How long have you been working as a social worker?
“I have been a Social Worker for about 10 years now. When I first started I worked for nursing homes and worked on behalf of patients with abuse accusations from the nursing staff. However I didn’t feel that I was the appropriate person for the job, it was hard to have a nonbiased opinion of the workers there since I became close with each employee. That is when I got the job with the state. I now work with children whose home life may not be 100% safe.”
What are the outcomes …show more content…
Unfortunately we live in a society where abuse is a very common thing. Schools and Daycare are required to report any suspicious things that happen to a child. That means that if a kid comes to school with bruises up and down their arms the school calls us to make sure they are okay, and thankfully they usually are. Kids are clumsy and adventurous they fall and hurt themselves all the time.”
Have any of your cases involved spanking?
“Yes. Kids have told me multiple times that their mom and dad hit them, which makes the situation seem way worse than it might be. When I ask them to show me where they get hit a lot of them say it is on the bottom.”
How do you deal with Spanking as a social worker?
“My job is to make sure that the child is not in any danger. Spanking is not considered a form of abuse as long as the punishment is reasonable and does not cause injury. For me this is the hardest part of my job because as long as there are no bruises and the child isn’t scared of their parents there is no more I can do for that child. Sadly the State does not take into consideration the mental injury it may have on the children and what it might lead to.”
You have two girls of your own, do you spank them?
“No not anymore. Up until about 4 years ago my husband and I used spanking to discipline the girls. Before then I had never seen any real fault in …show more content…
This time he had been beating and was sent to the hospital again. When I showed up at the hospital the charge nurse informed me that the dad had already been arrested and the mom was not allowed in the room. I walked in to see him and it was the worst thing I had ever seen. He could barely talk but he was willing to tell me what had happened. He went on to tell me that when he and I had first met thing between him and his parents were fine but they just continually got worse. His dad start using spanking as a way to get out his rage and when that stopped working he started to beat him.” “That was the day that I decided I could never spank my children ever again. Spanking to me became a gateway to more extreme abuse and even to this day I don’t close out case that involving spanking for about a year so I can keep checking up on the family.”
Thank Mrs. Goddard for your time and for sharing your experiences.
“I hope it gave you the information that you were looking