Wananga system fails to vet social work students
April 22, 2011, 7:10 am (From the NZPA) – Full article posted here (in case it gets pulled from Yahoo later).
“Te Wananga o Aotearoa says a “human error” allowed a woman convicted of cruelty to a child to enrol in a social work degree.
Kylie TeKani was taking classes at the Porirua campus towards the first-year certificate in social service (biculturalism in practice) and follow-up bachelor of social work (biculturalism in practice), despite being sentenced to eight months’ home detention in 2008 after pleading guilty to three charges of cruelty to a child and assault with a weapon, Kapi-Mana News reported.
Children in her care, aged five, six and eight, were beaten with a broom handle, had to rummage in rubbish bins for food and were often locked outside of their Porirua home until dark.
Ms TeKani’s partner, Norman Makai, received five years in prison.
The paper quoted a source who said at least one other student that had withdrawn from the social work course, who had been “struggling to sit in the same room as her [Ms TeKani]”.
The 2010 social service certificate applicants were not given mandatory police checks by the tertiary provider as per procedure due to a “human error”, and some of them were now students of the bachelor course, a Te Wananga spokesman said.
“We have instigated a complete review around this blatant breach of policy … to ensure this cannot happen again. The staff member concerned has been reprimanded and will undergo intensive training around the importance of adhering to our policies.”
The spokesman said a new system mean here had been “disruption” of police vetting, but was confident a more efficient checking process was now in place.
Te Wananga would not say whether Ms TeKani was still studying at the campus.”
In my experiences with CYFS, one could argue that a woman convicted of cruelty to a child would already be suitably enough qualified to join the ranks of her fellow social workers at CYFS.
There is some more detailed information regarding the cruelty that these children suffered on the website of the Sensible Sentencing Trust:
http://www.safe-nz.org.nz/Data/makainorman.htm
http://www.safe-nz.org.nz/Data/tekanikylie.htm
My daughter lived on the same street (Penguin Grove) as this family prior to her emigrating to Aussie. My daughter told me that she spoke to Kylie some time after the abuses were discovered. Apparently she had a new man in her life and also had her children back in her full time care.
Comment by Wayne — Fri 22nd April 2011 @ 7:15 pm
I did Social Work study once, and I have no problem with the majority of the people, they have heart to put up with they see. But my concerns are with the ideology that I learnt. Please enlighten me about these…
-Women are still oppressed, even though the same groups of awareness are not available for men.
-Psychosocial Perspective (sic) is about how examining a social situation in relation to coping (when social workers often detract from psychology in the first place. Here is the psychological definition: http://www.apa.org/research/action/glossary.aspx#p (see Psychosocial Stages).
-Lectures and Tutors are either former Anthropology or even PSYCHOLOGY majors (Seriously now, I ask WHY).
– It considers itself multidisciplinary, yet sometimes/can malign psychology because it’s clinical field is seen as “incorrect”.
– It views statistics as slightly dangerous, but (hypocritically) says it uses correlations,statistics used that I saw were of “statistics” presented on the news each night or S.N.Z.
-That the moral of a documentary such as Cool Guise, showing men to be boxed into a macho, hyper masculine character means that women have become invisible?
Please correct me if I am wrong,I have no intention of offence. I would like to understand why this is what I thought I heard.
Comment by Benjamin — Sat 7th May 2011 @ 5:12 pm
I have no idea what you are writing about. That said, the entirety of social work is nothing but a scam designed to move money from honest hard-working people (mostly men) to lazy con-artists (mostly women) by lying and manipulating. That’s all it is. The gov’t (as represented by social workers) has no business interfering with a family. In the very rare instances in which gov’t interference is needed, there are things called crimes and laws to discourage them and courts to dispose of them. The cost of social workers to any family and to a community is so much greater than their benefits (if there are any and I argue there are not) that families and communities are better off if social workers are simply put in prison and families and the community have to spend to keep them there than if they are left to predate upon innocent fathers and their children. Social workers are nothing but criminals. I’ve never, in my entire life, met one that wasn’t.
Comment by Darryl X — Sun 8th May 2011 @ 5:00 am
Let me rephrase, the questions/ staements above were what I found Social Work to be idolising, and I was wondering why these occur, and if someone may or may not be able to correct my assumptions.
Comment by Benjamin — Thu 12th May 2011 @ 1:26 pm
Dear Benjamin
Well done for even ASKING the questions. Without debating ALL the issues, there is no question in most peoples minds that education of social workers is promoting a certain set of views. In particular, the ideas that women are oppressed, and that men are not. The ideas that men are boxed into some prescribed macho character, etc. The ideas of woman = victim, men = aggressor, etc.
Most WOMEN (as well as men) disagree with these views!
Essentially the social worker students are being programmed to hold a pre-disposed view of any situation, so that they will act wrongly when faced with, e.g. sensitive, caring men, or macho, aggressive women.
Can I suggest that you associate with people from a variety of backgrounds, and LISTEN.
Comment by John Brett — Fri 13th May 2011 @ 9:02 am
Thought I sent a reply. Sure thing- as being critical is what I’m learning anyway. Thanks for the advice!
Comment by Benjamin — Tue 17th May 2011 @ 5:10 pm
I am a Psychology student, by the way. Unfortunatly I found Social Work just was not me. Although the worker’s have heart.
Anyway, I REALLY want to cut-through and look at the physical structure of an actual brain when I can!
Comment by Benjamin — Tue 17th May 2011 @ 5:20 pm