(Parade Magazine, June 5, 2005)
The media calls the sexual assault of a child "fondling," and they term
incest a "nonviolent crime." So what harm does that do? Read "Watch
Your Language" by Andrew Vachss to find out.
Fact Sheet: An Approach to Preventing Child Abuse
Prevent Child Abuse America is committed to
preventing child abuse before it occurs. Since child maltreatment is a
complex problem with a multitude of causes, an approach to prevention
must respond to a range of needs. Therefore, Prevent Child Abuse
America has designed a
comprehensive strategy comprised of a variety of community-based
programs to prevent child abuse. Reflective of the phases of the family
life cycle, this approach provides parents and children with the
education and support necessary for healthy family functioning. Based
on what is known or believed to enhance an individual's ability to
function within the family unit, several
program areas contributing to the strategy can be identified. Beginning
with the prenatal period,
these programs offer a continuum of educational, supportive and
therapeutic services for parents
and children enduring throughout the school years. Although a community
may not choose to
offer services in all program areas, as a group they respond to the
needs of all family members.
The Prevention Programs
Support programs for new parents
The purpose of support programs for new parents, such as prenatal
support programs, is to
prepare individuals for the job of parenting. Such programs should
include supports during both
the pre- and postnatal periods to ease the difficulties associated with
having a new infant at
home. Prenatal and postnatal medical care is clearly important,
particularly since low birth
weight babies, drug exposed babies and babies otherwise sick in infancy
are at risk for being
abused. Many prospective parents now participate in prenatal care
programs that go beyond the
medical needs of the pregnant mother and the growing fetus to include
attention to the demands
of parenting. Prenatal programs can build on existing medical programs
and educate about-to-be
parents in child development, parent-child relationships, and adult
relationships.
Currently, home visitation is the most innovative and holistic
prevention program used in
approaching the difficulties of educating and supporting the at-risk
family, while at the same
time making a wide range of community and professional services
available to the family. This
strategy is a comprehensive program in which services vary widely in
both scope and content.
An array of services may be offered, including nurse visitation to
monitor the health of an infant
and mother, in-home parenting education, and the intervention of a
social worker for the purpose
of preventing the placement of an infant in foster care. Most
importantly, home visitation
programs strive to create social networks for new parents by connecting
them with other center-,
community-, and hospital-based prevention programs. This helps break
down the social isolation
experienced by many new parents, especially those in poverty stricken
communities. Social
isolation is a proven risk factor for child abuse.
Education for parents
Since 1989, the family support movement has pointed to an increasing
need among all-American
families for support, advice, and role models. Consequently, many
parent education and support
programs have encouraged the participation of all families, without
regard to specified risk. By
targeting all families, rather than low-income or otherwise at-risk
groups, parent education and
family support programs have achieved the broad-based backing necessary
to underwrite
statewide programs.
Nationally known programs that target at-risk families such as
Parent
Effectiveness Training
(P.E.T.), the Parent Nurturing Program, and Systematic Training for
Effective Parenting
(S.T.E.P.) have various approaches toward parenting education and are
distinct in their use of
such teaching tools as reward and punishment, praise, and specific
encouragement. Such parent
focused interventions with well-specified training components aimed at
improving child- rearing
competence and stress management have been supported by empirical
findings as effective
measures for reducing risk factors associated with physical child
abuse.
Many groups that provide parenting education, such as natural
childbirth groups, communitybased
prevention programs, and mental health services also can provide social
support systems
for families either at risk for or in treatment for abuse. Mutual
support or self-help groups also
provide a network of support to members in adjusting to new roles,
problems, or changes in
family circumstances. These groups can help members expand their social
contacts, improve
their feelings of self-esteem, and increase their knowledge of child
development.
Early and regular child and family screening and treatment
Because abusive behavior is often cyclic, many health and developmental
problems in early
childhood can lead to behavioral, educational, and psycho-emotional
problems in later
adolescence and adulthood, which could lead to the recurrence of
abusive behavior. Also, many
abused children at first appear acquiescent, cooperative, shy,
affectionate, and abnormal, but this
apparent serenity may mask multiple psychological problems. For this
reason, detecting and
treating health and developmental problems early in life is important.
Early childhood screening
and treatment programs should be seen as a continuation of the
preschool screening services,
such as those offered by a home visitor. The purpose of such programs
is to detect problems
children may be having, including abuse and neglect, and to ensure that
these children receive
the necessary health, mental health, and other services that will best
protect them from becoming
abusive parents. Programs also remain sensitive to the possibility that
a child may be
inappropriately labeled, with long-term negative consequences.
Child care opportunities
The purpose of child care or day care programs is to furnish parents
with regular or occasional
out-of-home care for their children. While child care is a necessity in
households in which all
adults are employed, such services also are beneficial for parents who
do not work outside the
home but who find continuous child care responsibilities very
stressful. Child care programs
also provide opportunities for children to learn basic social skills.
Head Start programs in
particular provide a rich mix of child care and child development
services.
Programs for abused children
It has been argued that prevention of abuse is in part tied to
providing therapeutic treatment to
children or young people who have been abused or neglected. To minimize
the long-term effects
of abuse, age-appropriate treatment services should be available to all
maltreated children.
Treatment programs for abused children include therapeutic day
school
programs as well as day
hospital programs, residential programs, and home and clinic setting
treatment. These programs
most often concentrate on improving the cognitive and developmental
skills of younger children
and psychodynamic treatment for children in older age groups.
Life skills training for children and young adults
The purposes of life skills training are first to equip children,
adolescents, and young adults with
interpersonal skills and knowledge that are valuable in adulthood,
especially in the parenting
role; and second, to provide children with skills to help them protect
themselves from abuse.
Knowledge and skills can be imparted in a variety of ways; irrespective
of the specific
techniques, educational classes or supports would be provided through
the school systems and
through adult education centers.
Skill and knowledge building should be stressed in the areas of
child
development, family and
life management, self-development, self-actualization, and methods of
seeking help. For
adolescents in particular, education in sexuality, pregnancy
prevention, and issues related to
parenting should be provided.
Family support services
Lacking a support network in times of crisis puts families at
significantly greater risk for abuse
or neglect. To provide immediate assistance to parents in times of
stress, crisis care programs
should be available on a 24-hour basis and should include the following
services: telephone hot
line, crisis caretakers, crisis baby-sitters, crisis nurseries, and
crisis counseling. Through these
programs, parents facing immediate problems could receive immediate
support to alleviate the
stresses of a particular situation. Help should be available over the
phone or through in-person
counseling.
The program also should offer parents the options of having someone
come into their homes on a
temporary basis to assist with child and home care or of taking the
child to a crisis nursery.
Because crisis care is temporary and short-term, such programs should
be equipped to refer
parents to long-term services as needed.
Public information and education
While hospitals, schools, and community agencies have a critical role
to play in implementing
this child abuse prevention strategy, they cannot fully shoulder the
responsibility. Educational
campaigns are necessary to make the public aware of the seriousness of
the problem and its
implications as well how individuals can make a difference. The
effectiveness of the preceding
prevention strategy will only be realized when there is a fully aware
public, committed to
preventing child abuse.
Sources
Adapted from: Cohn Donnelly, A. (1997). An Approach to Preventing Child
Abuse, Chicago, IL: National
Committee to Prevent Child Abuse.
Acknowledgment
This fact sheet is a public service from Prevent Child Abuse America
that has been made possible through a grant
from the Sigma Delta Tau Sorority. Fact sheets are issued periodically
on a variety of subjects as needs arise. Fact
sheets may be reproduced without notice to Prevent Child Abuse America;
however, we request that the author, if
any, and Prevent Child Abuse America be credited as the source if
reproduced in part or whole in other publications
or products.
www.preventchildabuse.org
Child Pornography as Rape
Let's
Fight This Terrible Crime
Against Our Children
(Parade Magazine, February 19, 2006)
"No child is capable, emotionally or legally, of consenting to being
photographed for sexual purposes. Thus, every image of a sexually
displayed child—be it a photograph, a tape or a DVD—records both the
rape of the child and an act against humanity."