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Psychological consequences of child abuse
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More than 2.5 million cases of child abuse and neglect are reported each year in the United States (Child Abuse and Neglect Statistics). Almost five children die as a result of abuse and more than three out of four are under four years old (Child Abuse: Statistics & Facts). Child abuse is very common amongst families (Child Abuse and Neglect Statistics). One-third of these involve physical abuse and one half involves neglect. Studies show that one in four girls and one in eight to nine boys will be sexually abused before they are 18 years old (Child Abuse: Statistics & Facts). There are different types of child abuse. One type is physical abuse. It involves the parent inflicting injuries to the child’s body. These injuries can include: bruises, burns, broken bones, head injuries and even injuries to internal organs (General Information about Child Abuse). As a result of physical abuse, children may be scared and shy when people approach them and try to touch them. Another sign that abused children might show can be them wearing long clothing in order to cover and hide their injuries (General Information about Child Abuse). They do this in order to prevent outside factors from asking them questions. The main sign of this kind of physical abuse that the parents or caregivers can show are anger problems or the excessive need for control. Sexual abuse is another type of child abuse. It is any type of sexual activity that a child cannot understand or give consent to. Some examples of this are: fondling, oral-genital contact, genital or anal intercourse, exhibitionism, voyeurism and exposure to pornography (National Council On Child Abuse And Family Violence...) Some signs of sexual abuse are: the child has trouble sitting or standing,... ... middle of paper ... ...g a support system can be hard. If they do not have anyone to listen to him or her or even help take care of them, they can easily turn to child abuse. Sometimes parents are able to drop of their children at their grandparent’s house to get away and have a day to themselves. This can help relieve stress since they have responsible people that have no issue taking care of their child. In other cases where this option is not available, the stress can build and the parent may abuse their child out of frustration. These parents can even turn to drugs and alcohol because of it, which can lead to more problems for both the child and the parent. Children can die from being abused and those who are lucky enough to survive usually end up with psychological problems because of it. No matter what type of abuse they receive, they will never be able to live their lives normally.
As stated before, child neglect and abuse can occur in any family, in any social class. However, a lot of factors can increase the likelihood of child abuse and maltreatment. Poverty and unemployment can increase child abuse, especially with the combination of stress, substance abuse, or depression. Parents or caregivers with less material and emotional support, who don’t have a positive parenting role model, feel less pressure to conventional standards of parenting; and because they don’t have the positive parenting, the child welfare becomes endangered. Also, children who live in dangerous neighborhoods are at a higher risk than those who are living the American Dream, to severe neglect and physical or sexual abuse.
Child abuse in America is an ongoing problem and something needs to be done. There are approximately one million children abused annually in the United States. (Table 339) Cases of child abuse and neglect are reported every ten seconds, and researchers believe that there’s three times that amount that goes unnoticed. (Child Abuse: Know the Signs and Stop the Violence Against Children.) Something needs to be done for these children who are too weak and too powerless to help themselves.
Child abuse is the intentional omission of care by a parent or guardian that can cause a
Physical abuse includes hitting, kicking, shaking, pinching, and burning. It may leave bruises, cuts, or other marks and cause pain, broken bones, or internal injuries. (Child Abuse and Neglect - Topic Overview)
The most common types of child abuse are physical abuse, mental maltreatment and neglect, and sexual abuse (Olive, 2007). “Physical abuse includes scalding, beatings with an object, severe physical punishment, and a rare form of the abuse called Munchausen by proxy” (National Research Council, 1993, p. 59). Mental abuse is when there is a “continuing pattern of parental behavior that is psychologically destructive to the child” (Olive, 2007, p. 67). Neglect happens when a child is “ignored or left alone so much that their well-being is endangered, yet the parent is able, but fails to provide for their basic needs.” (Olive, 2007, p. 67). Lastly, the most unreported type of child abuse is sexual child abuse. Sexual child abuse is “sexual activity between an adult and a child that is initiated by the adult, and from which the adult receives some sort of sexual gratification” (Olive, 2007, p. 78). ...
Causes of physical abuse in children, can occur due to many different reasons. A child can be physically abused at home can be result of stress within a family, causing them to become violent towards their children, where some parents may physically injure their child unconsciously (Johnson, 2007). Because some parents may live in poverty and are uneducated, they may not know how to treat or relate to their child(ren). They may think that when they are punishing the child for doing something wrong, when they are physically abusing a child. Because these parents do not know better,they will think that they are just correcting the behaviour of that child, when they are truly hurting them (Elsevier, 2007). Being single parents can also trigger a parent to be abusive towards his/ her child/ children. Single parents tend to have a lot on their mind, for example, taking care of their child/ children on his/ her own, playing both fatherly and motherly roles,...
There are different kinds of physical abuse, not only hitting or beating but also sexual abuse and neglect. Sign of physical abuse are bruises, unexplained sprains and fractures. There are two different types of neglect. There is neglect when one’s parents are incapable of taking care of their children do to their own mental illness. This type of neglect affects how children interact with their parents. If their mother or father suffer from depression it will affect the way, the child learns how to interact with the world they are disconnected because their parents are. Another form of neglect is that the parents are full aware and decided not to take care of their child. This will also make it harder for children to form bounds with other latter on in life. A sign of neglect is poor hygiene, clothing that is dirty or ripped and lack of medical treatment. Then there is sexual abuse, sexual abuse teaches some children that love is associated with physical acts. It also affects the way children trust. Sign of sexual abuse are vaginal infections and wetting or soiling of the
Thus, children who get support from non-offending caregivers tend to overcome most of the problems faster. In many cases family members are also incorporated into the treatment process, as the ultimate goal for child abuse cases (excluding the most severe ones) is the reunification of the family! And in this event treatment usually takes longer, as it addresses each member separately, aiming to diminish possibility of future child abuse and booster healthy and safe
Abuse and neglect is found in all socioeconomic levels and all ethnic groups. There is a handful of children experiencing some type of abuse and other experience more than one time of abuse. 1 out of every 4 girls and 1 out of every 8 boys experience sexual abuse before they turn 8. 1 out of 20 children suffers from physical abuse. About 2/3 of abuse was neglect and is leading cause of fatalities.
Hitting, fighting, screaming, ignoring, unnecessary touching, are all examples of child abuse. Child abuse is more than bruises and broken bones. While physical abuse might be the most visible, other types of abuse, such as emotional abuse and neglect, also leave deep, lasting scars. (Smith, and Segal). There are four types of child abuse, physical, emotional, sexual, and neglect. Physical abuse is any type of injury a child may receive, such as scars, bruises, and other visible injuries, which can occur from hitting, slapping, kicking and other types of violence. Emotional abuse is the use of slanderous and hurtful words that can cut deep into a child. Such as constant yelling or threatening, and making negative comments. Sexual abuse is any kind of exposure to a sexual situation that a child may experience, whether it is unnecessary touching, or exposing the child to pornographic photographs. Neglect is the most common type of child abuse. Neglect towards a child is not being able to provide the correct and proper needs for a child such as shelter, food, or clothing. All this is considered child abuse and it does not appear as though some may think, that corporal punishment is a part of the list of child abuse. Corporal punishment should not be considered child abuse whether in the home or in public schools, because it has long been used in society for hundreds of years and has proven to be an efficient and suitable punishment for children.
The child may be afraid to tell what is really going on so they avoid questions. Children who are abused usually separate themselves from their friends, you may notice changes in their behavior, depression, lack of supervision, attendance, attempt suicide, attempt to run away, and defiant behavior. Children are most of the time afraid to talk about their problems because they may be taken away from their family, or they're afraid of what their parents will say. Parents who neglect their child most of the time doesn't care for their child.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) (n.d.), the causes of child abuse are 1) poverty, 2) less education, 3) unemployment, 4) changes in address, 5) marital problems, 6) lack of support, and 7) isolation. These factors are not only individual problems, but also social problems. Also, factors are considered to be interrelated to each other. For instance, parents in poverty are at higher risk of abused their children because they are more likely to struggle with economic problems because of unemployment. They are less likely to have stable jobs because of lack of education.
Many families suffer from family and child abuse. The abuse can be physical, emotional, sexual, or even fall under neglecting. Neglect is a form ob abuse which contains a family member, usually a parent towards a child, not given them the significant proper care and attention they need. Physical, emotional, and sexual are however the most well known forms of abuse that live a permanent scar. “Every year nearly 1 percent of American women older than age 11 are assaulted, sexually assaulted, raped, or robbed by spouses, ex-spouses, boyfriends, ex-boyfriends, girlfriends, or ex-girlfriends.” (Brym)
There is never just any certain type of sign to show that a child is being abused, children can be abused and you never would have known. One sign to tell if a child is being abused is by checking their body for big bruises, sure children are very accident prone and can get bruises but usually with abused children they have bruises in weird places or, their bruised can be gigantic. Another sign is, when children are very frightening they will flinch a lot when they see physical activity of any kind, because they created schemas of physical contact being painful. Also, if children wear long sleeves or turtle neck sweaters in the hot sun, that could be a major sign of abuse as well. Sometimes, children will act out because they want attention
1 in 16 children suffer from sexual abuse. Nearly 1 in 10 children are witnesses to family violence. The youngest children are the most vulnerable to maltreatment. Over 25% of abused children are under the age of three while 45% of abused children are under the age of five.