child protection

Child protection is a collective term for legal regulations as well as for measures of state and non-state institutions that are intended to protect children from harm and impairment. In child and youth welfare and in general language usage, the term is also understood in a narrower definition, in the sense of the protection mandate in the event of a child's well-being .

Child protection is not to be confused with the protection of minors , which is also about protecting young people “from themselves”. In the area of youth employment protection, both protection ideas overlap.

historical development

The beginnings of child protection emerged in the 19th century. Historically, child protection has led to very different results, as it was, on the one hand, an expression of contemporary compulsory education, and on the other hand, it made care for the child a social issue. In the course of reform pedagogy , a discussion about child protection arose in the 1960s, which, together with the idea of children's rights , led to the concept of “New Child Protection” (developed on the basis of studies by Helfer, Kempe). The idea of the "new child protection" marks a turning point in child and youth welfare . Measures and controls should be replaced by the establishment of a democratic, solidarity and understanding-oriented range of help that is aimed at children and parents. The quality of the help system, the access to the clientele and advisory problems of the help move into the focus of the help discussion, but also the failure due to "involuntary clients". Since the paradigm shift towards the “new child protection”, youth welfare has experienced extensive professionalization, differentiation of offers and qualification of advisory skills.

At the UN level, the Convention on the Rights of the Child was passed in 1989 . Germany only ratified this convention subject to the continued existence of the restrictions on children's rights under family and immigration law.

Child protection mandate of the state

In principle, states around the world are responsible for ensuring that the idea of child protection is implemented within their sphere of influence. However, this assumes that the state authorities are officially aware of the existence of a child. In fact, there are countries (especially in Africa and South Asia) where fewer than half of children under five years of age have birth certificates . 50 million children worldwide without a birth certificate do not officially exist at all. The same applies to children of illegal immigrants . Laws against child labor or prostitution can only be enforced if the child's origin and age can be clearly identified.

Germany

In Germany, Sections 8a, 8b and 42 of Book VIII of the Social Code regulate the responsibilities of the state in matters of child protection. Local youth welfare offices are responsible for all cases (including suspected) hazards and violations of the child's welfare . The expert (child protection) who is experienced in this regard is responsible as the intermediary . This cooperates with the social pedagogical family aid and the EFB, but also with paediatricians and with the school. In difficult cases, children and adolescents are taken into care, even against the will of the guardian.

The youth welfare office is not always active itself. It can organize low-threshold support services in institutions such as day-care centers, e.g. B. by arranging further training offers for educators. On January 1, 2012, the Federal Child Protection Act came into force in Germany .

Austria

"Governments are primarily responsible for the protection of children and access to violence protection facilities as well as for supporting families so that they can enable their children to grow up safely", states the Austrian Federal Ministry for Health, Family and Youth.

Switzerland

In 1907, the cantonal guardianship system was regulated by the federal government in the civil code in federal family law. Since 2013, more modern child and adult protection law has been regulating child protection. Since then, laypeople have been replaced by specialist staff in rural regions. The reform was undisputed in parliament, but its implementation in practice certainly caused controversy and a popular initiative was launched.

Tasks of child protection organizations

Protection against child abuse

In addition to the youth welfare office and independent child and youth welfare organizations, there are other child protection organizations. They are committed to ensuring that children grow up in social security, are protected from violence and child abuse and learn how to use the media competently. These are, for example, the Kinderschutzbund or the child protection centers .

Protection against sexual abuse

Protection against sexual abuse is one of the areas of child protection that parents perceive as particularly important.

Prevention

In the case of prevention , a distinction is made between primary (preventing an act), secondary (early detection / early intervention) and tertiary prevention (preventing a repetition).

Primary prevention: A non-specific but important precondition for the prevention of child abuse is a balanced family atmosphere, which creates space for self-confidence and emotional independence. Encouraging healthy self-confidence helps children become more aware of their own concerns. This increases the chance that uncomfortable or agonizing feelings are more likely to be verbalized by the child in an emergency and possibly lead to acts of demarcation. Parents should also endeavor to become clearer about their sexual and relationship behavior, since children sense the issues parents actually feel uncomfortable and unsafe with, and in the worst case do not consider them as contact persons.

According to Finkelhor's model of child sexual abuse (1984), four preconditions must be met before abuse is possible:

The perpetrator must be motivated to abuse a child.
The perpetrator has to overcome internal obstacles.
The perpetrator has to overcome external obstacles.
The perpetrator has to overcome the child's resistance.

An act does not take place if the motivation of the perpetrator is too low compared to the obstacles ( Krivacska , 1989).

Abuse prevention programs in schools are designed to educate children and encourage them to report cases of abuse. The publication of these measures discourages potential perpetrators because they then assess their risk of detection as higher. Education events for parents about the possible consequences of abuse also increase the inner inhibition threshold of potential perpetrators present. Advertisement campaigns aimed at potential perpetrators are designed to highlight the dangers and encourage potential perpetrators to seek confidential therapeutic help. Even pubescent pupils, who are perhaps just becoming clear about their sexual inclination towards children, are to be reached.

External obstacles are primarily aimed at ensuring that potential perpetrators are not alone with children. Buildings in which children are housed should therefore not have windowless rooms that can be locked from the inside. Organizational regulations should ensure the presence of another adult in certain situations. This also avoids false accusations. In some countries schools and kindergartens are allowed to check applicants for relevant criminal records. Krivacska (1989) counts those programs that give children self-confidence and self-confidence and increase their emotional stability as primary prevention, since such children are less likely to be victims of sexual abuse.

Secondary prevention: Secondary prevention programs aim to put children in a position to recognize, stop and report abuse situations ( see also: Article “Sexual violence”, section “Prevention” ). Children who have already been sexually abused should be encouraged to report this. There is a study by Toal (1985) that criticizes the effectiveness of such a program.

The Netherlands and Belgium ensure the confidentiality of therapy for victims and perpetrators in a program in the event of sexual abuse. Intervention is rarely necessary. It is hoped that if there are confidential treatment offers, some children will be more willing to talk about sexual abuse and that they and the perpetrators will be spared the consequences of prosecution. According to Krivacska (1991), children can easily misunderstand the content of prevention programs in the USA. For example, child sexuality (e.g. doctor games , masturbation , cf. also infantile sexuality according to Freud ) and often the subject of sexuality in general are excluded. Krivacska believes that otherwise, on the one hand, especially in the USA, there would be resistance from parents to the program and, on the other hand, there would be a tendency to interpret sexual abuse as a means of the perpetrator to exercise power, which is not covered by the facts.

Even if the children were able to distinguish abusive and non-abusive situations with a high degree of certainty (80%), Krivacska believes that she can estimate that children after such programs are in the majority of cases wrong if they believe they are exposed to abuse to be. Apparently only a small percentage of children report the alleged or real abuse. According to Krivacska, the adults who find out about it act as a second filter when they recognize a mistake in the child.

Protection against abuse with the abuse

The strong emotionalization of the topic of sexual abuse in the 1980s and 1990s led some child protection associations to use inadequately validated methods for suspicion and treatment. Usually they specialized in sexual abuse. They trained educators and other people who have a lot of contact with children to look out for unspecific “abuse signals” (behavioral problems) and children's drawings as a basis for suspicion. According to their self-image, the advocates of these methods operated “exposure” and partisan child protection “on the child's side”. They gave too little or no consideration to other explanations for the child's behavior as abuse. “The children could say what they wanted. Everything contributed to the consolidation of the suspicion that they had been sexually abused ”, so the criticism of a judge at the abuse trials in Mainz. In contrast to the tried and tested and open-ended police investigations, the unilateral action of these child protection associations through suggestive interviews and, according to their interpretation, conspicuous play with anatomically correct dolls, led many children to finally confirm the suspicion (see False Memory Syndrome ). In some cases, the group of accused and the alleged acts reached a previously unknown level. In Germany, the cases of Worms , Nordhorn, Coesfeld and Flachslanden caused a public stir. Some of the defendants were acquitted for proven innocence, and in some cases because the suggestive questioning could no longer determine the truthfulness of the children's statements. In the opinion of numerous experts, the child's testimony cannot be used if it has previously been questioned suggestively and without precise documentation, so that cases of actual sexual abuse can no longer be clarified. The German Child Protection Association criticized the mixing of psychological counseling and unauthorized investigative attempts.

Because the children themselves are convinced that the sexual abuse took place, it is difficult for them to rebuild a relationship of trust with the accused.

Child protection when using the Internet and watching TV

For dealing with television and the Internet to make arrangements to meet to limit and to the usability of the media for their own children to monitor their activity. Access to individual pages on the Internet can be blocked or adult programs on TV can be protected with a PIN. Special children's search engines have been developed and published where children and young people are only shown age-appropriate content.

Other fields of child protection

Protection of embryos, fetuses and newborns

According to information from the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), around a third of all pregnancies worldwide are unplanned and around a quarter of all pregnant women decide to have an abortion . In the 19th century, special regulations were created in Germany for wet nurses and so-called foster and holding children in order to put a stop to food women ( angel makers ) . One way to prevent abortions is to organize sexual education and provide free or inexpensive means of contraception . This demonstrably reduces the proportion of terminated pregnancies.

Unwanted children can be victims of killing or abandonment . In the latter case, some industrialized countries have set up baby flaps to ensure that the child is taken care of quickly . Abandoned and orphaned children are cared for or adopted in foundlings and orphanages .

Embryos and fetuses must also be protected from dangerous immissions: During pregnancy, the use of certain medications (e.g. thalidomide ), alcohol consumption and smoking can lead to health problems or deformities in the child. The German Children's Aid requested to prosecute or punish as a misdemeanor smoking and alcohol consumption by pregnant women criminally (as "grievous bodily harm").

Protection against traffic hazards

Accidents on the road are in the industrialized countries, the most common cause of death in children. Legal and technical traffic restrictions such as play streets , speed limit zones , protected crossings, a special safety obligation in the car, adapted child seats or the recommendation of bicycle helmets are used as preventive measures . In active accident prevention, pedagogical measures in the form of traffic education play an important role because they train the child to protect themselves.

Young children are particularly at risk because they are often not seen in traffic and they move less predictably than adults. In addition, children under ten years of age are not able to correctly assess the speeds and distances in road traffic and to react appropriately. In 1980, Section 3 (2a) StVO introduced a higher standard of due diligence for older people, children and those in need . The relevant regulation reads: "The vehicle drivers must behave towards children, those in need and the elderly, in particular by reducing their driving speed and by being ready to brake, in such a way that they do not endanger these road users."

Children are only liable to a limited extent in road traffic . On August 1, 2002, the age limit from which a child can be held liable for accidents in road traffic in Germany was raised from seven to ten years in all cases except in the case of intent. Irrespective of this, a check is made in individual cases to determine whether there has been a breach of the supervisory obligation. For older children, as for all non-motorized road users, a vehicle owner is liable to them for damages and compensation for pain and suffering on the basis of strict liability, even if he is not responsible for the accident.

The Children's Commission of the German Parliament introduced in 2001 eight central demands for the area on 'Children and Traffic ". The first three demands related to a comprehensive education of adults in dealing with child behavior in traffic, the creation of spaces for children to move outside of the traffic and an intensification of traffic education for children. The latter is carried out, for example, by qualifying for a pedestrian diploma and a cycling test . The Kind und Verkehr network criticizes that in road construction, for many experts, the only decisive factor is that the number of accidents will decrease and motor vehicle traffic will continue to flow. The extent to which the measures taken displace children from the street and restrict their development is not sufficiently taken into account.

Protection against illness and abuse

One of the most important branches of public health care at the end of the 19th century was school hygiene, which mainly deals with the health-related facilities of schools. In all civilized states, the protection of children in factories and other commercial establishments was regulated by law (see factory legislation ), and there were children's hospitals everywhere, or at least separate departments for children in large hospitals. The first such hospital was founded in London at the beginning of the 18th century, the second in Paris in 1802, followed by the Rudolf Hospital in Vienna.

Good medical care and good hygienic conditions have greatly reduced infectious diseases as a cause of death in industrialized countries in the 20th century . Excessive hygiene may even lead to allergies . Congenital diseases such as heart defects and cancer play a bigger role.

A specific health warnings are sunburns because the risk of childhood skin cancer greatly increase especially. Recently, the increasing proportion of overweight children and a lack of exercise among children have caused concern in Germany . Another problem, especially when treating chronically ill children, is that hardly any medication is approved for them , which means that there is no corresponding information on dosage and side effects. The main cause of pseudo croup in children is considered to be passive smoking in parents who smoke . It is believed to be involved in sudden infant death syndrome as well. Alcoholism is one of the causes of child abuse. Both child abuse and sexual abuse have been linked to psychological harm. According to a meta-analysis (Rind 1998), adults with psychological damage in childhood were much more likely to experience abuse, neglect and unfavorable family circumstances than sexual abuse.

In several federal states, all parents have been obliged since the spring of 2008 to regularly see their small children to a pediatrician to protect them from neglect or abuse . According to the ideas of the former Saarland Prime Minister Peter Müller, this regulation is to be introduced nationwide. The German Chancellor Angela Merkel approved this proposal. According to a survey of 4,000 mothers in Germany carried out by “USMedia”, 95.2% were in favor of making preventive medical check-ups (U1-U9) compulsory for children. Of these mothers, 59.6% supported the demand to make the receipt of child benefit dependent on the performance of these investigations.

In Austria, the “Federal Ministry for Health, Family and Youth” has published a “Guide to Child Protection Work in Health Professions” with the title “Violence against Children and Young People”, which aims to sensitize doctors in particular to the physical and psychological consequences of the misconduct of parents or guardians .

Child homicides, on the other hand, are a rare cause of death. In two thirds of the cases, one parent (including stepparents) commits the act. Mothers and fathers appear as perpetrators with roughly equal frequency. Other relatives commit 7%, friends and acquaintances 23% and strangers 100% of the crimes. In these cases, the perpetrators are predominantly men.

The Youth Labor Protection Act aims to ensure that children and young people do not have to carry out any work that could endanger their health. So z. B. People under the age of 18 do not come into contact with hazardous chemicals and radioactive substances at work.

Protection against "disappearance" and suicide

Very few children are permanently missing. From 1950 to 2003 there were 830 cases in the Federal Republic of Germany. Often the background is a custody battle that ends with child abduction. Many unaccompanied refugee children are among the missing. In some cases, the child may have drowned, but the body could not be found. The police assume that homicides in the case of permanently missing persons only play a role in individual cases.

To suicide or suicide attempts may occur in adolescence of a child. Children under 14 are just as likely to die through suicide as through homicide. The suicide rate rises sharply in adolescents over 14. Blüml (1996) states that the actual causes are:

Reset or neglect of the child
mistrust
constant criticism
Anxiety-promoting education
too high performance expectation
disturbed family relationships.

The triggers can then be traumatic experiences, sometimes (in young people) lovesickness. Imitations play a big role.

Protection against exploitation through child labor

According to § 52 Youth Labor Protection Act (JArbSchG), the municipalities in Germany must provide the supervisory authorities with the name and address of the child if they issue a tax card for a child or a young person who is required to attend full-time school. The supervisory authorities in the Federal Republic of Germany monitor compliance with the “Ordinance on Child Labor Protection” of June 23, 1998.

Protection against the consequences of poverty and underdevelopment

The high child mortality rate in developing countries is in large part a consequence of poverty . In connection with the inadequate infrastructure (in the south of Sierra Leone there is not a single ambulance for over 200,000 people), this means that children do not receive, or only inadequately, medical care and medication. In 2007 UNICEF carried out a focus campaign in Sierra Leone , the country with the world's highest child mortality rate, to effectively combat malaria there. By introducing the combination product ACT and distributing mosquito nets, the number of new cases (not only in children) could be drastically reduced.

Few people die in childhood in developed countries.

literature

Kay Biesel, Felix Brandhorst, Regina Rätz, Hans-Ullrich Krause : Germany protects its children! A pamphlet on child protection . transcript Verlag, Bielefeld 2019, ISBN 978-3-8376-4248-3 .
Michael Böwer, Jochem Kotthaus: Practical book child protection. Overcome professional challenges Beltz Verlag 2018,
Günther Deegener, Wilhelm Körner: Assessment of risk in child abuse and neglect - theory, practice, materials . Pabst, Lengerich / Berlin 2006, 348 pages, ISBN 978-3-89967-318-0 .
Wilhelm Körner, Günther Deegener (Ed.): Recording of child welfare risk in theory and practice . Pabst, Lengerich / Berlin 2011, 560 pages, ISBN 978-3-89967-669-3
Ulrike Urban-Stahl, Maria Albrecht & Svenja Gross-Lattwein (2018): House visits for child protection. Empirical analyzes of framework conditions and practices in youth welfare offices . Leverkusen, Opladen: Verlag Barbara Budrich. ISBN 978-3-8474-2100-9 .
Norbert Pohlmann, Markus Linnemann: Safe on the Internet - the book : Tips & Tricks for the digital life, with checklists and tips for the responsible use of the Internet by children. Zurich (Orell Füssli Verlag) 2010, ISBN 978-3-280-05375-1 .
Siegbert A. Warwitz: Traffic education from the child. Perceive-play-think-act . Baltmannsweiler 2009, 6th edition, ISBN 978-3-83400563-2 .
Michael Wutzler: Child welfare and the order of care. Dimensions, problematizations, case dynamics. Beltz Juventa, Weinheim 2019.
Gitte Zaun-Rausch: Child protection in Rhineland-Palatinate: practical handbook with commentary on the state law for the protection of child welfare and child health, regulations appendix and materials . Dresden 2008, ISBN 978-3940904058 .

Web links

Wiktionary: Child protection - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

↑ beginning with C. Henry Kempe's study "The Battered-Child Syndrome" 1962. Cf. History of Medical Child Protection pdf p. 14

↑ forum.sexualaufklaerung.de ( Memento from August 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive )

^ UNESCO: Progress for Children. A Report Card on Child Protection p. September 5, 2009 (PDF; 1.0 MB)

↑ Missing birth certificate. 50 million children disappear into nowhere . mirror online. June 4, 2002

↑ [1] ( page no longer available , search in web archives ). P. 17 f.@1@ 2

↑ Violence against children and adolescents , guidelines for child protection work in health professions, page 8 ( page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2

↑ Child and adult protection , Federal Social Insurance Office, 2016-12

↑ The Kesb is to be deposed , NZZ, 2018-05-15.

↑ Children's search engines as Internet guides for more security on the Internet ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / Kleinesonne.de
↑ kinderhilfe.de
^ HG Hilse, W. Schneider: Traffic safety . Stuttgart 1995
↑ R. Bourauel et al. a .: Children in traffic . Max Schmidt-Römhild publishing house, Lübeck 2003/2.
^ SA Warwitz: Traffic education from the child. Perceive-play-think-act . Baltmannsweiler 2009
↑ Privilege for children in motorized traffic (Section 828, Paragraph 2, Sentence 1 of the German Civil Code). (No longer available online.) In: juris.de. Archived from the original on April 30, 2008 ; Retrieved June 28, 2008 .
↑ New law on damages. (No longer available online.) October 18, 2002, archived from the original on May 12, 2005 ; Retrieved June 28, 2008 .
↑ Consideration for children in traffic Results of the hearing of the children's commission “Children and Traffic”. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on June 14, 2008 ; Retrieved June 28, 2008 .
↑ Warwitz, SA: Should the child be adapted to the traffic or should the traffic be adapted to the child, or should the two be separated? In: Ders .: Traffic education from the child. Perceive-play-think-act. Baltmannsweiler 2009. pp. 282-285
^ Annual report 2006 Network Child and Transport. (PDF; 222 kB) Retrieved June 28, 2008 .
↑ cf. also the discussion about this under children-are-future ( page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.ard.de

↑ http://www.presseportal.de/pm/61843/807117/usmedia ( page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2

↑ - ( Memento from May 14, 2012 in the Internet Archive )

^ Federal government report on child labor in Germany June 2, 2000 http://www.aktiv-gegen-kinderarbeit.de/welt/europa/deutschland

↑ Archived copy ( Memento of October 22, 2007 in the Internet Archive )

↑ UNICEF Annual Report 2007 ( PDF ( page no longer available , search in web archives )). P. 10@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.unicef.de

↑ https://www.beltz.de/fachmedien/sozialpaedagogik_soziale_arbeit/buecher/produkt_produktdetails/34822-praxisbuch_kinderschutz.html

[1] with C. Henry Kempe's study "The Battered-Child Syndrome" 1962. Cf. History of Medical Child Protection pdf p. 14

[2] rum.sexualaufklaerung.de ( Memento from August 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive )

[3] UNESCO: Progress for Children. A Report Card on Child Protection p. September 5, 2009 (PDF; 1.0 MB)

[4] Missing birth certificate. 50 million children disappear into nowhere . mirror online. June 4, 2002