Identifying Emotional and Psychological Abuse: A Guide for Childcare Professionals

251 Pages·2006·1.8 MB·English

by  Kieran O'Hagan

IDENTIFYING I
D
Emotional and E
N
Psychological Abuse T
I
F
Y
A Guide for ChildcareProfessionals
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N
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The principal objectives of this book are to enable childcare
workers to understand and deal more effectively with cases E
of emotional and psychological abuse. The concepts of m
emotional development, emotional abuse, psychological o
development, and psychological abuse are fully explored and t
i
clearly defined, within the contexts of: o
n
(cid:2)Existing literature and research a
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(cid:2)Childcare legislation and practice a
n
(cid:2)Child abuse enquiry reports, in particular that of
d
VictoriaClimbié
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The book identifies emotional and psychological s
development and abuse in specific age categories, 0-4, 5-12, y
c
and adolescence. Case studies and vignettes are used to
h IDENTIFYING
highlight normal development and abusive situations.
o
Comprehensive frameworks which are easily applicable to l
o
current practice are provided, enabling workers to observe
g Emotional and
and accurately assess the quality of the emotional and i
c
psychological lives of children.
a
l
Identifying Emotional and Psychological Abuseis key reading
A
for health and social care professionals, as well as students Psychological Abuse
b
with an interest in child protection.
u
Kieran O’Haganwas Reader in Social Work at Queen’s s
e
University Belfast. Previously, he was Principal Case Worker
(child abuse) in Leeds, and spent twenty years in front line
child protection work and training in various Social Services
K
departments in England. He has published several books and ie A Guide for
many articles on aspects of child protection work, particularly r
a
on the challenges of emotional and psychological abuse. n Childcare Professionals

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Cover design Hybert Design •www.hybertdesign.com
Kieran O’Hagan
www.openup.co.uk (cid:1) (cid:2)(cid:3)(cid:4)(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:6) (cid:7)(cid:8)(cid:6)(cid:9)(cid:10)(cid:8)
Identifying Emotional
and Psychological
Abuse
A Guide for Childcare
Professionals
To Niamh, Patrick, Shauna, Leah and Ceri
– great educators
Identifying
Emotional and
Psychological Abuse
A Guide for Childcare
Professionals
Kieran O’Hagan
Open University Press
Open University Press
McGraw-Hill Education
McGraw-Hill House
Shoppenhangers Road
Maidenhead
Berkshire
England
SL6 2QL
email: [email protected]
world wide web: www.openup.co.uk
and Two Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121-2289, USA
First published 2006
Copyright © Kieran O’Hagan
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of
criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher or a licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency
Limited. Details of such licences (for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained
from the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd of 90 Tottenham Court Road, London
W1T 4LP.
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
ISBN-10: 0335 21546 7 (pb) 0335 21547 5 (hb)
ISBN-13: 978 0335 21546 1 (pb) 978 0335 21547 8 (hb)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
CIP data applied for
Typeset by RefineCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk
Printed in Poland by OZ Graf. S.A. www.polskabook.pl
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
List of Tables ix
PART 1
Understanding Emotional and Psychological Abuse 1
1 Reflections on Victoria Climbié and Sally Clark: Two Cases,
Two Verdicts, Same Problem 3
2 Ethical and Legal Frameworks 17
3 The Challenge of Definitions 27
4 Emotional Development–Emotional Abuse; Psychological
Development–Psychological Abuse 41
PART 2
Observing and Identifying Normal Development and Abuse 59
5 Infants and Infancy: The First 12 Months 61
6 Infants: 12–24 Months 78
7 2 to 3 Years Old 95
8 3 to 4 Years Old 109
9 4 to 5 Years Old 125
10 5 to 12 Years Old 141
11 Adolescence 160
PART 3
Practice Realities and Limitations 175
vi CONTENTS
12 Aaron and Grace: A Case Study 177
13 Implementing Childcare Law: Training and
Management Responsibilities 198
Epilogue 210
References 215
Index 233
Acknowledgements
I am indebted to the many parents who tolerated my intrusions into their
family life, accumulating over 70 hours of video footage of their children with
the persistent use of a camcorder, asking countless questions about their
children’s activities, and having access to their endless supply of photographs
capturing unmistakeable emotional expressions. The children’s responses
began with gratification in being constantly filmed over a number of years,
then graduated to indifference, and finally, a resentment and refusal to be
filmed. When this refusal was instantly respected and the camcorder put away,
they subsequently had a change of heart, and hinted that they ‘didn’t mind’
being filmed. When significant events or achievements occurred (e.g. doing a
cartwheel in the garden, getting a pet rabbit, or trying the latest dance craze) I
was duty bound to film it and show it to everyone or else! All of this of course
was amusingly informative of their overall development; they don’t realize
how much I am indebted to them.
Nor do the emotionally and psychologically abused children that I
have encountered over four decades of work. Their contribution to my
understanding of the nature and impact of such abuses is incalculable.
My thanks to Shona Mullen of McGraw-Hill/Open University Press, so
much involved in the original commissioning of the work, and to her many
colleagues involved in the various stages of its production.
Carol Barry in West Kirby and Jeannette Traberg in Aarhus, Denmark, gave
valuable time in completing questionnaires and discussing their perceptive
observations of the emotional life of the 6 year olds they teach. Margaret
Fawcett (as always) provided me with new insights into the vulnerability that
some childcare and child protection workers may experience in trying to
observe and assess infant emotional and psychological development. Henri-
etta Heywood and Wendy Gledhill brought their considerable experience of
practice, management and care proceedings to their reading and comments on
Chapter 12.
My wife Maura remains a great facilitator, as hypersensitive to my needs
as to my moods. I cannot envisage doing work like this without her encourage-
ment and support.
In the last few hectic days of preparing the manuscript for submission, my
daughter Christine read it with a calm scrutiny that was, at that point, beyond
me. She always arrives at the right time.
My difficulty with technology remains: when the computer plays up,
viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
inadequacy and helplessness are the consequences. I remain indebted to Gra-
ham Hart who somehow always finds the time, without notice, to rescue me.
Like every other writer I increasingly rely upon the Internet. It is
particularly useful for current cross-cultural perspectives on whatever one is
writing about, but I now acknowledge that it can also be a rich source of
generosity and affability. Many researchers and librarians in different
countries and distant universities in this now tiny globe responded unbeliev-
ably quickly to my sometimes formidable enquiries, as though it really was a
pleasure to be of service. What a world! Thanks.
Kieran O’Hagan
List of Tables
5.1 Emotions and emotional expression in infants aged 0–12 months 69
5.2 Emotional interactions between infants aged 0–12 months and carer(s) 70
5.3 Facilitating or impeding psychological development in infants aged
0–12 months 73
6.1 Emotions and emotional expression in infants aged 12–24 months 90
6.2 Emotional interactions between infants aged 12–24 months and carer(s) 91
6.3 Facilitating or impeding psychological development in infants aged
12–24 months 92
7.1 Emotions and emotional expression in children aged 2–3 years 103
7.2 Emotional interactions between children aged 2–3 years and carer(s) 104
7.3 Facilitating or impeding psychological development in children
aged 2–3 years 105
8.1 Emotions and emotional expression in children aged 3–4 years 118
8.2 Emotional interactions between children aged 3–4 years and carer(s) 119
8.3 Facilitating or impeding psychological development in children
aged 3–4 years 120
9.1 Emotions and emotional expression in children aged 4–5 135
9.2 Emotional interactions between 4–5 year olds and carer(s) 136
9.3 Facilitating or impeding psychological development in children
aged 4–5 years 137
10.1 Observations of emotion in 6 year olds in British and Danish schools 143
10.2 Emotional and psychological abuse of 5–12 year olds 156
11.1 Number of children of divorced parents by age group 167
11.2 Emotional and psychological abuse of adolescents 171