CRIME AND SOCIETY – CHILD ABUSE

UNIT 6 CRIME AND SOCIETY – CHILD ABUSE The topic “Child Abuse” is an extremely sensitive and delicate issue. As a police officer, concerned with legal and social circumstances, you should know about the realities of this sad topic, both in your own country and elsewhere. Although, many of the texts and activities seem to focus on language, the serious nature of the subject underlies everything. Please keep this in mind and remember the human misery and suffering which is involved. Discussion points What is the status of children in Romania? How serious is the issue of “street children”? How do you view the issue of “institutionalised children”? Is it a European issue or a national issue? Read the text and comment on the issues raised. Refugee children in Britain According to Amnesty International, around 100,000 children who have escaped from war, torture and intolerance are living in Europe, separated from their parents. For example, around three thousand arrived in Britain in 2000. Responsibility for the care of refugee children living alone lies with social services departments. The children are covered by the Children Act (as are UK-born children) in which according to Section 20, the local authority has a “duty to safeguard and promote the safety of the child”. The child is “fostered” or accommodated in a children’s home and checks are kept on the child even after the 18 th birthday. But for separated refugee children, Section 20 of the Act is not applied (although it could be and is applied by some local authorities). Instead, Section 17 covers the status of separated children and only obliges the authority to house the children in bed-and-breakfast hotels, with little support from social services. It is very difficult for these children to provide any evidence of age, risk of persecution or personal danger and the Home Office still considers it necessary to “eliminate the incentives which attract unaccompanied children”. The Home Office policy is to prevent them from settling in UK but suggests that “where there is no prospect of safe return, exceptional leave to stay may be granted to unaccompanied children for 4 years or until their 18 th birthday.” The Home Office seeks to “enforce the removal of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children who have been refused asylum and who have no other basis to stay in the UK when they reach 18”. As Amnesty International comments: “It becomes clear why these children are almost never granted refugee status – at 18 anyone can be deported, under 18 there are impossible protective measures which have to be met before a child can be returned.” 1. What are the main concerns of the British government? 2. Are these children any less entitled to protection because they are “refugees”? 3. Should Britain be seeking European assistance in trying to solve these problems or is it an exclusively British one? LANGUAGE INFORMATION BOX COLLOCATIONS A collocation is a co-occurrence of two or sometimes three words. Collocations are very common in both general and specialist domains of language. Sometimes collocations become like idioms or even cliches, as in “public conveniences” (old-fashioned euphemism for “toilets”!), “bed and breakfast” (a form of accommodation for guests offered in Britain), or “high and dry” (a fairly common way of expressing the idea of being “stranded” or “isolated”). In police and justice domains for example, “ ethnic” collocates frequently with “minorities”. The sad collocation “ethnic cleansing” is of fairly recent origin. The word “foster” collocates with “child”, “home”, “parents” and has its own British point of reference to mean “ children being temporarily cared for by adults other than their parents but not adopted by them”. Another form of collocation may occur where there is a relationship between two words joined by “and” or “or” - “law and order”; “abuse or neglect”, “drink or drugs”. The collocation may be very genre-specific. “foster home”, for example, will occur mainly in discussions on social welfare ( a collocation!), institutionalised children (another collocation!) or “Children in Need” (another collocation) although it might come into the discussion on, for example, values in modern society, social psychology and behaviour, parent:child relationships etc. Activity 1 Decide on appropriate collocations tragic | driving sadistic | event careless | conduct vicious | cruelty negligent | stress wilful | disability habitual | treatment acute | drunkenness severe | attack serious | injuries | assault | circumstances | need | behaviour THERE MAY BE SEVERAL POSSIBLE COLLOCATIONS WITH SOME ITEMS Activity 2 Read the text and complete the exercises. Father who left baby faces jail by Jeanette Oldham It was hot and the baby had been fractious but, finally, he had dropped off for his afternoon nap. Steven MacDonald, glad of the peace and quiet, wanted to go for a walk along the East Anglian beach so he could feel the family really was on holiday at last. Elder son, Jamie, seven, was impatient to get going, but what to do with baby Robert? He looked so peaceful in his cot in the car. After all, he was fast asleep and five minutes would not do any harm, despite the rising temperatures. That five minutes, however, became hours and still the mercury rose. Now 30-year-old MacDonald is facing jail. It had started as a holiday to help a family to forget its mounting troubles, but ended in a magistrate’s court with the Paisley father accused of child cruelty. MacDonald told magistrates at Great Yarmouth yesterday he had intended to be away for only a few minutes, but the time grew into hours. With the car window left just a couple of inches open, Robert soon woke and began crying. The alarm was raised more than an hour later by Louise Watkinson, an off-duty special constable, who was parked in the clifftop car park in Marine Parade, Gorleston, near Great Yarmouth, and heard the baby’s cries. Ray Osborne, prosecuting, told magistrates: “She went and looked and it appeared the baby was in distress, so she called for police officers to attend.” MacDonald, of Ferguslie Park Avenue Paisly, pleaded guilty to an act of cruelty to his son by allowing him to be wilfully assaulted, ill-treated, neglected, abandoned or exposed to danger. Sentence was adjourned until August 17 for reports. Exercise 1 Rephrasing Rephrase the underlined sections using a word or phrase from the text A. He is likely to be punished by imprisonment. He _______________ jail He _______________ a jail term. B. A member of the public contacted the police because she thought there was danger. She _____________________ the alarm. C. The father wrongly believed everything would be all right, leaving his son in the car. He didn’t think this ______________________________ D. Except for this incident, there is no indication that the family neglected or abused the child There does not appear to be any evidence that the child __________________ _________________________________________________________________. E. The counsel for the prosecution, Mr Ray Osborne, summed up his case by praising the action of Ms.Watkinson. Mr Ray Osborne, __________________, praised Ms.Watkinson’s action. Exercise 2 Prepositional use Put in the correct preposition A. He was very impatient _______ start the meeting. B. The child was left in the hot car ________________ the high temperature. C. The father has been accused _______________ wilful cruelty. D. He had intended to be absent ______________only a few minutes. E. The time passed and minutes grew _____________ hours. F. The off-duty special constable called ______________police officers to attend. G. The sentence was adjourned ___________ social services’ reports. H. No child should be exposed ____________ acts of parental cruelty. I. He pleaded guilty _____________ an act of cruelty. Exercise 3 More phrases and collocations From the text, find expressions meaning … A. to be in a deep sleep - B. to fall asleep (suddenly) - C. a short sleep (not at night) - D. increasing problems - E. in a very unhappy condition - F. put/place someone in a dangerous situation - Exercise 4 How important? Decide if the word are CORE 1 / CORE 2 / or CORE 3 vocabulary items 1. peace and quiet 2. nap 3. drop off 4. get going 5. in distress 6. magistrate’s 7. court 8. prosecuting 9. accused of 10. plead guilty 11. adjourn 12. face 13. jail 14. sentence 15. mounting 16. a couple of … 17. mercury rising 18. (time) grows into (time) 19. wilfully 20. neglected 21. assaulted 22. ill-treated 23. fractious 24. raise the alarm 25. after all 26. cot Exercise 5 Text comprehension Decide if the sentences are TRUE, FALSE or NOT ENOUGH INFORMATION A. The mother was also responsible B. The father and the other boy were away for several hours. C. The alarm was raised by a special police officer. D. The father expressed his regret in court. E. The father was unemployed. F. The punishment for this crime is a fine not less than 1000 pounds. G. He said that he had not intended to abandon the child for a long time. H. The judge was very severe in administering the punishment. I. The temperature was over 30 degrees that day. Exercise 6 Text analysis A. Find examples of how the text is “journalistic” in structure or composition. B. Does the reporter tell the case only on the basis of the facts? C. Find examples of information which is “unspecified” or “vague” D. How does she describe the “hot day”? E. How does she describe the difficulties the family was facing? F. When she writes “ … by allowing him to be willfully assaulted, ill-treated, neglected, abandoned or exposed to danger” is she creating these terms herself? In Text 1 is the language “general English” or “specific English”? What examples of specialist terminology can you find? Activity 3 Please read the text about a recent extremely shocking case in Britain. Father and “evil” stepmother guilty of killing Lauren, 6 The “evil and sadistic” stepmother of six-year-old Lauren Wright was convicted of her killing yesterday, as was the father who “turned a blind eye” to the abuse against her. A jury at Norwich Crown Court found Tracey Wright, 31, and Craig Wright, 38, guilty of manslaughter and cruelty after a four-week trial. The pair will be sentenced at a later date. Lauren’s emaciated body was covered in 60 bruises and she weighed just over two stones (about 14 kilograms) when she died on May 6 last year. The girl, whose digestive system collapsed after a severe blow to the stomach, died in agony, with “terrible and disgusting” injuries reminiscent of a car crash victim, the court had been told. Acting Chief Superintendent Martin Wright, who led the police investigation, said: “ There will be a significant amount of satisfaction in many quarters that she has been convicted. Her behaviour can only be described as evil and sadistic and our thoughts, of course, will be with Lauren today.” The Department of Health ruled out a public enquiry after the Norfolk social services chief, David Rogers, said he was writing to Lord Laming, the chairman of the hearings into the death of Victoria Climbie, another child abuse victim, to ask him to consider the case. I am sure you agree that this a very sad and shocking case These 3 link headlines were next to the article. What do they suggest? Discuss the issues involved in such cases. Tragic tale of a child unwanted from day of her birth People in a small village don’t want to get involved. Growing workload blamed for failing children at risk . What do you think about “corporal punishment” for children by parents? Should it be prohibited by law as in some countries? What is the nature of corporal punishment in families in Romania? Has the situation improved in recent years? What are the responsibilities of neighbours, relatives, the authorities? When do the authorities intervene in Romania? Activity 4 In trying to improve your language skills, you should think of vocabulary priorities. These will not be identical for all learners but it is clear that for a police officer, certain terms have more frequent use and occurrence than for non-specialists. Discuss the “location” of the vocabulary items from the text and headlines. CORE 1 CORE 2 CORE 3 public inquiry hearing chairman child abuse manslaughter victim lead the investigation cruelty trial jury find guilty sentence workload to fail ( someone) to get involved convicted children at risk severe Crown Court stepmother a blow ( to the head etc.) bruise emaciated digestive system sadistic injuries reminiscent of turn a blind eye to in many quarters our thoughts are with … rule out EXERCISE 7 Grammar: third form conditional Complete using the correct form of the verbs given to express the circumstances of the two cases. You may select an appropriate MODAL form, add negatives as necessary or use a PASSIVE version. 1. If the window of the car (be open) the baby (die) __________________________________________________________________ 2. If the special constable (call) the police the father (charge) with cruelty. ___________________________________________________________________ 3. If the family (have) problems perhaps the father (act) in this cruel manner. ____________________________________________________________________ 4. If the father (be) alone (i.e. not with his other son) he (come back) earlier. ______________________________________________________________________ 5. If the village people (intervene) the little girl Lauren (save). ______________________________________________________________________ 6. If the local social services (be) more observant they (notice) the signs of child abuse. _______________________________________________________________________ 7. If the father (care about) his own daughter he (prevent) the stepmother from being so cruel to Lauren. ________________________________________________________________________ 8. A public inquiry (hold) if there (be) another child abuse case hearing. ________________________________________________________________________ 9. If social workers (have) such a heavy workload they (be able) to help cases like Lauren’s. ________________________________________________________________________ Exercise 8 Children in need Classifying needs. Look at the descriptions of the official “need code” categories for Children in Need. Locate the headings for each description. SOCIALLY UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOUR ABSENT PARENTING DISABILITY ABUSE OR NEGLECT FAMILY IN ACUTE STRESS PARENTAL ILLNESS/DISABILITY LOW INCOME FAMILY DYSFUNCTION 1. _________________________ Children in need as a result of, or at risk of, abuse or neglect. 2. ___________________________ Children and their families whose main need for services arises* out of the children’s disabilities or intrinsic condition*. 3. __________________________ Children and their families whose main need for services arises because the capacity of their parents or carers* to care for them is impaired* by disability, illness or mental disorder. 4. ___________________________ Children whose needs arise from living in a family going through a crisis such that parenting* capacity is diminished* and some of the children’s needs are not being adequately met.* 5. ____________________________ Children whose needs arise mainly out of their living in families where the parenting capacity is chronically inadequate. 6. ______________________________ Children and families whose needs for services arise primarily out of their children’s behaviour which impacts* detrimentally* on the community. 7. _______________________________ Children living in families or independently, whose needs arise mainly from being dependant on an income below the standard state entitlements.* 8. ________________________________ Children, whose need for services arises* mainly from having no parents available to provide for them. Add the items marked with an asterisk * to the appropriate core vocabulary collection. Activity 5 Children in Need Listening This text is taken from an official report, published in England (i.e. not including Scotland, Wales and Ireland) in early 2000. Local authorities, responsible for dealing with the problem of children in need, had been asked to provide statistical data. As you listen, complete the statistical information and other details. MAIN RESULTS Numbers of children in need • There were just under (1)__________________ Children in Need in England in February 2002 • (2) ___________________ of them were “children looked after” and the remaining 317.000 were other Children in Need • Social Services are providing services for nearly a (3) _______________ Children in Need in a typical week • 92% of Children Looked After and 54% of other Children in Need receive a service or have money spent on their behalf in a typical week (either in terms of (4) ________________________ or in terms of the Local Authority paying for facilities (e.g. accommodation/ residential costs) Characteristics of Children in Need ♦ The main need for social service intervention is cases of “abuse and neglect” which account for (5) ______________________ of all Children Looked After and 28% of other Children in Need ♦ About 12% of the Children in Need population are (6) _________________disabled, and they received (7) ___________________ of the gross expenditure on Children in Need ♦ At least 16% of Children in Need are from (8) __________________ which is about one and a half times the figure for the under 18 population as a whole) Costs and resources  Services for Children in Need cost Social Services on average about ₤41 million a week ₤26 million per week on Children Looked After and ₤15 million on other Children in Need.  About half of these costs are accounted for by regular welfare benefit payments (on residential/ fostering/ adoption costs) for Children Looked After  The average Child Looked After costs Social Services (9) ₤ ________________and other Children in Need cost ₤85 per week to maintain. Activity  The average Child Looked After receives 4.3 hours per week of service from Social Work staff, either in (10) ________________________  Other Children in Need receive on average about 2.9 hours per week of staff or centre time EXERCISE 9 Adverbs in official texts Notice the way adverbs are used in official communication and select from these adverbs to complete the sentences. In some sentences, there are several possibilities. mainly/ primarily /inadequately/ fundamentally unacceptably/ chronically / detrimentally/ A. This need arises _________________ because of parental neglect although there are some other less significant factors. B. The child must be looked after as he has behaved __________________in the community and at school. C. The parents both have drinking problems which means they are ________________ prepared to look after the children. D. Over a long period of time, the parents have shown themselves to be _____________________ incapable of looking after their own children. E. Removing the child from the home environment would impact _________________ on its obvious improvement in behaviour and social responsibility. F. The social services “Children in Need” report deals ________________ with those children who are in the care of local authorities. There must be many more whose needs are ______________________ met by present social services arrangements. EXERCISE 10 Statistics in reports Notice the way various expressions are used to express quantity or statistical relationships. Find these expressions in Activity 5 ……. the remaining at least … about one and a half times the figure … as a whole … the average child … receives on average … per week… just under … nearly quarter of a million… accounts for just over … just over half of … about … What do these figures refer to ? A. 4.3 B. 56% C. 16% D. 64,000 E. 14% F. ₤435 G. ₤ 41 million/week [...]... Social services assess the action to be taken to help a child as the need raises _ 2 If a parent is ill or has acute or chronic mental problems, the capacity of that parent is said to be imperfect _ 3 A child s anti-social behaviour has an impression on the family, school-life and social surroundings ... the state (social services) might make to an individual or to a family are called wellbeing payments 5 Social services spend a lot of money to mention the needs of children at risk . UNIT 6 CRIME AND SOCIETY – CHILD ABUSE The topic Child Abuse is an extremely sensitive and delicate issue. As a police officer, concerned with legal and. The child is “fostered” or accommodated in a children’s home and checks are kept on the child even after the 18 th birthday. But for separated refugee children,