On the 22nd March, 2012 one of the most important events in child protection took place in London.
The event featured important speakers who each made their own specific contributions towards the debate over whether the corporate and commercial exploitation of children and young people is a form of significant harm.
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THERE ARE ALSO PLANS FOR 2 FURTHER EVENTS IN LATE NOVEMBER 2012:
The Sexualization, Sexual Exploitation and
Sexual Abuse of Children and Young People.
Venue: London.
NEXT YEAR ON THE 20th June, 2013.
Venue: London
20th June, 2013: New & Emerging Challenges in Child Protection, Child Welfare & Child Development.
A publication based on the March 2012, November 2012 & June 2013 events will be released at the June 2013 event in London
Jim Wild organised this event and assembled an exciting list of speakers who all had important things to say in their specific areas of expertise. Jim suggests that the definition of ‘significant harm’ needs re-evaluating and a wider understanding of terms and definitions of ‘child abuse’ should be considered to include corporate and commercial exploitation of children and young people. It should be noted that this was not a view necessarily held by those who are speaking today but all the speakers have a vast array of knowledge, skills and expertise to help delegates to explore the notion of corporate and commercial exploitation of children and young people. In his opening overview of the day Jim suggested we look at the evidence presented. Has western society reached a critical point in the way it targets children and young people, which now leads them towards addictive hybrid consumer-orientated lives? We have 24-hour bombardment of their minds to eat, purchase, imitate, possess or conform. Child protection and child care professionals are invited to examine the evidence – the excessive imagery, junk food, extreme body images, access to pornography and allure of celebrity. There is now so much corporate targeting of children and young people that they consume without objective consent or informed knowledge. Do we face a new diagnosis of ‘significant harm’ and should Local Children’s Safeguarding Boards provide advice and support to parents, practitioners and local policy makers?
SOME KEY QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
The Concept of Significant Harm
The Children Act 1989 introduced the concept of ‘Significant Harm’ as the threshold that justifies compulsory intervention in family life in the best interests of children and gives local authorities a duty to make enquiries to decide whether they should take action to safeguard or promote the welfare of a child who is suffering, or is likely to suffer significant harm. There are no absolute criteria to rely on when judging what constitutes Significant Harm. Working Together to Safeguard Children 2010 (paragraph 1.28) gives the following definition:
“ Consideration of the severity of ill-treatment may include the degree and the extent of physical harm, the duration and the frequency of abuse and neglect, the extent of premeditation, and the presence or degree of threat, coercion, sadism, and bizarre or unusual elements. Each of these elements has been associated with more severe effects on the child, and/or relatively greater difficulty in helping the child overcome the adverse impact of the maltreatment. Sometimes, a single traumatic event may constitute significant harm, e.g. a violent assault, suffocation or poisoning. More often, significant harm is a compilation of significant events, both acute and long-standing, which interrupt, change or damage the child’s physical and psychological development. Some children live in families and circumstances where their health and development are neglected. For them, it is corrosiveness of long-term emotional, physical or sexual abuse that causes impairment to the extent of constituting significant harm. In each case, it is necessary to consider any maltreatment alongside the child’s own assessment of his or her safety and welfare, the family’s strengths and supports, as well as an assessment of the likelihood and capacity for change and improvements in parenting and the care of children and young people..”
SOME QUESTIONS TO LINK TO THIS DEFINITION:
- The nature of the commercial or corporate harm - in what context does it take place - is it immediate in effect, will there be longer term effects?
- The impact on the child’s health and development - is their any objective evidence that the targeting of corporate and commercial interests have adverse effects?
- It’s significance - the extent of the impact and adversity it may have on the child or young persons development
- Psychological effects - on wellbeing, self-esteem, identity
- The level and frequency of targeting
- The ability of children and young people to have awareness of what is happening to them and the extent to which they are able to give objective consent and have informed knowledge.
Keynote Speakers at the 22nd March 2012 event:
Jim Wild has worked in child protection for over 25 years as a practitioner, frontline manager, trainer and activist. He has organised the event and will suggest that the definition of 'significant harm' we use to identify child abuse is now in need of review and a wider interpretation of this concept is required to include a new category of child abuse - the corporate and consumer exploitation of children and young people in all its forms. Jim is writing a paper based on his presentation which will be available to all delegates prior to the conference.
Dr Agnes Nairn is Professor of Marketing at world-leading EM-Lyon Business School in France and divides her time between there and Bath, UK. She researches, writes and consults on areas related to ethics, children and marketing. Agnes has served on a number of UK government expert panels for the Department of Education and the Department of Health including a recent major review of the impact of the commercial world on children's wellbeing for UNICEF. Her co-authored book, Consumer Kids, appeared in 2009.
For more information about Agnes Narin go to: www.agnesnairn.co.uk
Susie Orbach is a psychoanalyst and writer whose interests have centred around feminism and psychoanalysis, the construction of femininity and gender, globalization and body image, emotional literacy and psychoanalysis and the public sphere. Susie will explore the impact that the growing commercial exploitation of the body by the style, fashion, beauty, diet and pharmaceutical industries has on the development of a girl's sense of self and her relationship to her body.
For more information about Susie Orbach go to: www.endangeredspecieswomen.org.uk
Charlie Powell directs the Children's Food Campaign which campaigns to improve children's health and well-being through promoting better food and food teaching in schools, and to protect children from junk food marketing. Charlie's presentation will discuss the food industry's activities promoting the over-consumption of nutrient-poor foods, the inadequacy of companys' pledges to regulate themselves and the need for international marketing standards to protect child health.
For more information about Charlie Powell go to: www.childrensfood.org.uk
Oliver James: The Transmission of Poisonous Values: Oliver James is best known for his frequent broadcasting appearances and his bestselling books, They F*** You Up – How to survive family life (2002) and Affluenza – How to be successful and stay sane (2007). Oliver will explore issues of hyper-consumerism and the psychological impact of constant targeting of children and young people.
For more information about Oliver's work go to: oliver-james-books.com.
Gail Dines is Professor of Sociology and Women's Studies at Wheelock College, USA. Her presentation will explore how the media bombards children and young adults with hypersexualized images of women and men, and conveys powerful messages that shape sexuality, identity and relationships. Dr. Gail Dines will use examples from pornography and pop culture to explore how images mould the way girls and boys and women and men, construct their individual and collective notions of reality. Her publication Pornland, How porn has hijacked our sexuality (2010) is available from Beacon Press.
For more information about Gail Dines go to: www.gaildines.com
YOU CAN ACCESS THE KEYNOTE AUDIO RECORDINGS HERE:
| Dr Agnes Nairn | Download MP3 File | |
| Susie Orbach | Download MP3 File | |
| Charlie Powell | Download MP3 File | |
| Oliver James | Download MP3 File | |
| Gail Dines | Download MP3 File |