Eugene, Clementia

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Position / Title
Lecturer
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Author Name Variants
Fields of Specialization
Social Work
Child Proteccion
Court Social Work
Domestic violence
Youth
Community Work
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Last updated September 12, 2024
Introduction
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Biography
Clementia Eugene is a lecturer teaching social work related courses in the Faculty of Arts and Science at the University of Aruba. Furthermore, Clementia is a PhD Candidate at the University of Aruba and the Anton de Kom University of Suriname. She holds a Master's in Social Work from Howard University, Washington, D.C., USA. She completed her undergraduate studies in Social Work at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Missionary Catechesis from Pontificia Universitas Urbaniana, Rome, Italy. Clementia has 22 years of experience in various social work practice fields, including child protection, court social work, domestic violence, youth, and community work in St. Lucia. Additionally, she has 25 years of experience as a social work educator. She began her social work education career designing and teaching the Certificate Social Work Program at the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College in St. Lucia and later migrated to Aruba where she did pioneering work to establish the Bachelor in Social Work and Development Program at the University of Aruba. Clementia has a passion for social work, human rights, social justice, and human development and change. She believes that the entire world population should become social workers. Clementia is also a poet and a mindfulness practitioner and values continuous self-care and reflection.

Publication Search Results

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • Publication
    Conceptualizing Child Maltreatment and Human Development Using the Human Capability Approach
    (Association of Caribbean Social Work Educators, 2021) Eugene, Clementia; Graafsma, T. L. G.; Sanches, M.
    Child maltreatment is a human rights issue and social problem for the global society. Given the scientific discourses about the Human Capability Approach as a normative and evaluative framework to measure human development that captures the quality of life, human dignity, and flourishing, this article attempts to conceptualize child maltreatment as a capability impediment. The authors contend that the Capability Approach can be explored to map out those human capabilities deprived in children who experience child maltreatment. Case studies are used to explore the correlates between child maltreatment and human development using Nussbaum’s 10 Central Human Capabilities. The article concludes that child maltreatment constitutes a human development deprivation, advocates designing a Caribbean Child Friendliness Index, and valorizes child maltreatment as an indicator for human development. Implications for social work education are highlighted, and further research is recommended.
  • Publication
    Children's Human Capabilities and Child Maltreatment: A Pilot Study of one Secondary School in Aruba.
    (Buenos Aires: Universidad de Palermo, 2020) Eugene, Clementia; Graafsma, L. G.
    There are no known studies that have explored a conceptual basis for valorizing child maltreatment as a human development impediment using the Human Capability Approach. The pilot study assessed the prevalence of child maltreatment amongst 68 (N=219) school-aged children 12 – 17 years in one secondary school in Aruba using Nussbaum’s list of 10 central human capabilities. Among this sample, the prevalence of child maltreatment was at 100%. The most prevalent types of child maltreatment were emotional abuse (94.2%), physical abuse (88.4%), severe physical abuse (66.7%) and neglect (42%). Sexual abuse had the lowest prevalence rate at 18.8%. The levels of functionings achieved varied according to types of child maltreatment and their prevalence. Neglect, witnessing inter-parental violence and sexual abuse were associated with lower achievements on the combined 10 central human capabilities except for emotional abuse, physical abuse and severe physical abuse which reported highest prevalence. These types of child maltreatment were too common and left little to no variability to calculate statistical relationships with the 10 human capabilities. These findings are disturbing and raise concerns about the normalization of abuse. Further research is recommended to determine the contributing factors to widespread use of emotional and physical abuse and the potential for intergenerational transmission of child maltreatment. Future research is also recommended with a larger sample that may provide more meaningful analysis of the capability space of children affected by child maltreatment.
  • Publication
    Child Maltreatment and Children’s Human Capabilities in Aruba.
    (The University of the West Indies Press, 2022) Eugene, Clementia; Graafsma, L. G.; Sanches, M.
    Child maltreatment violates children’s rights, and there are no known studies to theorize its relationship with the Human Capability Approach (HCA). This research explored the valorization of child maltreatment as a capability deprivation using Nussbaum’s 10 Central Human Capabilities, adapting The Netherlands National Prevalence Study of Child Maltreatment (NPM, 2010) Survey as a measurement. The sample consisted of 895 Aruban children aged 12–17 years. Results revealed lifetime prevalence of maltreatment at 78.4% and year prevalence at 50.2%. Results also revealed that as the prevalence of maltreatment increased, so did human capability scores, representing children’s failure to enjoy capabilities required for their wellbeing. Recommendations are made to replicate this study in other Caribbean islands pursuant to developing a regional Child Friendliness Index. Further recommendations include introducing the HCA in teacher education, psychology, and social work training programs in the Caribbean.