Abuse

Forgiveness Work: Issues and Modalities to Use

Many people view a new year as a clean slate: a chance to start afresh, including emotionally. For some this includes healing from past hurts which may have kept the person from moving forward in life. If a client comes to you with forgiveness on her mind — and, perhaps, whether she should or should not forgive someone for something — what are the issues that are likely to be bound up ... »

The Impact of Child Sexual Abuse

Child sexual abuse (CSA) has received increasing recognition as an important social issue over the past couple of decades (Webster, 2001). While reports of CSA are certainly increasing, it is unclear as to whether this is due to an actual increase in occurrence, or merely a greater awareness in the community and reporting to the authorities. The uncertainty surrounding reporting is not unique in t... »

Identifying Child Abuse

Child abuse is a phenomenon that is a universal and societal taboo. As reflected in numerous legislative acts and philosophy central to all child protection is that the welfare of the child is paramount. Whilst having regard for the view that the best place for a child to thrive is with his/her family, any allegation of abuse must be responded to by referral to the appropriate authority. »

A Case of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Marna attended counselling to try to do “something” with her memories of child abuse that currently seem to be affecting her life. She attended twelve appointments over a six-month period. In this scenario, the professional counsellor uses an eclectic approach incorporating Humanistic, Psychodynamic, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Abuse Literature Approaches. For ease of writing, the Profess... »

Domestic Violence – Understanding the Situation

Around the world at least one woman in every three has been beaten, abused or coerced into sex during her lifetime. Most often the abuser is a member of her own family. The prevalence of domestic violence is difficult to determine for several reasons: it often goes unreported, and there is some ambiguity about what should be included in the definition of domestic violence. »

Dealing with Bullying

According to Rigby (2006), bullying is the intentional act of causing harm and unhappiness to others through harassment, physical assault, cyber assault, or other more subtle methods of coercion such as manipulation. Further, the harassment can be verbal, physical and/or emotional. »

Child Abuse and Neglect: Case Planning and Review

With the assessment complete, the next step to ensure that the needs of the child and family are met is case planning. Essentially case planning is the process of setting goals and building in strategies to meet those goals. The counsellor must work with the child and/or family to decide upon the goals that are necessary to achieve to bring about desired change. Involving the family in case planni... »

Child Abuse and Neglect: Intervention

There is not a clear cut off line from where the assessment ends and the intervention begins in child and family work. »

Child Abuse and Neglect: Assessment

Assessment is the core function for counsellors in child and family services. It begins with efforts to engage a child and family in order to build a working relationship where you as the counsellor can encourage participation rather than resistance. »

Recognising When a Child is at Risk

There are behavioural cues that alert the counsellor to the possibilities of a child being abused; different indicators are associated with the different abuses. »

Supporting Children Victims of Abuse and Neglect

Identifying and reducing the stressors that put a family at risk can be important opportunities to assist families in overcoming the abusive home environment. While it has already been mentioned that the stressors of socio-economic status are a major underlying contributor in some families due to the added stresses of poverty, isolation and drug and alcohol abuse other individual factors can put i... »

Consequences of Abuse and Neglect for Children

Whatever the cause of the abuse and/or neglect, it can have long-standing consequences for the child. The younger the child, and the more vulnerable they are, the more serious the consequences are likely to be, however, with early intervention children can recover from abuse and neglect. »

Series: Working with Children at Risk

As stated in The Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2004 edition of Identifying and Responding to Child Abuse and Neglect, the sad facts are: »

The Impact of Child Sexual Abuse: Gender Issues

Studies concerning gender differences amongst CSA girls and boys have reported somewhat mixed results. Some researchers have concluded that males react in more neutral, or even positive, ways to Child Sexual Abuse compared to girls (Bauserman & Rind, 1997). However many studies have found that children of both genders exhibit a range of negative effects resulting from CSA (Boney-McCoy & Fi... »

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