The Educator Magazine U.K. Sept-Dec 2024 issue - Magazine - Page 68

Privilege
and pain:
the realities of
affluent neglect
By Alex Dave, Safeguarding Education
Officer, LGfL-The National Grid for Learning
Alex Dave, Safeguarding Education
Officer, LGfL–The National Grid for
Learning, explores the realities of
affluent neglect, and offers advice to
designated safeguarding leads (DSLs)
and schools.
Ask the majority of people, and they will
usually associate neglect, with children
from disadvantaged backgrounds. This is
a common societal bias which creates
difficulties in identifying neglect in other
contexts, for example, in children from
more ‘privileged’ backgrounds. For the
professionals involved, addressing neglect
in affluent families can bring different
challenges.
The Department for Education (DfE) defines
neglect as: ‘the persistent failure to meet a
child’s basic physical and/or psychological
needs, likely to result in the serious
impairment of the child’s health or
development’.
Neglect is abuse through omission –
a failure to provide. Although children from
affluent backgrounds are likely to (but not
always) be provided with excellent housing,
a nutritious diet, exceptional education
and access to opportunities, they could be
living in a home environment lacking
emotionally-nurturing parenting
behaviours.
Research by Professor Claudia Bernard
(Goldsmiths, University of London) outlined
the following as the most prevalent causes
of affluent neglect:
• Emotional disconnect – parent’s work
commitments may mean the child is
looked after by paid carers and their
emotional needs are left unfulfilled by
their parents.
• Pressure to succeed – high expectations
or the child to achieve, result in high levels
of anxiety and stress, which can of course
affect a child’s health and development for
many years.
• Parental alcohol and substance abuse,
may in some cases, lead to a more relaxed
attitude towards the child’s consumption
of alcohol or drugs. The child may also
have increased means to buy them.
• Domestic abuse – abusive relationships
within the home, cause emotional harm to
the child.
Both the parents and the school want
what’s best for the child, and both are
legally responsible.
• Communication is crucial. Regular
interaction means support can be given at
the earliest stages of concern. Colleagues
should ensure concerns conveyed to
parents, are explicit and specific and relate
to the impact on a child’s health and
development, to avoid incorrect
assumptions being made.
The study also highlighted the difficulties
that can be faced by professionals once
neglect is identified and addressed.
Research showed that wealthier parents
often become adversarial, and ‘used their
status and social capital to resist child
protection intervention, and many also
displayed a sense of entitlement to do as
they pleased and that they know best’.
• Staff training. Provide opportunities for
staff to explore broad examples of neglect
and dispel the stereotypes, to ensure staff
identify neglect in all contexts.
What can schools do?
It is important to acknowledge the lens
through which discussions about neglect
take place, to question the bias towards
disadvantage and neglect, and ensure that
all staff in schools recognise that it occurs
across the socio-economic divide. This will
ensure that the reporting of neglect in more
affluent families is strong.
The points below, will help schools improve both their identification of affluent
neglect and their response:
• Ensure the school’s safeguarding role
is made clear when the child joins. The
school’s responsibilities should be clearly
communicated, along with the
expectations for parents to be in
partnership with the school.
• Consider how neglect is covered in your
policies and procedures, and to what
extent these help staff to identify and
respond to affluent neglect.
• Create relationships that build trust, so
parents feel more confident to share
concerns or difficulties they are
experiencing, which may be affecting
their child.
• Keep the child in the centre. If concerns
arise, make the child the focus to pre-empt
parents’ reaction towards intervention.
• Support the child to recover. Acknowledge
the impact of any neglect. Schools can
offer a variety of different support, helping
children to feel safe, loved and accepted at
school, and to eventually recover.
Neglect is usually unintentional and occurs
as a consequence of a myriad of factors
in a parent or family’s life. The majority of
parents undoubtably love their children
and want what’s best for them. So the best
approach schools can adopt, to safeguard
children who may be experiencing this,
is one of curiosity, empathy and support,
ensuring the child’s welfare is central to all
decisions taken.
For free information, support and
training about neglect, please visit
https://neglect.lgfl.net

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