Protection of the Individual from Possible Harm and Abuse - Essay Example

Protection of the Individual from Possible Harm and Abuse Introduction Abuses are one of the common things present in the society since forever in one form or the other. Everyday we are being abused either emotionally or mentally. However, there are few who have to experience it more frequently than others in the same society. This is mainly because they are not capable of defending themselves from possible harms and abuses. They are not able to fight for themselves. They are more vulnerable than others when it comes to protecting themselves from possible harms and abuses. One of such type of people is a 32 years old woman Sarah, who is suffering from Down syndrome. This is the very disease which makes her different from others and makes her vulnerable to defend herself. It is the very same disease which makes a few people think that the victim of the disease do not have the right or I should rather call power to defend themselves, thus they are being made use of unlawfully and unethically in one way or the other always. One of the abuses which are very eminent in the case is sexual abuse. Sarah was every now and then made use of physically just because she was not capable of defending herself, she trusted others blindly, and she was vulnerable. Sexual abuse can take place anywhere, at any occasion, including in front of other people who do not, or prefer to not see. Sexual abuse has horrifying consequences on victims. People who have been sexually abused undergo from overwhelming mental breakdown and at times death. They build up distrust and will have troubles in their future relationships. In addition sexual abuse makes sexual abusers. The impact of sexual abuse accomplishes all levels of a person’s sentiments. Confusion is frequently the early response of the victim. Once the abuse starts the victim undergoes an incredible disagreement with their emotions. They undergo pain, guiltiness, and annoyance for what is being done. The abused will feel remarkable guiltiness for various reasons. They think they did nothing to prevent the abuse as a result they are accountable and it should carry on. They felt painful but the abuse was sometimes pleasing. They one way or another deserved or caused the abuse. A victim will generally feel this manner when their confidence has reduced and they have no more responses for what is happening. Few possible causes of the abuse were that, Sarah trusted anyone easily. She was suffering from a disease which made it easier for others to physically abuse her. She was scared of her Mom, and so she could do anything to keep herself away from anything that may disappoint her Mom. TREATMENT IMPLICATIONS Giarretto (1976) identifies the four goals of therapy for sexual abuse victims as emotional catharsis, confrontation, self-identification, and self-management. Emotional catharsis is the process of releasing pent-up emotional energy. ‘Feelings of despair, shame, and guilt must be listened to with compassion, as natural expressions of inner states. Awareness and acceptance of current feelings, without evaluation, allows the clients to assimilate them and to move on with their lives’ (Giarretto 1976:152). Confrontation is the process of facing and expressing feelings associated with the sexual assault. Once the buried feelings are brought to the surface and handled, they may lose their power to hurt in the future. Self-identification is the process of becoming aware of all components of one’s individual personality. This is a necessary condition for the development of an adequate self-concept, for only that which is known, mastered, controlled, and integrated can be valued and esteemed. Self-management is the process of learning to control one’s behaviour and take responsibility for the course of one’s own life. ‘A major milestone is reached when the client acknowledges that all…past experiences are available…for personal growth’ (Giarretto 1976:154). Forward and Buck (1978) describe prior steps that are necessary in therapy with adolescents who have suffered intrafamilial abuse. These involve enabling the survivor to make a commitment to treatment and to break the pattern of secrecy. Subsequent steps, similar to those described above, include externalizing feelings, placing responsibility where it belongs, and making new choices in life. Six considerations for the treatment of sexual abuse victims are advanced by Dawson (1983). These are: (1) reduction of guilt about participation, reporting, family disruption, and the past experience of pleasure and anger; (2) reduction of fears regarding further abuse, permanent damage, and the legal process; (3) resolution of ambivalent feelings through identifying and understanding the difference between feelings and actions, and accepting this ambivalence as normal; (4) improvement of self-esteem; (5) improvement of assertive skills; and (6) teaching of appropriate sexuality. Another helpful frame of reference for healing is provided by Faria and Belohlavek (1984) who outline the goals of therapy in practical terms. These are to help the client: (1) establish commitment for involvement; (2) identify old patterns which interfere with present relationships; (3) grow in self-control; (4) build self-esteem and confidence about survival; (5) encourage constructive expression of anger; (6) identify and gain control over self-destructive and self-defeating behaviour; (7) network with other support systems to develop meaningful relationships; and (8) increase self-esteem through improving body image and understanding human sexual response. The strengths of these complementary models are the emphasis on empowering survivors to choose more healthy relationships. Healing is accomplished through releasing pent-up emotional energy, putting the abuse in perspective, and restoring or rebuilding a core belief of self-worth. INTERFACE OF SOCIAL WORK AND HEALING The nature of social work intervention is based on developmental principles rather than on social control. Three different specializations will be highlighted to illustrate the view that social work encompasses the full spectrum of intervention from social work encompasses the full spectrum of intervention from individual treatment to social change. Clinical practice, victim advocacy, and social development each provide unique but complementary aspects of healing. Clinical Practice This area of social work specializes in individual healing. While work may occur in group or family formats, the focus is on empowering each person to become a healthier individual and more nurturing of both self and others. Within clinical practice, checking out any history of sexual abuse must be considered as part of routine assessment, particularly when working with young people from high-risk populations. Clinicians need to prepare themselves to explore this possibility and work with the ambivalence of clients around disclosure and resolution, particularly when victimization may be masked by a myriad of other problems or even lost to conscious memory. ‘Treatment for other disorders is unlikely to be successful until the sexual abuse experience is identified and open to treatment’ (Ramsay and Bagley 1986). Victim Advocacy An underlying problem is society’s ambiguity about the worth of victim. A comprehensive philosophy of victim is required, incorporating the belief that victims have intrinsic worth as human beings and the right to have their developmental needs nurtured and protected. Services for victim need to address the totality of their needs, from nutrition and health care to intellectual stimulation and emotional security. Victim advocacy includes concern and action about a range of issues such as support for families, day care services, educational programs, playground and street safety, and recreational opportunities as well as basic emotional and financial securities. The prevention of sexual abuse is an important focus within victim advocacy concerns. Educational programs designed to teach victim personal safety, awareness programs to sensitize parents to the possibilities of abuse are needed, as well as professional development programs to improve services offered by the range of helping agencies. Victim advocacy means acting on behalf of victim who may not yet be developmentally capable of articulating their own needs, or acting for young people whose needs may not be recognized as legitimate by adult society. This includes extremely dependent victim such as the mentally and physically handicapped, who may be at particular risk of physical and sexual abuse. It is extremely important to remember that young victim do not usually ask for help; their problems must be recognized and referred by others who recognize and understand their problems. Similarly, we cannot wait until victim asks the right questions before providing sex education and assertiveness training. Social Development Clinical practice and victim advocacy both point to the need for social development or political change. Political, in this sense, means change in the public domain as well as personal change; it means changes in the values that shape culture and society. Following Gripton and Valentich’s (1985) analysis, a conservative ideology tries to maintain traditional values oriented to family unity and a male-oriented political and economic system. Such an ideology would tend to see sexual abuse within a public order perspective, with emphasis on social work in minimizing deviance, and maintaining family integrity. Service to the victim would include crisis counseling and therapy to strengthen the family unit without challenging the underlying nature of gender roles in the larger social structure. A liberal ideology leans more towards individual freedom and opportunity; it challenges traditional gender-role stereotypes and promotes a somewhat fuller recognition of women’s rights in society. Such an ideology would see sexual abuse in light of gender socialization and social inequality. Services will include both direct treatment and public education programs. Both victim and offender are seen as equally victimized by their specific socializations. Educational activities include professional in-service and multi-disciplinary planning to improve the awareness and responsiveness of all community programs. A radical ideology, supported by some feminist groups, calls for social action to end patriarchy and the oppression of women and children. Sexual abuse is seen as another expression of women and children’s lack of political and economic power. Service will be directed towards consciousness raising by helping women realize their oppression and organizing political action. Individual work is seen as a catalyst to social change as the economic and political structures are the true targets of intervention. Identification of Research Needs Effective management of treatment agencies will always depend on the collection, utilization, and integration of information from different professionals involved with the various individuals associated with a sexual abuse case. The focus on individual healing raises issues concerning diagnostic assessment, establishing degrees of abuse and trauma, and the effectiveness of different kinds of intervention and treatment. Little is known about the nature and antecedents of adult erotic desires and fantasies. Research is also needed to distinguish individual characteristics from personal history and family structures for both offenders and victims. More needs to be known about which factors determine whether a young victim will, in the long-term, express a specific symptomatology, and what the long-term prognosis will be. More specific information is needed about the predictors of self-destructive behavior as a survival response, and the relationship between sexual abuse and running away. The relative effectiveness of treatment programs for male and female victim needs to be differentiated. As well, research is required to determine the effectiveness of groups in comparison with individual treatment and which modalities suit which type of victim. Moving beyond individual healing (secondary and tertiary prevention) to the education of society (primary prevention) raises new questions which can also be addressed by research. A major question regards the prevalence of sexual abuse: is this an increasing social phenomenon or not? More also needs to be known about the effectiveness of preventive educational programs including which types of learning will help the victim recognize, resist, or report in a practical situation, and how long concepts are retained. At the level of social healing, or primary prevention, more needs to be known about the social nature of stressors as factors which contribute to abusive socialization. Above all, more needs to be known about the nature and consequences of any kind of sexual experience. Society must not lose sight of sexual health. Reference: Giarretto, H. (1976) ‘Humanistic treatment of father-daughter incest’, in R. E. Helfer and C. H. Kempe (eds) Child abuse and neglect: the family and the community, (143-58) Cambridge, MA: Ballinger Publications. Forward, S. and Buck, C. (1978) Betrayal of innocence: incest and its devastation, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books. Faria, G. and Belohlavek, N. (1984) ‘Treating female adult survivors of childhood incest’, Social Casework, 65:465-71. Ramsay, R. and Bagley, C. (1986) ‘The prevalence of suicidal behaviors, attitudes and associated social experiences in an urban population’, Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior, 15:151-60. Gripton, J. and Valentich, M. (1985) Social work practice in sexual problems, New York: Haworth Press. Read More