Institutional Abuse and the Rights of Children and Youth

Jacqui Michael

“The effects on children of being abused within a context in which they had every right to expect safety can be devastating. ” (Giles)

There is no ethical defence of practice which removes children from a familiar but violent context and places them in an unfamiliar and violent one. Children and youth are removed from unsafe and troubled environments and supposedly placed in institutions so that they can be adequately cared for. Very often their environments have been impoverished, deprived, disrupted, abusive and violent before they came into care.

As child and youth care practitioners, our task is to create a therapeutic milieu which does not repeat any of the factors for which children and youth were removed. Young people in care tend to feel insecure and commonly experience relationship difficulties. They deal with many issues around separation, loss and bonding, and are vulnerable because of the experiences they have had and the fact they are living in institutions away from their families.

It is imperative that the “care” they receive is consistent, competent and responsive to “their” needs. The environment created by the staff must be such that all the developmental needs of these children and youth can be met. It is not enough to place the child in an environment which may not be violent, but is “still inconsistent”, “incompetent ”and “not able to respond” to his needs in a way that promotes his development.

Definition
There have been numerous attempts made to define institutional abuse. Giles, in his chapter on “Violence in group care” quotes the categories suggested by Rabb and Rindfleisch. These are:

• non-accidental injury

• sexual abuse

• failure to provide care

• failure to supervise

• emotional maltreatment

• questionable moral behaviours (by staff)

• harmful restraint and

• setting young people up to fail or be humiliated.

Institutional abuse can refer to abuse by individual staff members, abusive practices within the institution and or in society in regard to institutional care.

For the purpose of this paper, we will present in tabular form the needs and rights of children and youth and how the violation of these constitutes abusive practice.

Summary
In summarising this paper there are some important points to mention.

• Any system which does not exist to develop children and youth and make them more competent, can be termed abusive.

• It is essential to have clear procedures to guide Child and Youth Care workers when abuse is detected so that they know what to do.

• It is vital that children and youth have procedures through which they can report any type of abuse. It is also important that there are channels for children and youth to discuss their rights, needs and preferences.

• Every institution should have clearly defined rights for staff and residents.

• If abuse is suspected or reported, corrective and decisive action must be taken immediately. To ignore the incident exacerbates the abuse. The issue(s) must always be addressed.

• Training must be aimed at educating staff about the incidence and causes of institutional abuse.

• Management must be responsible for staff matters and must have clear procedures for dealing with staff who abuse children. If management allows abusive practices to continue, they are just as guilty of the abuse and violation of the children in their care.

• Every child should have a permanency plan and clear admission and discharge criteria and procedures must be followed. This will ensure that children do not get “lost” in the system.

• Specified standards should be legislated in terms of institutions and they should be inspected regularly to ensure that these standards are being maintained.

Finally, I would like to stress the fact that we are all accountable for everything we do with, and to the children and youth in our care. In caring for children and youth we are challenged to examine our own behaviour as scrupulously and rigorously as we examine that of these children’s parents.

Are we prepared to do this?

The message we give children and youth is ... “This is a caring place. We will protect you and help you grow. Try us.” If we violate that promise and trust, we have failed.

I would like to end with a quote from George Thomas:

Children coming into care need to grow and develop. Institutions must meet this need for each individual. Failure to do so, represents in the most fundamental sense, an abuse of children’s developmental progress and constitutes Institutional Child Abuse.

Let us not be guilty of this!

Reference
Giles C. Violence in group care. In McKendrick, B. and Hoffman, W. (1990). People and Violence in South Africa,  pp. 373-404.