Impacts of Child Abuse on Adolescent Psychological Development

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Within our world today there are many issues that reside in different cultures and societies, however many of these issues tend to be considered “taboo” and are avoided. One of these issues is child abuse. Child abuse is a globally recognized issue in regards to child labor in other countries however, many people in first world countries tend to overlook the fact that child abuse is prevalent in their own communities. Child abuse is an issue that not only has an impact on children, but it impacts them all the way through development into adulthood. This leads one to wonder, to what extent does child abuse impact the psychological development of adolescents and their ability to function properly within society in regards to social anthropology? …show more content…

Similarly to many things in life, whether or not the child is specifically impacted by the abuse is dependent on multiple factors. First off, the child’s developmental status upon initial exposure to the abuse is a factor. As well as the type of maltreatment, the frequency duration, and severity of the maltreatment, the relationship between the perpetrator and the child, and something called the “resilience factor”. The resilience factor is one’s ability to cope or even thrive following negative experiences. Resilience is not an inherited factor, instead it is based on the child's positive and negative reactions to adverse experiences. Many of these factors are based off personality traits which include positive attachment, self esteem, intelligence, emotional regulation, humor, and independence (Child Welfare Information Gateway). For example, an individual who was exposed to child abuse at a young age from the parents is going to have a difficult time coping and developing relationships with others as they get older because they were not exposed to love from their parents. On the other hand, a child who is exposed to sexual assault from a stranger may have a difficult time opening up to future partners, however depending on other relationships including family and friends they might be able to cope better because they have a good support

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