teach young and disabled children to attend to their own bathroom needs
stop tickling, wrestling and massaging
re-assure abused children that they don’t have to behave sexually any more. They are safe with you.
participate in training to update your own knowledge and skills
Caring for and working with abused foster children can be very stressful. Carers may suffer from:
frustration due to inadequate funding for extra-curricular activities and unacceptable delays in refunding legitimate expenses
essential services not provided (e.g. therapy, medical treatment, psychological assessment)
sociaIlisolation when the child’s behaviour is difficult
frustration due to lack of planning for the child’s future, either to return home or for longer term planning without returning home
inadequate training and support for handling difficult and sexualised behaviours that may be exhibited by traumatised children. Some carers are afraid to seek help because of the risk that they will be labelled as inadequate, de-registered and lose all their foster children
stress due to having too many foster children
inadequate support from case-workers, especially those who ignore children’s wishes, excluding them and their carers from plans for family reunification
Although we have known since the work of John Bowlby in 1953 (Child Care and the Growth of Love – Penguin) and James and Joyce Robertson’s film John (and others) in the 1970s and ’80s, that exposing children to multiple carers is extremely harmful, this practice continues. Some children have had 46 changes of placement, many different case workers and many failed attempts at family reunification creating insecurity and attachment problems. In complying with the aim of “family reunification” some case workers make children spend weekends with drug addicted, abusive parents or their boyfriends against children’s expressed wishes. This can result in re-abuse which is sometimes ignored by the worker who ordered the visits. These children are likely to exhibit disturbed behaviours when they return to school on Monday morning.
If you are a mandated reporter and a child discloses further abuse to you, report it to the duty manager, and not just the child’s current case worker.
Abused children in care are vulnerable to illness. Some grieve openly. Others engage in destructive behaviour, obscenities, bed-wetting and soiling, over or under-eating and other problematic behaviours. Older children will often engage in substance abuse. When reality is too painful and the child is losing hope, the fantasy world becomes the retreat. The foster child dreams of reunion with the ideal, loving parent and may have very negative views of the foster family which is seen as preventing that reunion. They may talk about their parents as wonderful people who are buying them expensive gifts and coming to collect them. If the carer or teacher views this as lying rather than wishful thinking, the situation becomes more stressful and the child more difficult to manage.
Teachers and early childhood professionals can help children in out-of-home care by providing a stable, safe and caring environment.
Chapter 3 – References
1 Sanders, O. (2009), personal correspondence, (Recent past Youth Education Manager, New Zealand Police).
2 Briggs, F. & Hawkins, R.M.F. (1991), ‘Follow-up data on the effectiveness of ‘Keeping Ourselves Safe’ when used with children of 5-8 years: Report for New Zealand Police Law Related Education’, Wellington, Magill, University of South Australia.
3 Briggs, F. & Herbert, C. (1989), The evaluation of the Protective Behaviours Program in eight Education Department Junior Primary Schools, Magill, South Australian College of Advanced Education.
4 Briggs, F. & Hawkins, R.M.F. (1991), op.cit.
5 Rigby, K. (2010), personal communications, University of South Australia, January 4th.
6 Personal communications (concerns) from parents.
7 Logan, M. (2009), ‘School sex abuse findings delayed’, The Chronicle. 5th September.
8 ‘Principal in court over sex abuse cover-up’, The Chronicle, 7 July 2009.
9 ‘Toowoomba school principal faces trial for not reporting sex case’, Catholic News, 6 August 2009.
10 McKenna, M. (2009), ‘School inaction “protected alleged abuser”’, The Weekend Australian, 31 January-1 Feb.
11 McKenna, M. (2009), ibid.
12 Catholic News (2009), ‘3 Sacked over Toowoomba school abuse case’, 11 December.
13 Tucci, J., Goddard, C. & Mitchell, J. (2001), More Action – Less Talk! Community responses to child abuse prevention, Australians Against Child Abuse, Melbourne.
14 Edwards, L. (2008), ‘A third wouldn’t believe child abuse claims’, The Age, 11 April, p. 8.
15 Briggs, F. & Broadhurst, D. (2001), ‘Violence and intimidation in the lives of professionals involved in child protection’, Report for the Criminology Research Council, Magill: University of South Australia.
16 De Marni Cromer, L., & Freyd, J. J. (2007), ‘What influences believing child sexual abuse disclosures? The roles of depicted memory persistence, participant gender, trauma history, and sexism’, Psychology of Women Quarterly, 31(1), 13-22.
17 The author acted as their professional witness in civil actions against the schools.
18 Hawkins, F. & McCallum, C. (2001), ‘Mandatory notification training for suspected child abuse and neglect in South Australian schools’, Child Abuse & Neglect, 25, 1603-1625.
19 Tucci, J., Goddard, C., & Mitchell, J. (2001), op.cit.
20 Scott, D. (undated), ‘Working together: Opportunities and obstacles’, University of South Australia, Centre for Child Protection.
21 Scott, D. (2008), ‘Think child, think family, think community: Building the capacity of adult services to respond to the needs of vulnerable children’, Seminar, 11 September, Australian Institute of Family Studies.
22 McCain, M N., Mustard, J F., & Shanker, S. (2007), Early Years Study 2: Putting science into action, Council for Early Child Development, p. 13.
23 McCain et al. (2007), ibid.
24 McCain et al. (2007), ibid.
25 Perry, B. & Marcellus, M. D. (2007), The impact of abuse and neglect on the developing brain. Scholastic, http://teacher.scholastic.com/professional/bruceperry/abuse_neglect.htm, op.cit.
26 Nash, M. J. (1997), ‘How a child’s brain develops – And what it means for child care and welfare reform’, Time, 3 February, pp. 48-54.
27 Lally, J. R. (1998), ‘Brain research, infant learning and child care curriculum’, Child Care Information Exchange, 5.98 46-48.
28 Teicher, M. H. (2000), ‘Wounds that time won’t heal: The neurobiology of child abuse’, Cerebrum, 4(2), 50-67. Teicher, M.H. (2002), ‘Scars that won’t heal: the neurobiology of child abuse’, Scientific American 286(3), pp. 68-75. Teicher, M. H., Polcari, A., Andersen, S. L., Anderson, C. M, & Navalta, C. P. (2003), ‘Neurobiological effects of childhood stress and trauma’, in S. W. Coates, J. L. Rosenthal, & D. S. Schecter. September 11: Trauma and human bonds, Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press, (pp. 211-237).
29 Teicher, M. H. (2003), ‘Childhood abuse hurts the brain’, May 2, Harvard University.
30 Perry, B. D. & Pollard, R. (1998), ‘Homeostasis, stress, trauma and adaptation: A neurodevelopmental view of childhood trauma’, Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of America, 7, pp. 33-51.
31 Perry,