Neglect – 8. Poor Hygiene Reasons

Below are possible reasons though you may have thought of others too:

• Washing machine broke
• No money to purchase soap, deodorant, shampoo, etc
• Boiler broken
• Never been shown or told how to maintain good hygiene
• Might not like the sensation of touching in order to wash
• Might be being abused and think that if they don’t wash the abuser won’t want to come near them.
• Might not feel that they’re worthy and therefore why should they look after themselves.
• Not a priority for them in the morning due to caring for others.

There are many other reasons it could also be. The main point is that we maintain professional curiosity which is where a practitioner explores and proactively tries to understand what is happening within a family or for an individual, rather than making assumptions or accepting things at face value. Everyone who works with children is classed as a practitioner so that incudes everyone in education and a school setting.