Essay: Managing Child Abuse In Singapore: Detection And Intervention.

Child Abuse in Singapore: Detection and Reporting

Discuss about the Managing Cases of Child Abuse in Singapore.

Child abuse is defined as any act on the part of the guardian or parents that causes  any grievous harm or injury and sometimes even lead to the death of a child. Child maltreatment is of various types, which includes abuses of different kinds such as, physical, verbal, emotional, sexual and even neglect (Lim et al.,2015). Exploitation of children or child abuse happens across all social, cultural and economic groups and it is the duty of the government and society to play a role in ensuring the protection of children by staying alert and taking initiatives in reporting cases of child abuse to police or to the Child Protection Service.

This essay examines the detection and management procedures of child abuse cases in Singapore and evaluates the effectiveness of present Singaporean law, and whether further amendments are required in order to tackle the issue of child abuse in a more efficient manner.

Child abuse is often described as a harmful but preventable disease causing mortality and morbidity in children, who can otherwise lead a healthy life ahead of them. They deserve a childhood free from any kind of abuse and negligence. According to some clinicians, in most cases it is perceived that the parents of the abused children have also been a victim of negligence and abuse in their childhood. In such cases, in their adulthood, the parents often resort to alcohol and drug abuse, psychiatric disturbance and criminal behaviour (Guan et al.,2016). In addition to this, another main reason for abusive behaviour in parents is often linked to poverty or financial constraints.

The leading agency against child abuse in Singapore is the Child Protection Service (CPS) of the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), which was found in November 2012, along with the reformation of the previous Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (Sharma & Mistry, 2015). According to Children and Young Persons Act (CYPA), it is the responsibility of MSF to protect children from abuse and neglect ("Safeguards for better detection and management of child abuse cases | Ministry of Social and Family Development" 2017). On the other hand, under CYPA, parent or guardian found guilty of maltreatment of a child or young adult is subjected to prosecution (Chong et al.,2013).

The top three sources that reports the maximum number of child abuse cases to CPS are the agencies involved in the network that is, the health care services, schools and police. However there are certain instances when a case child abuse goes unsuspected and in such a scenario the society needs to be more alert in its investigation.  For example, if a child shows signs of constant poor health, tiredness and unattended medical needs, then he or she might be a victim of neglect. At the same time, the interaction between a child and his parents also acts as a significant indictor of child abuse. For example, children suffering from any kind of abuse often shows signs of aggression or withdrawal when they come in contact with their parents. Children suffering from emotionl or psychological abuse show signs of restricted growth and development, depression as well as sleeping and eating problems.

Effectiveness of Present Singaporean Law

According to Tan Chuan-Jin, Minister for Social and Family Development,  a recent surge in the high profile cases of child abuse has led to the close examination and improvisation of the prevailing laws in order to restrict the increase of family violence and also to ensure an appropriate punishment for those found guilty. In a case reported recently, a couple was jailed for torturing their two-month-old son, Mohamad Daniel Mohamad Nasser, which eventually led to his death. The mother has been sentenced to eleven years of imprisonment, whereas her boyfriend was given 12 strokes of the cane and a 10-year jail term, for causing grievous injuries to the child (TAN 2017). Later on , the  Law and Home Affairs Minister, K.Shanmugam, commented, that the prevailing system of law should be taken into account to make sure whether they are adequate enough to tackle such cases of child abuse and also the public should be encouraged to report immediately when they are aware of incidents of child abuse (TAN 2017).

However, improvement in detection and reporting of  abuse cases among children by numerous organizations, such as hospital and schools, has allowed the CPS to investigate more cases of child abuse. 2,022 cases of child abuse have been reported to CPS in the last year, of which 551 cases were investigated, which were instances of serious abuse (Li et al.,2014). According to CPS Director, Carmelia Nathen, there has been a 40 per cent increase in the rate of child abuse, compared to the period between 2012 and 2014 (TAN 2017).Most of the incidents reported were cases of sexual abuse inflicted by a family member. CPS refers cases of moderate and lower intensity to charities, since they are entitled as  specialist centres for child protection, and are thus capable enough to deal with these cases. However, in cases of serious child abuse, CPS takes the matter in hand and has the power to keep the child away from the parents, until they become sure of the behavioral changes in parents. CPS has enhanced its screening tools and processes, and training is being provided to professionals involved in the child protection system, in order to improve their procedures and methods in dealing with abuse cases. CPS also takes into account cases handled by professionals not belonging to the ministry in order to ascertain the safety of those children. According to child protection officer, Firdawati Masri, in most cases the abuser is the parent of the child and belongs to different income and ethnic groups. In certain cases, mental distortions and intoxicative addiction also prevails within the parents ("Playing a part in stopping child abuse" 2017). In one such case, CPS has given the responsibility of a six-year-old girl to a family friend, who was physically abused by her alcoholic father whereas her mother stayed with her boyfriend and was least concerned about her daughter. Whereas in another case, a girl who was kept in the storehouse by her parents, was eventually rescued by CPS, who placed the girl under the temporary care of caregivers until her parents changed their methods of parenting, and now the girl has been reunited with her parents and their relationship has improved ("Playing a part in stopping child abuse" 2017).

Case Studies: Successful Detection and Intervention

Dr. Chan Poh Chong, head consultant of the division of general ambulatory paediatrics and adolescent medicine at NUH, has handled many cases of child abuse for over 20 years. In one such instance, Dr.Chan alerted the medical social workers when he suspected something wrong while examining a boy with serious injuries. The case was referred to CPS, who after thorough investigation gave the child’s responsibility to other family members. These incidents prove the efficiency of the CPS to handle cases of child abuse in an orderly manner. There are three types of abuse cases, low, moderate and high. Low risk cases  mostly involve parents  suffering from temporary stressful period due to financial constraint or job change. Moderate risk cases involves rare or one time abuse that may lead to serious injuries. Whereas, high-risk cases refers to long period of abuses and the parents does not suffer from a sense of guilt.  When reported CPS handles the moderate to high-risk cases at the earliest, however for urgent and immediate support specialist child protection center Heart@Feiyue has also opened its emergency line to the people.

Thus it can be concluded that the cases of child abuse can be controlled not only by the initiatives of the government but also through the active involvement of society as a whole. Public should be made aware of the dangers of child abuse and such incidents must immediately be reported to the concerned organisations for immediate intervention.

References:

Chong, W. H., Lee, B. O., Tan, S. Y., Wong, S. S., & Yeo, L. S. (2013). School psychology and school-based child and family interventions in Singapore. School Psychology International, 34(2), 177-189.

Guan, L. C., How, O. S., Hon, C. C., & Sheng, F. D. S. (2016). Child and adolescent psychiatry services in Singapore.

Li, D., Chu, C. M., Ng, W. C., & Leong, W. (2014). Predictors of re-entry into the child protection system in Singapore: A cumulative ecological–transactional risk model. Child abuse & neglect, 38(11), 1801-1812.

Lim, C. G., Ong, S. H., Chin, C. H., & Fung, D. S. S. (2015). Child and adolescent psychiatry services in Singapore. Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health, 9(1), 7.

Playing a part in stopping child abuse. (2017). AsiaOne. Retrieved 20 February 2017, from https://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/playing-part-stopping-child-abuse

Safeguards for better detection and management of child abuse cases | Ministry of Social and Family Development. (2017). Msf.gov.sg. Retrieved 20 February 2017, from https://www.msf.gov.sg/media-room/Pages/Safeguards-for-better-detection-and-management-of-child-abuse-cases.aspx

Sharma, R., & Mistry, P. (2015). G454 (P) Retrospective survey of child protection case characteristics in an acute and community setting. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 100(Suppl 3), A189-A190.

TAN, T. (2017). More child abuse cases being investigated. The Straits Times. Retrieved 20 February 2017, from https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/more-child-abuse-cases-being-investigated