Disability and Social Work Reflective Journal 2pages
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CH.10_SafeguardingSocialWorkDisability.pptxSafeguarding Social Work & Disability
Chapter 10
Types of Abuse of Individuals with Disabilities
Financial
Sexual
Mental
Emotional
Physical
Exploiting the impairment and/or health condition
Social workers
The ability to recognize the signs of abuse and neglect
Risk assessment skills
Knowledge of human rights & principles
Laws to protect those with disabilities
Safeguarding
Not only investigations, case conferences and the construction of individual protection plans but
Preventative work, collaboration with other agencies, involvement in situations of bullying, harassment, hate crimes, and domestic violence
Protecting in both children’s and adults' services
Upholding the fundamental rights of individuals with disabilities
Hate crimes
A person with a disability is targeted because he/she is perceived by the offender to be vulnerable or an “easy target”
“Vulnerability simply makes it easier to carry out acts of hostility”
For many individuals with a disability, harassment is a commonplace experience
May be considered “low-level” or “petty” it still has damaging effects on the person with a disability
Social workers can
Liaison with police to ensure the recognition of disability hate crimes as such
Provide information to the police about previous incidents
Liaison to the police about “special measures” that need to be taken to ensure access to the criminal justice system
Assisting individual with a disability victim to make alternative arrangements if they caregiver is the offender
Domestic Violence
Lack of policy attention and limited services for women with disabilities
Types of abuse
Physical
Emotional
Sexual
Exploits the women’s impairments and/or health conditions
Increased risk for women with disabilities for domestic violence because society’s devaluing of disabled lives and perceptions of disabled women as asexual
Barriers to leaving
Leaving behind a long awaited adapted property
Lack of care package portability
Fear of losing care package
No caregiver to take care of her
Refuges and places of safety are often inaccessible to physically and sensory-impaired women
Disability organizations do now see domestic violence as “their issue”
Examples of abuse
Deliberately unplugging the wheelchair while it is being charged.
Not attending to hygiene of person with a disability
Leaving the person with a disability in bed all day long
Abusing hands and arms so the person cannot transfer or move around
Financial and psychological forms of abuse because they cannot live without a caretaker
Recommendations
Develop a good understanding of dynamics of domestic abuse and the needs of women with disabilities.
Avoiding a sole focus on impairment & health needs when completing assessments
Ask about domestic violence and abuse
Take women’s disclosures seriously
People with intellectual disabilities are often time not taken seriously or charges are not followed through on because they may not be able to communicate clearly what happened
Provide accessible information on domestic violence services
Avoid offering care home placement as the only available option
How can they stay in their own homes?
Disabled children & Vulnerability
Little is known about the long-term impact of abuse on children with disabilities, their experience of child protection system and their online safety
Children with disabilities are 3.4 times more likely to be neglected or abused than those without disabilities.
Increased risk of abuse & abuse for those with a disability than then without a disability
Abuse Numbers for types of disabilities
Children with orthopedic impairments have twice the risk for all types of abuse and neglect
Deaf/hearing-impaired children are identifies as being 4 times the risk of physical abuse
For additional facts: https://www.thearc.org/what-we-do/resources/fact-sheets/abuse
Vulnerability Factors
Those connected with impairments
Those stemming from the attitudes and assumptions of others
Those occurring as a result of inadequate services provisions and systems designed for children without disabilities
Vulnerability factors
Reduced ability to avoid/resist abuse
An increased dependency on parents
A range of caretakers being involved, often providing personal care
Communication difficulties
Channels for communicating about the abuse are inaccessible
Limited network of people who understand their communication methods
Lack vocabulary concerned with abuse, sex, or body parts
Why is abuse under reported?
Reflecting unrecognized concerns
Failure to raise concerns
Belief that child with a disability has not been abused
The lack of accessible and appropriate services that place the person with a disability in a situation of increased vulnerability and risk
Lack of confidence to provide support for a child with a disability by other family members
Isolation is a big factor
Risk of abuse is heightened not only by power imbalances between service users and caretakers, or between victims and perpetrators, but also as a results of restricted choice and control over one’s life, limited access to financial resources and support services and social isolation.
Financial abuse
Does the caretaker have access to the bank account?
Do they write the checks because the person with a disability is unable?
If a person with a disability directly pays the caretaker the risk of fraud increases.
Social workers
Adopt a rights-based approach
Pay careful attention to the range of situation and structural factors that may increase the risk of abuse or neglect
