By James Simons-
Victims of child sexual abuse feel ‘unduly scrutinized’ by social workers, according to a report about research carried out on child abuse victims.
A report by the University of Bedfordshire NSPCC and Children’s Commissioner for England about the findings of research on child abuse victims reveals the the perception child abuse victims have of social workers.
It concluded that child sexual abuse victims expressed mixed feelings towards the different agencies’ they had come in contact with. The report also discovered that abuse victims were subjected to years of waiting for the appropriate support. The right support was not readily available, making victims feel neglected in many cases. Some victims who participated in the research only had positive memories of social workers they had worked with.
AMBIVALENCE
The report added that more than other “helping” professionals, social workers “were described with deep ambivalence”. Victims identified positive and negative elements of their experience, but expressed discontent about the “systems and processes involved”.
The researchers concluded that many of the children strongly associated social workers with keeping them physically safe.
According to the report, two young people in foster care in particular, applauded the positive role social workers played in removing them from their families, and supporting them to access physical safety.” The more critical aspect of the operations of social workers was that interactions were “driven by process and procedure” rather than needs. “Several interviewees’ narratives also described feeling rushed, pressured or poorly listened to by some social workers. This was exacerbated in cases where interviewees noted that they had not been spoken to directly by the social worker,” the research found.
POOR PRACTICE
The report said this could “reflect the well-documented pressures on social workers’ time” or indicate poor practice.
Researchers said a recurring theme was children and their families feeling that they were put under “undue scrutiny from social care”.
“A number of interviewees perceived that an emphasis on the physical family environment (cleanliness and tidiness) took precedent over recognising and responding to their emotional and psychological needs.
A small number of child abuse victims interviewed voiced concerns that social workers failed to recognise the needs of parents who they felt were wrongly labelled by the social workers as blame worthy parent