Child Protection System and Services Provided for Abused and Neglected Children in Romania
Dr. Ana Muntean
West University of Timisoara, Social Work Department
Ana Muntean is a professor of Developmental Psychology in the Social Work Department of the West University of Timisoara. She is the Founding President (1995) of the Society for Children and Parents (SCOP). Ana Muntean is the Founding Editor of the journal “Today’s Children – Tomorrow’s Parents” (TCTP: www.tctp.cicop.ro) and was among the founders of the National Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (SN-CAN).
In 1996, under the auspices of ISPCAN, and with the participation of immediate ISPCAN past president Kari Killen PhD, Ana Muntean organized the first conference in Romania focusing on child abuse and neglect prevention, under the title of “Today’s Children are Tomorrow’s Parents”. Between 1999 and 2001, in partnership with Paris V University, she co-ordinated a Tempus JEP project through which a postgraduate training program focused on preventing child abuse and neglect was set up. In 2003, Ana Muntean was the co-director of a NATO Advanced Study project on the theme: Prevention and Intervention in Child Maltreatment: Development and Assessment of Programs. Since 2005, Ana Muntean has been the Founding Director of a Research Centre for the study of child-parent interaction (CICOP) within the West University of Timisoara.
During the period 2006-2008 she was the Romanian consultant within a project initiated by the Council of Europe concerning violence against the child. In 2007 Ana Muntean organized in Timisoara the Second International Forum on the topic: “Psychological Security; Trauma and Resiliency”, under the auspices of the Paris VII University and West University in Timisoara.
Ana Muntean is currently the co-ordinator of a Romanian national research project on adoption.
Abstract
Donald W. Winnicott asserted that the child represents the future of any society. Within any human group the acknowledgement of this statement places the child in the centre of attention. Consequently, and in accordance with... [ view full abstract ]
Donald W. Winnicott asserted that the child represents the future of any society. Within any human group the acknowledgement of this statement places the child in the centre of attention. Consequently, and in accordance with existing knowledge regarding the requirements for healthy child development, social policies for child welfare are developed and laws and services are brought in to support child development. Such a child welfare system rests on three pillars: mentality (the social representation of the child’s place and role within society), laws and services (these express the social policies that have been developed to protect children and especially those children in need of support), and economic context (poverty being the greatest barrier to the development of child welfare). Awareness of the role of the child and understanding of healthy development are cumulative processes which go hand in hand with the development of child protection services. During the communist period, Ceausescu’s extreme policies aimed at increasing the birth rate showed evidence of an awareness of the importance of children for society combined with a total lack of knowledge of human development. During that period abuse and neglect of children were endemic within the child protection system. Following the fall of the Iron Curtain emergency intervention measures were undertaken to help children in institutions, while thousands of children were adopted internationally. Numerous child welfare experts came to Romania from all over the world and applied their knowledge in stimulating the development of Romanian professionals and practitioners and in the organization of a national programme of education for these professions and of new policies and services in child protection. In 1996, when the ISPCAN voice was first heard by Romanian professionals in child protection, a significant movement developed that was to have a great impact on child protection services. Other foreign and Romanian organizations supported and promoted child abuse and neglect prevention in Romania. Many other related changes have taken place within the child protection system between 1997 and the present day. Laws and services have developed alongside research in the field and better, university-based, training for professionals. Economic constraints are still affecting the system, but the social representation of the child, and of the role and place of children within Romanian society, has changed in response to an increasing understanding of human development.
Session
KN-2 » Plenary Session (09:00 - Monday, 28th September, Grand Ballroom)
