social work portfolio
Department of Social Work
SW1101E: Social Work:
A Heart-Head-hand Connection
Topic of Portfolio: Multi-Stressed families-
Child Abuse in Singapore
Date/Time of Submission: 30th October 2013/ 3PM
For the entirety of this report, I will be focusing on Multi-stressed families but more specifically I will be tackling the issue of child abuse in Singapore. Child abuse is not at all restricted to the conventional form of physical abuse in our society any longer. Child abuse can be classified as physical abuse (including sexual abuse) as well as emotional abuse. Under the Children and Young Persons Act, a person “shall be guilty of an offence if, being a person who has the custody, charge or care of a child or young person, he ill-treats the child or young person or causes, procures or knowingly permits the child or young person to be ill-treated by any other person”. Child abuse can be defined as, an act of commission or omission by any individual who has legitimate custody of the child which could threaten the emotional or physical well-being of the child or that is deliberated to be inappropriate by the community values as well as professionals in a society.
Child abuse in Singapore is an issue that has to be addressed by not just social work agencies but a lot more agencies so that it can be curbed, this is definitely one of the main reasons why it has to be acknowledged and acted upon, but another pressing reason why it has to be better acted upon is the lack of detection and the bare minimal number of child abuse cases that get reported, and these are the ones where the recovery of the child is most difficult. Considering the fact that social workers are meant to be middle ground for family conflict and to help such families gain access back into society, child abuse is a necessary issue that has to be addressed before the situation gets any worse.
As can be seen from the articles attached in Annex A, the cases of child abuse that have come to
SW1101E: Social Work:
A Heart-Head-hand Connection
Topic of Portfolio: Multi-Stressed families-
Child Abuse in Singapore
Date/Time of Submission: 30th October 2013/ 3PM
For the entirety of this report, I will be focusing on Multi-stressed families but more specifically I will be tackling the issue of child abuse in Singapore. Child abuse is not at all restricted to the conventional form of physical abuse in our society any longer. Child abuse can be classified as physical abuse (including sexual abuse) as well as emotional abuse. Under the Children and Young Persons Act, a person “shall be guilty of an offence if, being a person who has the custody, charge or care of a child or young person, he ill-treats the child or young person or causes, procures or knowingly permits the child or young person to be ill-treated by any other person”. Child abuse can be defined as, an act of commission or omission by any individual who has legitimate custody of the child which could threaten the emotional or physical well-being of the child or that is deliberated to be inappropriate by the community values as well as professionals in a society.
Child abuse in Singapore is an issue that has to be addressed by not just social work agencies but a lot more agencies so that it can be curbed, this is definitely one of the main reasons why it has to be acknowledged and acted upon, but another pressing reason why it has to be better acted upon is the lack of detection and the bare minimal number of child abuse cases that get reported, and these are the ones where the recovery of the child is most difficult. Considering the fact that social workers are meant to be middle ground for family conflict and to help such families gain access back into society, child abuse is a necessary issue that has to be addressed before the situation gets any worse.
As can be seen from the articles attached in Annex A, the cases of child abuse that have come to