Child Welfare
Ethics and Social Justice | HUM220 A02
Module 5, Assignment 1: Analyzing a Social Policy
6/2013
In the past, more importantly today, many social policies have been created by humans, and can therefore also be destroyed by them as well. Social policies were designed to resolve issues that are “considered important by a mass of voters, media, and political actors” (Argosy, 2013). Social policy are only the start of help for some, yet they aren’t always effective, rational, or socially just (Argosy, 2013).
An important social problem at hand is child welfare. “The protection of children from harm by their families and the provision of safe havens for children who are maltreated in their home environment are the twin goals of child welfare policy” (Jimenez, 2013). Child welfare policies were formulated to end problems of child abuse, maltreatment, or neglect by enforcing certain expectations and requirements of the safety of all children, creating and/or maintaining proper family functioning, and the development of alternative care children (Jimenez, 2013).
The child welfare policies that exist today are stated to be a “relatively new phenomena". Over the course of human history, childhood has evolved. This dates back to the various ways of raising children; how they are disciplines, what they will eat, and how they will be educated. There was a time when children would be responsible for providing for their parents economically, to later being viewed as an economic liability themselves. In the year 1641, the ‘Stubborn Child Act’ was developed in Massachusetts. This act made it okay for parents to place their ‘defiant’ children before a judge in a court of law. If the child was found to be ‘guilty,’ they would be victim to capital punishment in the form of death. Governments barely had say in this, and still dating back to the 18th century, children had very few rights, and little respect; their needs less important than
Module 5, Assignment 1: Analyzing a Social Policy
6/2013
In the past, more importantly today, many social policies have been created by humans, and can therefore also be destroyed by them as well. Social policies were designed to resolve issues that are “considered important by a mass of voters, media, and political actors” (Argosy, 2013). Social policy are only the start of help for some, yet they aren’t always effective, rational, or socially just (Argosy, 2013).
An important social problem at hand is child welfare. “The protection of children from harm by their families and the provision of safe havens for children who are maltreated in their home environment are the twin goals of child welfare policy” (Jimenez, 2013). Child welfare policies were formulated to end problems of child abuse, maltreatment, or neglect by enforcing certain expectations and requirements of the safety of all children, creating and/or maintaining proper family functioning, and the development of alternative care children (Jimenez, 2013).
The child welfare policies that exist today are stated to be a “relatively new phenomena". Over the course of human history, childhood has evolved. This dates back to the various ways of raising children; how they are disciplines, what they will eat, and how they will be educated. There was a time when children would be responsible for providing for their parents economically, to later being viewed as an economic liability themselves. In the year 1641, the ‘Stubborn Child Act’ was developed in Massachusetts. This act made it okay for parents to place their ‘defiant’ children before a judge in a court of law. If the child was found to be ‘guilty,’ they would be victim to capital punishment in the form of death. Governments barely had say in this, and still dating back to the 18th century, children had very few rights, and little respect; their needs less important than
References: FOCA Faces of Child Abuse. (2011). Child Abuse Statistics. San Antonio, Texas: Faces of Child Abuse. Retrieved from http://facesofchildabuse.org/stats-facts.html Zentactics: Causes of Child Abuse. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.zentactics.com/causes-of-child-abuse.html