weakness?
3. How can we Exploit each Opportunity?
4. How can we Defend against each Threat?

Useful Information and Contacts
✤ 'Good Practice in Child ✤ NSPCC helpline 0800 800 500 -
Protection' ISBN-10: 0748792066 www.nspcc.org.uk
✤ Children Act 1989 - http:// ✤ The Churches' Child Protection
bit.ly/KqypK Advisory Service (CCPAS) -
www.ccpas.co.uk
✤ Convention on the Rights of the
Child - www.unicef.org/crc/
✤ Childline 0800 1111

✤ Social Services has an Emergency Duty Service which
offers an emergency crisis service for matters which
cannot wait until the local office opens.
✤ They operate from:
✤ Monday to Thursday - 5 p.m. to 9 am,
✤ Friday - 4 p.m. to 9 am and also at weekends and
Bank Holidays.
✤ * Tel. 0845 6000388 (low-call rate)

The Safe Network provides advice and guidance about keeping
safenetwork.org.uk
children safe during club or group activities.
NSPCC inform is the UK’s only free, specialised online child
nspcc.org.uk/inform
protection resource
The Child Protection in Sport Unit safeguards the welfare of
http://bit.ly/7fzI4
children and young people under 18 in sport.
NSPCC Publications - for anyone working with children, young
http://bit.ly/RLrhC
people, parents and carers.
NSPCC EduCare child protection awareness programmes - our
http://bit.ly/kfRdI range of interactive, distance learning programmes are designed to
teach everybody about their role in protecting children.
Our Consultancy services can help you to put safeguards in place
http://bit.ly/10ioil
to prevent abuse.

Developing a Child Protection Policy
• Front cover, naming the organisation • Outline recognised effects of abuse
and the date the policy was written
• Explain how effects of abuse and
• Identify how the company will avoid disclosure will be responded to
child abuse and who is the designated
person to deal with any concerns • Identify health and safety provisions
put into place by the school
• Make a policy statement - "We in...are
committed to practice which prevents • Identify who will be police checked,
children from harm. Staff and and forms are staff recruitment
volunteers in this organisation accept
• List training and resources available
and recognise our responsibilities to
develop awareness of the issues which • List the companies working guidelines
cause children harm. We will and code of conduct for working with
endeavour to safeguard our children young people, including hygiene, drink
by..." driving etc.
• Highlight and identify forms of abuse

Good Practice
• Avoid 'one-to-one' supervision • Boundaries are blurred between
where the roll of the parent stops
and dance class begins
• The legal definition of a child is
anyone up to the age of 18 (The
Child Act (1989) • Seek agreement from participants
prior to any physical contact.
Although dance involves touch and
• No inappropriate language
contact, it is the intention of that
contact and how the child interprets
• Identify class structure to it that is important. Use new
colleagues and participants imaginative forms of teaching to
avoid using physical contact.
• Young people who are not informed
are vulnerable