This report distinguishes and compares one main child abuse case post 2005 with two pre 2004 cases. In the analysis of the three cases, commonalities and distinguishing factors will be examined and critically discussed, thereby demonstrating clear and sound understanding of child abuse. Recent theory on child abuse and relevant models of such abuse and their ramifications and effect on the Early Years Setting, where I am currently employed will be one of the main focus points of this paper.
The main case that I have chosen to investigate is that of Peter Connelly, commonly known as Baby P. The Telegraph (2009) states “Tracey Connelly, alongside her boyfriend Steven Barker and his brother Jason Owen, were jailed for causing or allowing the death of her 17-month-old son Peter in August 2007. ” http://www. telegraph. co.
uk/news/uknews/baby-p/6441976/Baby-P-Tracy-Connelly-drops-appeal-against-sentence. htmlThe Guardian (2009) identifies the sequence of events in Peter’s short life. On March 1st 2006 Peter is born, on 17th July Peter’s father leaves home in Haringey. By December Connelly’s new boyfriend, Barker moves in to the home. On 11th December Connelly and her mother are arrested after a GP spots that Peter has a head injury and other bruises. Soon after, Peter is placed on the Haringey child protection register for physical abuse and neglect.
Peter is cared for by a family friend, however on 26th January Peter is returned to his mother, even though she is still on police bail. By 9th April Connelly takes him to North Middlesex hospital. Staff identify bruises and scratches on him. Three months later, social worker Maria Ward informs the police of bruising on Peter's face during an unannounced visit.Staff at North Middlesex hospital find twelve areas of bruising. Social services arrange for a family friend to supervise the baby's care.
Within one month at a legal planning meeting it is decided that the case did not meet the threshold for care proceedings. By the end of July Ward makes her last visit to see Peter. He has chocolate smears over his face and hands, and anti-bacterial cream on his scalp. It was later found out these were to cover up injuries that Peter had. A couple of days later, Peter is taken to St Anne's hospital. Dr Sabah al-Zayyat notes bruises to his body and face ut does not perform a full examination because he is "miserable and cranky".
One month later on 3rd August police tell Connelly that she will not be prosecuted in relation to Peter's injuries. The next day Peter dies. The two previous cases that I have chosen to research are Victoria Climbie and Jasmine Beckford. I would also like to use the Vanessa George case to make some links to. A summary of the Victoria Climbie inquiry report is as follows: Victoria was born in the Ivory Coast and aged six travelled with her great Aunt, Maria-Therese Kouao to live in France and receive a sound education.
Victoria enrolled in school in France for five months but her attendance was erratic and she displayed signs of being unwell and tired. The school issued a Child at Risk Emergency Notification. Kouao took Victoria to London and applied for housing through Ealing Homeless Persons Unit. Kouao made contact with a relative Ms Ackah who contacted Social services about Victoria.
Kouao started a relationship with a bus driver Mr Manning and also found a child minder, Mrs Cameron to look after Victoria. Cameron and Ackah noticed marks on Victoria.On 13 July 1999 Kouao asked Cameron to keep Victoria permanently, however this was not possible. Victoria had cuts and bruises on her face and Cameron’s daughter took Victoria to Central Middlesex hospital. Victoria was examined and the findings were that many injuries were non-accidental.
Social services and the police were involved. The next morning Kouao removed Victoria from hospital, and collected her things from Cameron. A week later Victoria was admitted to North Middlesex hospital with severe facial burns.Her Doctor contacted Haringey Social Services and Victoria was put under the care of social worker Lisa Arthurworrey. Once discharged from hospital Victoria was only seen by Arthurworrey twice and by Tottenham Social Services when Kouao took her there claiming Manning had sexually abused her.
Since living with Manning Victoria regularly wet the sofa bed she slept on. When it was discarded Victoria slept in the unheated bathroom. When Athurworrey visited the flat her main concern was the building and minimal attention was paid to Victoria.There is not much information about last four months of Victoria’s life.
It is thought she spent a lot of time tied up in a black plastic sack. By the start of 2000 Victoria was fed on a piece of plastic and had to eat it like a dog as her hands were tied behind her back. “Victoria was also beaten regularly by Manning and Kouao. Manning later reported that Kouao struck Victoria on a daily basis, using various implements including a shoe, a coat hanger, a wooden spoon and a hammer. Victoria’s blood was found on the walls of the flat, on Manning’s football boots and trainers.
He also admitted to beating Victoria with a bicycle chain. ” (2003:9) The Telegraph newspaper states “She died of hypothermia with 128 injuries on her body in February 2000 after being trussed up naked in a bin bag and forced to sleep in a freezing bathroom. ” http://www. telegraph.
co. uk/news/1416526/Number-of-child-cruelty-cases-rising. html A summary of Jasmine Beckford’s case is: Jasmine’s mother Beverly Lorrington was left by her mother when she was six months old. Her stepmother and father beat her regularly.
Morris Beckford came from Jamaica to Britain when he was nine years old.By the age of thirteen his parents were prosecuted for ill treatment and neglect. As a teenager, Beckford was made to sleep in an shed without a bed. Lorrington and Beckford met at a special school and when she was 19 they moved in together, despite her being pregnant with another man’s child. Two years later Louise was born. When Louise was five months old she was admitted to hospital with a broken arm and eye hemorrhages.
Three days later Jasmine was admitted with a broken leg. Beckford was found guilty of assaulting Jasmine and was fined.Five months later Brent council decided both children should be removed from foster care and returned home. Jasmine occasionally attended Nursery. Evidence has been found that during the last few month of her life, Beckford kept Jasmine chained to a bed in the attic.
The pathologist found forty injuries including twenty broken bones, cuts, bruises and cigarette burns. She was severely malnourished and underweight. I feel that the accountability is an acumination of all of the agencies, rather than one. However, the murderers and those directly involved are ultimately to blame.There are many commonalities in the three cases. In the case of Peter and Jasmine the abusers themselves have been abused.
In all three cases the main abuser and the causer of death is a non biological male family member and the secondary abuser is the mother figure. Research by McMaster University states “This most severe category of child maltreatment exhibits Cinderella effects of the greatest magnitude: in several countries, stepparents beat very young children to death at per capita rates that are more than 100 times higher than the corresponding rates for genetic parents. http://www. psych. ucsb. edu/research/cep/buller/cinderella%20effect%20facts.
pdf Peter's serious case review identifies that he was seen sixty times by Social workers, Health visitors and Doctors in the last eight months of his life which was after he was put on Haringey’s Child Protection Register. A total of eleven agencies were involved. This is not acceptable. After Victoria’s death Lord Lambing perfomed an inquiry (2003) which led to many recommendations.However it is clear that many of these recommendations were not met, and after Peter’s death the The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report on 12 March 2009 was developed. BBC News Panorama has identified a film taken at the home of Peter and his mother by, Sue Gilmore, the senior manager overseeing the case, in Haringey children's services in March 2007, four months before Peter died as a result of a horrific string of injuries.
During the video Connelly displays obvious affection and desire for Barker and this should have been followed up.Nobody did checks on the new man in her life. Sue Gilmore insists she asked for the checks to be done but there is no record of this. http://news. bbc. co.
uk/panorama/hi/front_page/newsid_9274000/9274025. stm Sue Gilmore should be held partly accountable for this. Another BBC video clip research shows that Connelly’s mother (Peter’s Grandmother) was extremely violent to her son, Connelly’s brother, from when he was a six week old baby. She was also violent to her husband and had a history of violence towards men. This is the example Connelly was set as a child. http://www.
bbc. co. uk/news/uk-england-london-10655558This is an example of learned behavior which is supported by New Scientist “Child abuse may be more of a learnt behaviour than a genetic trait, new research on monkeys suggests. ” http://www.
newscientist. com/article/dn7587-early-experience-not-genes-shapes-child-abusers. html Connelly was placed on the child protection register herself as a child and her mother admits she also suffered from a violent upbringing.Hairngey Social Services should have been aware that the background of Peter’s caregiver was violent and that this could have a detrimental effect on his life. There are obvious similarities of patterns of care. Chris Cloke, head of child protection awareness at the UK's National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children says "We know the damaging consequences of child abuse can last into adulthood and affect the way children are brought up.
Experiences of abuse in infancy can be particularly important as the brain develops fast in the first year of life. http://www. newscientist. com/article/dn7587-early-experience-not-genes-shapes-child-abusers.
htmlAfter Victoria Climbie case it was seen that there were serious flaws within multi agency practitioners and this is when the Lambing review suggested the team around the child and consequently introduced the Common Assessment Framework. The CAF is a standardised approach to conducting an assessment of a child's additional needs and deciding how those needs should be met.
