"Voices" of maltreated children: professional perceptions, intervention measures and life plans

Abstract

The aim of the study is to investigate the voices of maltreated children and how professionals working with vulnerable children perceive their voices and behaviours, taking into account their social background and living contexts, as well as their current needs. The research focused on an investigation of the context which generates maltreatment and how it shapes children’s actions and beliefs. This study was inspired by the concept of children's voices as well as perspectives of New Sociology of Childhood. Therefore, it is interesting to know whether children’s voices can be heard in a context of adversity. The research took place in a shelter for maltreated children. Data collected were obtained through observations, the children's files, as well as interviews with its professional team members. The shelter accommodates 12 children aged from 5 to 12 years old, boys and girls, who are victims of various forms of maltreatment within their family. The research has the primary focus to gather data about children from shelter professionals, documents and direct observation. The results of the study found that the most common outcome of the maltreatment influencing children's behaviour and "voices" is their feeling of abandonment, anger, as well as opposition to rules. This study found that children who are victims of violence, despite adversity, express a desire to be returned to the family and start life again with their family members. Despite their desire to live with the family, children with experience of maltreatment often face doubts regarding whom to trust. Despite the law, deadlines and the efforts of the shelter to create a child's life plan, it was noticeable that the shelter faces difficulties in accomplishing this plan, bearing in mind congested bureaucracies.