Irwan Nuryana Kurniawan

A number of facts and data collected by National Commission for Child Protection the year 2004, indicates that condition of Indonesian children residing in at situation of the special protection requires attention of all party sides. Situation portrait and various problems of children in Indonesia are getting concerned day by day. That various sufferings those experienced by Indonesia children has shown that Child’s Right of Life as integral part of human right has been omit and threatened without special handling an solution. Report from Data Centre and Information National Commission for Child Protection is entering through Hotline Service National Commission for Child Protection to indicate that hardness case to child, good of that is sexual hardness, physical, psychological, and economics, what reported, The numbers increasing. Out of 481 hardness cases to child of in the year 2003 reported through direct denunciating and Hotline Service National Commission for Child Protection, increases to become 544 cases in the year 2004. 221 cases is sexual hardness, 140 physical hardness cases, 80 psychical hardness cases, and 103 cases about other problems, as discriminations and others (NCCP, 2005).

Recently National Commission for Child Protection as child protection institution which in de facto way supported by society, along the year 2006 has accepted complain and recorded many kinds of children’s sufferings those happen surround us. Number of children victim violence that is reported and handled by National Commission for Child Protection, in victim of violence sexual, physics, mental are:

Meanwhile, nationally number of violence toward child predicted reach 72.000 cases (NCCP, 2006). According to Seto Mulyadi, Chief of National Commission for Child Protection, most of the actors of violence toward children are them who stay around the children life. Almost 69% the actors are them who know the children well, such as parent, grandparent neighborhood and teacher (NCCP, 2005).

DeHart et al (1996), summarized from several researches, concluded that parental abuse cause negative consequences to children. These include aggression, social withdrawal, and other difficulties with peers. Problems of low self esteem and difficulty maintaining a coherence of self, as well as problems describing one’s own feelings and actions, have been found, as have emotional disturbances ranging from lack of ability to experience pleasure to uncontrollable anger. In addition, there may be serious problems of apathy in the face of challenges, or difficulties in balancing the desire to explore with the need to feel secure. Such problems may persist into later childhood and even adulthood. In adulthood, the most widely reported outcomes of having maltreated as a child are aggression and parenting problems.

Ziegler and Hall (1989), Critenden et al (1991) found that majority of parents who mistreat their children were abused as children. The same seems to be true of harsh parenting practices (Simons et al 1991): when the parents of one generation are harsh, their children tend to be harsh when they become parents. Furthermore Bee (1998) noticed that parents, regardless of depression of history of abuse, are more likely to abuse a child when their current life conditions are highly stressful. So abuse is more likely in families in which at least one parent is alcoholic, in large families, in single parent households, and in families living in poverty or in extremely crowded conditions (Garbarino, & Sherman, 1980; Sack dkk, 1985; Pianta dkk, 1989).

Bostrom (2003) found that child abuse can happen in any segment of society, most point to factors such as parental alcohol and drug abuse, poor parenting skills, a past history of abuse, and economic stress as reasons for child abuse and neglect. Gelles (2000a) noted that abusive parents often have unrealistic expectations of their children, have little knowledge of child development, and demonstrate an inability to bond with infants

In short those lacks of parenting skill become a critical factor that is related to the incidence of child abuse in a family. Furthermore, Walker et al (2006) found that teaching parenting skills can have positive long-term effects in children who, because of their parents’ social circumstances, are at high risk of developing psychological, emotional, or behavioural problems. Kurniawan and Utami (2007) also found that increasing parenting skill significantly can reduce parent’s neglectful behaviours.

Alvy (2007) conclude research study after research study confirms that communities benefit greatly when children are raised effectively. The societal benefits are evident very early, as effectively parented preschool children are more likely to enter school eager and ready to learn. They are also much more likely to achieve at high levels and to be well liked by their peers and teachers. The research also shows that as teenagers, these effectively parented young people make positive contributions to community life and are of service to others. And as adults they are more likely to have productive careers, healthy and stable marriages, and to become effective parents themselves.

Sanders et.al (2003) summarized that there has been a consistent finding across many studies which shows that parenting skills training used in Triple P produces predictable decreases in child behavior problems, which have typically been maintained over time. Furthermore, several studies show that these improvements in child behavior are also paralleled by improvements in parents’, particularly mothers’, adjustment. The primary treatment effects on child and family functioning have been replicated several times in different studies involving different research teams. Similar findings from previous researched by Dembo et. al (1985), Todres and Bunston (1993), and Cowen (2001) revealed that family education programme effectively can change parent attitude and parenting practices, family dynamics, and reduce children behaviour problems.

Sanders et.al (2003) describe The Triple P-Positive Parenting Program is a multi-level, preventively-oriented parenting and family support strategy developed by the authors and colleagues at The University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. The program aims to prevent severe behavioral, emotional and developmental problems in children by enhancing the knowledge, skills and confidence of parents.

The Triple P-Positive Parenting Program incorporates five levels of intervention on a tiered continuum of increasing strength. Figure 1 depicts the differing levels of intensity and reach of the Triple P system. Level 1, a universal parent information strategy, provides all interested parents with access to useful information about parenting through a coordinated promotional campaign using print and electronic media as well as user-friendly parenting tip sheets and videotapes that demonstrate specific parenting strategies. This level of intervention aims to increase community awareness of parenting resources and the receptivity of parents to participating in programs, and to create a sense of optimism by depicting solutions to common behavioral and developmental concerns ( Sanders et.al., 2003).

Sanders et.al (2003) explains that Level 2 is a brief, one to two-session primary health care interventions providing early anticipatory developmental guidance to parents of children with mild behavior difficulties or developmental issues. Level 3, a four-session intervention, targets children with mild to moderate behavior difficulties and includes active skills training for parents. Level 4 is an intensive eight to ten-sessions individual, group or self-directed parent training program for children with more severe behavioral difficulties. Level 5 is an enhanced behavioral family intervention program for families where child behavior problems persist or where parenting difficulties are complicated by other sources of family distress (e.g., marital conflict, parental depression or high levels of stress).

Over the past decade, considerable research has emerged that demonstrates the benefits of religious practice within society. Religious practice promotes the well-being of individuals, families, and the community. Of particular note are the studies that indicate the benefits of religion to the poor. Regular attendance at religious services is linked to healthy, stable family life, strong marriages, and well-behaved children. The practice of religion also leads to a reduction in the incidence of domestic abuse, crime, substance abuse, and addiction. In addition, religious practice leads to an increase in physical and mental health, longevity, and education attainment. Moreover, these effects are intergenerational, as grandparents and parents pass on the benefits to the next generations (Kagan, 2006).

In general, religious participation appears to foster an authoritative, warm, active, and expressive style of parenting. In addition, parents who attend religious services are more likely to enjoy a better relationship with their children (Pearce and Axinn, 1998) and are more likely to be involved with their children’s education (Wilcox, 2002). Moreover, the greater a child’s religious involvement, the more likely both the child and parent will agree about the quality of their relationship (Aquilino, 1999) the more similar their values will be, and the greater their emotional closeness will be (Pearce , and Haynie, 2004).

A small but growing body of research has focused on the links between religious practice and decreased family violence. For example, men who attended religious services at least weekly were more than 50 percent less likely to commit an act of violence against their partners than were peers who attended only once a year or less (Ellison et.al, 1999). No matter how the data were analyzed, regular attendance at religious services had a strong and statistically significant inverse association with the incidence of domestic abuse (Ellison and Anderson, 2001). Similarly, after controlling for all other factors, Wilcox (2004) found that of all groups studied (unaffiliated, active conservative Protestant, active mainline Protestant, nominal conservative Protestant, and nominal mainline Protestants), religiously active conservative Protestant men were least likely to engage in domestic violence.

Strong and repeated evidence indicates that the regular practice of religion has beneficial effects in nearly every aspect of social concern and policy. This evidence shows that religious practice protects against social disorder and dysfunction. My previous researches revealed that prophetic intelligence significantly can predict achievement motivation of government employee (Kurniawan, 2006a), has positive and significant correlation with girl adolescence autonomy (Kurniawan, 2006b), authoritative parenting style (Kurniawan, 2006c) and marital satisfaction (Kurniawan, 2007).