Considerations include: Did you hear any recurring themes mentioned by more than one of these young adults? What did they describe as being most valuable to them during their foster care experiences? Consider some of their recommendations: what treatment model(s) do their suggestions fall into? This video can be accessed at: http://www.kidscount.org/kidscount/video/voices.html

Answer 3.

In the late twentieth century, research conducted with the aim of identifying the factors that render young individuals at risk of developing various issues like mental illnesses and drug abuse generated interest in the field of resilience (Trotter, 2002). Studies revealed that individuals exposed to various risk factors eventually developed into healthy and productive society members (Masten & Powell, 2003). The studies later focused on the resilience of young individuals. It later directed their attention on uncovering internal and external protective factors responsible in assisting individuals to respond after experiencing adverse situations. The protective factors have later been broadened and offer a clear explanation why some individuals are resilient compared to other people (Garmezy, 1991).

In the "Voices of Youths" video, the concepts from the resilience model that were illustrated from the story include the experience of life stressors such as being beaten repeatedly and finally getting used to the adversities and become resilient. The children at the foster care explain their experiences of the abuses they faced while under the program. The youths in this video all reveal not just a pattern of physical abuse but sexual and emotional too. The youths have been neglected by those tasked to care for them. However, the protective factors have interfered with the adversities that these young people are undergoing and have in turn rendered then resilient. The young people after being abused and experiencing resilience, they have adapted to the situation and fairing on even better than they were (Richardson, 2002). In this video, these adults mentioned recurring themes such as being beaten and neglected by their foster parents.

The aspect that these youths described as being most valuable to them during their foster care experiences was a secure home environment. The youths explained that the mistreatment they encountered from their foster parents made them feel insecure, experienced the lack of love and care. The youths explained that they felt like they were in a prison and had no right over themselves or anything. The treatment models that these youths suggest is one that clearly defines the role of service providers and other entities that are involved. The model suggested is one that should be well comprehended by the helping system and stakeholders. A comprehensively defined model is one that has been advocated for even in the area of research and it is aimed at influencing the families served positively. Studies conducted on children who have undergone adversity under caregivers reveal various characteristics that are common a. These characteristics known as "protective factors" often counter-attack the adversities experienced by children in foster homes.

The youths in foster care suggest that helping systems and the society must conduct follow up exercises to ensure that the children in foster care are treated well. Helping systems should also find means and ways of ensuring that the laws and rules concerning caregivers and children in foster homes are being followed. All children need to be loved because they are negatively affected in case they lack affection from parents. The needs of children in foster care are similar to the requirements of those children living with their real parents. It is inappropriate to mistreat a child just because one is not his or her biological parent. However, it is necessary to understand that child abuse does not only occur in foster homes. Normal households also experience various incidents of child abuse. Nonetheless, across the entire world, the quality of care being given to foster children is being questioned.

Q4. The Past: It took one hundred years between the case of Mary Ellen, which greatly influenced the intervention in child maltreatment, until laws were passed on a national level to protect children from child abuse and neglect. The Present: A significant barrier to reducing child abuse is the fact that there is no universally agreed-upon way to define maltreatment, nor is there one ideology (framework) used to define type of intervention and desired outcome. What societal and/or cultural factors can you identify that help explain the Past? What societal and/or cultural factors can you identify that help explain the Present? Are there similarities to these explanations, or are they totally divergent? Are there any lessons to be learned from the past to guide us on where...

There are various societal and cultural factors explaining the past. Child protection has recently attracted political and social interests. Forms of protection for children have only emerged in the recent past. Until recently, voluntary agencies or endorsed families were homes for abandoned children (Tomison, 2001). Only abandoned children were served. Child protection services from abusive parents or caregivers did not exist in the past (Liddell, 1993). Governments in Ellen's time believed that it was the sole responsibility of parents to take care of their children and treat them as they pleased. Definite laws to protect children from abuse lacked. The attitude of the western society in the past was cruel towards children.
A great hindrance to reducing the rate of child abuse is the fact that there is no worldwide agreed upon definition of maltreatment. A single ideology used to describe the form of intervention and desired result did not exist. Various cultural and societal factors can explain this fact. First, it has been argued that one definition cannot cater for all rationales (Larsen et al., 2010). For instance, a service provision definition may not be similar to a legal purpose explanation. Cultural factors largely influence the occurrence and the way child abuse is defined via management and thriving prevention. In the current times, any form of intervention must take into consideration the cultural surroundings with which it takes place in order to succeed. Factors such as poverty, unreachable healthcare services and illiteracy or lack of education have largely contributed to child abuse. Social instabilities in regions that are constantly at war also significantly contribute to child abuse.

Some of the social and cultural factors that have resulted into child abuse in the past and present are similar. These factors include political instability and lack of education. In the past, it is clear that governments were not extremely keen on protecting children from abuse caused by their families or caregivers. The government in the past only cared for those children that had been abandoned by irresponsible parents. Such political unsteadiness contributed to child neglect and abuse (Chance & Scannapieco, 2002). Presently, some regions are constantly at war and the political climate is undesirable. It is hard for governments in such areas to come up with effective laws and policies that protect children from abuse. In addition, there was minimal education concerning the concept of child abuse in the past. Governments only left it upon parents and families to take care of children and treat them in whichever way they pleased. In the present times, a lack of education is also a significant contributor to child abuse. In addition, the existence of variations in the definition of child abuse in the past and present can be noted in the fact that child abuse has been grouped into various categories. These categories include physical, emotional, neglect and several others.

The lack of uniformity in the definition of child abuse hampers the efforts of reducing the vice (Darlington, Healy & Feeney, 2010). This is a lesson that should be learnt and solutions to this problem should be sort before the issue goes out of hand or control. Governments and concerned parties should find ways and means of getting rid of the cultural and social barriers. For instance, there is a need to educate the society on matters concerning child abuse and the way the problem can be tackled maybe through collective effort.

References

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Chance, T., & Scannapieco, M. (2002). Ecological Correlates of Child Maltreatment: Similarities

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Crosson-Tower, C. (2009). Understanding child abuse and neglect. (Eighth ed.). Boston, MA:

Darlington, Y., Healy, K., & Feeney, F. (2010). Challenges in implementing participatory practice in child protection: A contingency approach. Children and Youth Services

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Forrester, D., Kershaw, S., Moss,…