Are You Abused, Or Deprived? Or Both?
by elaine ellis
(Lancashire, UK)
I've never been very proud of my place of origin. You may have noticed that I never give it's name!
My place of birth is a nasty little Northern town - a one-time seaside resort on the west coast of Britain. Well past it's sell-by date and with little more to offer, it's derelict buildings with their faded facades, empty shops and closed businesses are a sure sign of the times. This is a town in recession!
My place of birth is a source of shame. It is publicly acknowledged as one of the worst towns in the U.K. (listed in a book of the same title). The statistics are not good. The chair of the local PCT has made an open acknowledgment, via the pages of "Lancashire Life Magazine", that the town has some of the worst (i.e. highest) figures in the U.K. for deaths from suicide, and from major cancers such as liver and bowel, also for deaths from heart disease. Figures for teenage pregnancy are "off the radar", as are the number of people in the town with mental health, or substance misuse issues. Obesity is rife, and domestic violence a major issue. Crime does not fare much better, with high numbers of acts of antisocial behavior being reported (often "drunk and disorderly"), as well as muggings, assault and robbery. Finally, to add insult to injury, the town is in an area of very high unemployment, with a large proportion of the population reliant upon welfare benefits. Many people come here after retirement, and there are multiple residential homes and the like, catering for the elderly and the infirm.
Where we come from, and where we live is very important to us. It can make, or break. We are reliant upon the facilities and support available to us, in order to get the best out of life.
So, what if we live somewhere that is "struggling"? An area of high deprivation? An area where there are many problems, and few resources? Little support?
Where people are not given opportunities to make the best out of life, it is to be expected that they will identify two possible outcomes. Either that they leave, and look for better opportunities elsewhere; or that they effectively get "stuck". If this IS the case, then an already deprived area stands to suffer more, as many of the people who might have benefited it have left. The ones remaining will find themselves firmly entrenched in a vicious cycle. They may be aware of a lack of support, a lack of opportunity - but feel powerless to do anything about it.
Surely children brought up in such areas are at greater risk of potential abuse. The parent who feels unsupported, who feels inadequately catered-for, who senses a lack of opportunity and little means to change it - this parent will most likely engender such beliefs in their child. Besides, to thrive, families NEED resources. They require access to high-quality educational facilities. They need excellent health and social care provision. They need good quality, safe, secure housing. Parents need jobs. They need access to reliable child-care facilities. Families need to be able to relax, to spend quality time playing or exercising at recreational and sports facilities. They need to be able to meet their practical needs, with access to a good range of shops and services such as plumbers, electricians and the like. They must feel safe, and know that the streets are adequately Policed, to prevent crime.
In places where services are failing, where unemployment is high, where crime is rife... people DO NOT stand to benefit from any of the above. Children who receive a poor education struggle to compete for work with those better equipped. Lack of job prospects compounds the problem, making many people simply give up on the idea of bothering with school, and qualifications, at all. Poor health and social care provision can have devastating consequences that directly affect quality of life. People may have to wait much longer to receive referrals to specialists, or to get treatment. GP surgeries may be overloaded with patients, and have too little time to offer thorough consultations. There may be some individuals who miss out altogether on receiving the care they require. Hospital waiting lists may be excessive.
In deprived areas facilities and services are often lacking. This reflects high unemployment figures, and lack of spending power. Often, the result is further cuts, made by local authorities seeking to rein in spiralling costs. Recreational facilities are often first hit, with Libraries and Parks being closed, or play schemes and sporting activities for children being decreased in number. Places with poor facilities fail to attract new residents and new businesses, so often they lose other vital services. As shops and other businesses close or move area, locals are left with a dwindling pool of resources, and a semi-derelict town centre. Crime is only to be expected...
So, I suppose what I am saying is that although abuse can never be excused, the reasons behind it need to be more fully explored. We cannot expect to understand, or to eradicate, abuse if we do not see its links to other societal problems, and fail also to address them. Deprivation, especially during a global recession, is a HUGE problem. And deprivation can spawn abuse.
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