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Effects of child abuse on children's lives
Introduction to the effects of child abuse
Negative Effect Of Child Abuse
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Intro:
When the topic of abuse comes up, many different forms of abuse pop into individuals heads. Whether its Physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse or even drug abuse, the list just keeps going. Now take all those different forms abuse and imagine them happening in a family. A father physically abusing his children, a mother verbally berating her daughter about her body image, a child growing up in fear. According to the research by David Wolfe in the Journal of Consulting and clinical Psychology, that the number of children that have suffered a physical injury due to physical abuse is between 1.4 and 1.9 million annually. With such a high number of physical abuse happening to children, one can imagine how high the number of all the
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different kinds of abuse are. Well stop imagining because according to Miriam Ehrensaft, within a year the number of reported child abuse cases in the United States alone was 3.4 million. When looking at child abuse according to Karen Seccome in her book "Exploring Marriage & Families", she refers to it as an injury that the child receives as part of an attack from an adult, which goes against the views of society. Thanks to private and public organizations like Child Protective Services, fewer children are subjected to abuse and are able to get help from the proper resources. But unfortunately it has not always been like that. Before 1875 there was nothing to help children being abused, but little by little Individuals started to form private organizations designed to help children in need. It took all the way until 1962 for the government to fund a service for the protection of children in the United States of America. Even with private and public organizations set up to help children, child abuse is still around. This paper will take a dive into multiple factors of child abuse, spousal abuse and other forms of abuse to see what the causation is the effects it has on the children, its influences on the next generation and treatment for both the child and parents. Cause: So, what exactly is the cause of child abuse? Is it that the children just will not listen and maybe a swing of the hand could make them listen? Perhaps that is what some parents believe is a right way for getting their point across to their children. According to Lisa M. Ware, one of the areas where parents find it difficult and confrontational with their children is with problem solving. Why should a parent have to explain themselves to their child, when being hit teaches the child to not question them at all? Often times as explained by David Wolfe, physical abuse is usually never a onetime thing, but instead is repetitive. When something negative is presented that causes physical pain enough times to a child or any human, they will stop doing whatever it is they are doing to avoid the negative outcome that brings them pain. This may cause a child to go into isolation to avoid being harmed. Besides a child not listening or a parent unable to get their point across without getting physical what other factors could relate to child abuse? Studies have shown that child physical abuse is most likely to happen during periods of the month that are stressful for the parents. Along with stress come other factors such as legal and illegal substance use and abuse. Drugs and alcohol use have a strong correlation with child abuse. A large number of child abuse cases are reported that the parent was intoxicated on either alcohol or some illegal substance. When cases concerning substance abuse are presented to child protective services, parents are often imprisoned instead of being given treatment for their addiction and problem according to Thomas F. Locke. If parents had an addiction and the substance they were abusing was effecting their judgment it does not excuse them from whatever abuse they had done to their child, but treatment for that substance and keeping the child with their birth parent instead of in the adoption system would seem like a better option. Now a lot of these families that are abusing drugs and alcohol are not wealthy. According to Karen Seccombe, "Parents who earn less than $15,000 per year are 12-16 times more likely to physically abuse their children, 18 times more likely to sexually abuse them, and 44 times more likely to neglect them."(Seccombe, p.320) So even financial status of the parent or parents has an effect on the likelihood of abuse. The reason I separated parent and parents was because they have something to do with abuse as well. Single parents have a higher probability towards abusing their children the couples who are married. What goes along with single parents having a higher rate of abuse, is the fact that younger parents are more likely to abuse their children because of their lack of knowledge on the subject ad expectations of the child that is unrealistic. Younger parents are more likely to be single than older parents. When talking about substance and child abuse, one might want to look into the past to see things clearly. Adults who suffer from abuse of some kind whether its physical or sexual are more likely to abuse substances than someone who was never abused as a child. While they are more likely to abuse substances, they are also three times more likely to abuse their child than an individual who was never abused. With a constant cycle of being abused then abusing someone else, it seems like a circle of abuse is likely to keep happening unless treatment for the specific problem is given. Effect: Treatment needs to be specific to fit the needs of the child and target the kind of abuse they received since it can affect them in so many different ways. Child abuse affects the victim in a number of different ways. Some of the ways are having an effect on their mental and physical health, suffering academically, and having behavioral and social problems. Their mental health is a concern because of the anxiety that they develop while being in an abusive household. A number of childhood abuse victims suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which is a common disorder for war veterans to get from the constant fear of being shot at or dyeing in some sort of way. So, one has to think about the impact abuse has on a child when they could develop a disorder that a soldier has. Having the stress of abuse in a child’s life has shown that a number of them have trouble with their academics. This could be related to the abuse, neglect or even the lack of positive support from the parents. Any of the 3 just listed make it hard for the child to focus in school or have the motivation to succeed. While in school the child is likely to also exhibit behavioral problems which in turn do not help them out academically either. The child will act out to get attention from their peers or teacher. As well as act out, they will also lash out and be violent with other children, thus emulating the behavior that they learned from home. Besides just acting out at young ages, they have difficulty making friends, experience negative social interactions and have delayed play skills. Unless the child is given some sort of therapy while they are growing up, these negative effects that come with child abuse do not necessarily go away. When the proper treatment and help is not given to abuse victims, a good amount of them suffer for a lot longer than just their childhood. Studies have shown that, adults who suffer from abuse as children are at risk for a number of different things such as, an increase in abusing their own children and spouses, substance use and abuse, suicide, depression, eating disorders, PTSD and an increased risk in sexual behaviors as stated by April Sikes. Looking at the pattern of abuse that continues through generations with child abuse and spousal abuse one has to wonder if the quote "the apple does not fall far from the tree" actually has some significance. The image of intimate partner violence that people carry around in their heads is a man being violent with a woman that he is intimate with, but that is not always the case. Given that women are more likely to experience intimate partner violence, it is not only them who it is against; men suffer from abuse just like women do. "Almost 0ne-quarter of intimate partner homicides are committed against men, nearly 350 a year.”(Seccombe, p.309) Now even though almost a quarter of the deaths related with homicide are men, women still have it a lot worse. They are more likely to suffer worse forms of abuse from their spouse. They are more likely to get beatings either physical and/or sexual. These acts of violence take its toll on individuals according to Seccombe, with almost 2 million injuries and 1,500 deaths in the United States each year because of violence among intimate partners. Now that is a large number of individuals suffering from abuse, and the sadist part is that the likelihood of them returning to their abusive partner is high. Someone in an abusive relationship is likely to go back with the partner about 7 times before they finally leave or die. When looking at eating disorder effects on the individuals overall health because of over-consuming to cope with their issues or becoming anorexic or bulimic. Anorexia is an illness that causes the individual to have poor eating habits that lead to dangerous weight loss, while bulimia is overeating and immediately throwing up the food to maintain a slim figure. Throwing up food after an individual consumes it gives them the feeling of being full but not retaining any of the calories and nutrients since their body was unable to digest them. Both of these eating disorders have many negative consequences such as erosion of the esophagus, damaging organs, or even death from starvation. Besides just having bad food habits, a good number of individuals abused as a child also have bad habits when it comes to how they behave sexually. Meaning, that they do not use protection such as condoms when engaging in risky sexual activity. Taking part in those kinds of behaviors has a high risk for contracting a sexual infection, disease, or virus. While infections and diseases like Chlamydia and syphilis are curable with proper treatment, viruses like herpes and HIV stay with an individual for the rest of their lives. When looking at diseases and viruses ability to be treated, one has to wonder if there is a possibility to treat someone before they went down the road of crime, risky sexual behavior and everything else an individual with abuse suffers from. Treatment: By seeking treatment for abuse, it will not take away the experience of the negative impact the individual received, but instead equip them with the proper techniques and knowledge to cope with their past.
According to Lisa Ware, "One promising treatment for families who have a history of child maltreatment is parent-child interaction therapy". This type of therapy focuses on the interactions that the child and the parent have. It coaches the parents in how to interact with their child the proper way. Along with interaction therapy, the child and parents are also given separate therapy. The child’s therapy is centered on the abuse they received, their social and academic skills, and teaching ways of relaxation and anger management. While the therapy for the parents are more concerned with finding ways so that the parents can interact with their children in the right way. The therapy gives the parents proper techniques for controlling their anger and allows them to identify how they view abuse. These examples of techniques practiced in therapy have shown promising results, but there are many different forms of therapy that also work. When dealing with individuals and families who suffered from abuse or were the one's abusing, the therapy needs to be fitted to the specific needs of the individuals as well as the whole family. If a child suffers from a certain problem, it is the job of the therapist to focus on ways to help the child with that specific problem. A generalized therapy plan to help everyone with their problems will not work because each individual experiences different things when faced with abuse, which is why the therapy needs to be specific to the needs of the
individual. Conclusion: When thinking of abuse people view it in a negative way, which is the way that it should be viewed. But they also need to view it in a positive way with the outcome being beneficial for the child and the parent. As stated in the previous paragraph, therapy has been proven beneficial when dealing with families that suffer from abuse. A lot of individuals believe that the parents should lose their children, but studies have shown that removing children from their parents is also damaging to the children, not to mention the huge number of children already apart of foster care. The best form of treatment is therapy for both the parents and the child. If they are able to stop the abuse and help the child they could possibly stop the abuse cycle since those who are abused as a child are likely to abuse their future children and/or spouse. By getting treatment early and stopping the cycle, it would also prove beneficial throughout the lives of the individual by making them less likely to use and abuse drugs and also stay out of prison. Abuse is going to be constantly present in society, but it is up to the citizens to speak up and go against violence. No one deserves to live in constant fear of abuse. So the next time an individual is being abused, will society stand up and say something or will they just sit back and watch the cycle repeat?
Initially, TFCBT was developed to treat sexually abused children, where parents play a key role in the treatment process (How to Implement Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, 2004). This form of psychotherapy focuses on a patient’s emotional and psychological difficulties due to trauma. Specifically, TFCBT is used ...
Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is a relatively new behavioral therapy method for children with severe behavior issues (Niec, 2005). It was developed in 1988 by Sheila Eyberg (Duffy, 2009). Although there are many child therapies that focus on increasing prosocial behaviors and eliminating asocial behaviors, PCIT is unique in that it focuses on developing mutual parent and child skills in the relationship—both must work diligently for the desire outcome(s). There are 8 to 12 total sessions and recommended booster sessions after at one month, three month, six month, and one year intervals. The therapy focuses on play therapy and disciplinary sessions with the parent and child together (Saunders, 1997). The therapist will coach the parent
"We knew [abuse of] black kids was reported about twice as often as it was for white kids, and we were concerned that that might be due to racism. We also knew black kids, in terms of economics, were facing a lot of problems that most white kids were not facing," said Washington University social work professor Brett Drake. Rates of reported child abuse are disproportionately high for black children. Many researchers believe that poverty is the main reason black children are twice as likely as white children to suffer abuse (Gray 1). In 2012, over 1,600 children died from abuse. Child abuse is a major problem faced in the United States today, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services over 3.3 million reports of child abuse are made in the United States every year. These reports add up to nearly six million children involved in child abuse every year. Of the 702,000 cases of substantiated child abuse in 2009, 44 percent involved white children and 22.3 percent involved black children. Blacks make up 12.4 percent of the country's population; whites, 74.8 percent (Gray). Being that child abuse is against the law it is concerning that child abuse accounts for five deaths per day. It is also the leading killer of children under the age of four. These children have suffered the loss of innocence and have had their child hood stripped away from them. Therapy has a positive effect on African American children who have endured abuse because it allows them to heal through creative therapies, gives the child a safe place to express their feelings, and helps them regain confidence.
Child Abuse is a worldwide issue, children are being abused on a daily basis. Child abuse occurs more often than people think. Child abuse comes in many forms such as: emotional, physi-cal, sexual, neglect, and verbal abuse. In the study by Carpenter, Shattuck, Tyrka, Geracioti, and Price (2011), the reader can see how child abuse can alter the whole way someone looks at the world. Child abuse is a serious problem that affects even the victim 's family or friends. Victims of child abuse show many signs of the trauma they have faced.
Currently, there are many children whom suffer from emotional, physical, and sexual abuse in their family. Emotional abuse is the lack of interest or affection parents have towards their children. As a result of emotional abuse, children are left feeling worthless and unloved. Physical abuse refers to attacking children resulting visible bodily injuries from either being burned, pushed, punched, slapped, or whipped. Sometimes physical abuse can be extremely severe that children have broken bones, fractures, or hemorrhaging. Sexual abuse occurs when a person forces, tricks, or threatens children to have sexual contact. These acts of child abuse could prevent children from living a normal adulthood. In order to deal with such a traumatic childhood, adults abused as children should rid themselves of such burdensome, painful memories.
The primary community resources that could be utilized to help individuals involved in child abuse cases are individual and family counseling, substance abuse treatment, anger management, and parenting classes (Wallace & Roberson, 2014, p. 230). Individual counseling would be offered to help the parent or caregiver work on personal development as it relates to self-exploration and functional behavior. Family counseling would be offered to help build and strengthen family ties. Furthermore, it would be offered to help the family resolve conflicts and improve communication issues. Often in cases of child abuse and neglect, substance abuse is a contributing factor (Wallace & Roberson, 2014, p. 230). Therefore, in cases where substances are being abused, inpatient or outpatient services would be provided. Abusers are typically unable to express their emotions verbally and resort to violence as a way of articulating their feelings (Wallace & Roberson, 2014, p. 230). As a result, anger management would also be an appropriate resource to help abusers learn strategies to channel their anger effectively. Another factor in child abuse cases is parent’s and caregiver’s lack of parenting skills (Hirschy & Wilkinson, 2010, p. 96). Offering this resource is an effective way to provide parents and caregivers methods to care for children properly. In addition, parenting
Ben is an 11-year-old boy who was referred to me by a teacher to assist with his reluctance to attend school. Ben has missed 20 days of school in 2 months and often goes to the nurse’s office and has left school due to feeling “sick”. Ben was check at by a pediatrician, and there are no medical problems that can explain his difficulties. Ben has a very close relationship with his mother, and sleeps in his mother’s bed every night. He avoids activities that would include him interacting with other kids his age, because of his separation anxiety from his mother. Ben’s mother showers with, dresses and undresses him.. She also grooms his hair because she claims it’s difficult to manage because of tangles. Ben is fully capable of self-care in areas
Domestic violence has increased over the years and has become a major issue for the children that live through it. In a study organized by David Wolfe, researchers concluded that from 1990 to 1993, there was an increase of 256,112 child abuse cases (Wolfe11). In a more recent evaluation relating to domestic violence by Louise Gerdes, the U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) made an assessment on Child Protective Services (CPS) and reported that domestic abuse and neglect claimed the lives of 1,760 children in 2007 in comparison to 1,460 in 2005 (Gerdes 129-130). The neglect that these children are put in can only be categorized as child abuse. With all of these abuse cases, one could wonder how this abuse might be carried out against the well-being of the child.
Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is an evidence-based practice in the treatment of emotional and behavioral disorders for young children. This family centered treatment approach emphasizes on improving the quality of the parent-child relationship and changing parent-child interaction patterns. During PCIT, therapists coach parents via one-way mirror while they interact with their child. The therapist teaches the caregiver strategies that will promote positive behaviors in children who have disruptive or externalizing behavior problems (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 1). The use of live- coaching helps the parent gain strategies in the moment, and allows the therapist to see the different dynamics of the parent-child relationship.
Abuse can happen to anyone, at any age, at any time. This is repetitive acts of behavior of wanting to maintain power and have control over someone whether it be through childhood, adolescents, or adulthood. This subject is sensitive as it impacts so many different people around the world. The topic of abuse is not just a family matter, it comes in all forms, such as sexual, emotional, and physical. Abuse is accompanied by the long term emotional tolls, especially on children because their brains are still developing and can take abuse harder than others. One question to ask, is how does one overcome abuse? As children and adolescents develop, how do they function emotionally and physically? These traumatic experiences that happen through
In past few years, there are many countries that developed different programs and plans for intervention in child abuse and neglect. But, some of them fail to reach the goal. When there is contact with family or client, at this moment this is intervention. Effective prevention and early intervention services can make a difference when provided at the right time. Intervention is all about time, matter of weeks. In fact, at this critical period you can achieve a progress that is not even equivalent up to 3 years of case treatment and management. Intervention methods are just putting a bandage on the issue of child abuse and neglect (Mathieson, Reynolds, & Topizes, 2009).
As a human service professional, there will be times when it is necessary to become involved with cases that surround abuse and or neglect. The types and classes of people that we will provide services for will be a mixture of different cultures, situations, and circumstance surrounding the abuse. In the scenario presented, a teacher has referred a set of twin students to the human services professional who must intervene in a situation of abuse. The father is known throughout the community to make threats, which causes concern about the safety of the worker and the child. The topic of discussion of this paper will focus on prevention methods and interventions.
Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is an evidence-based intervention for families with disruptive children. Based on attachment theory and social learning theory, the PCIT modality views problems as a result of mutual interactions between parents and children resulting in a desire for control of actions (Zisser & Eyberg, 2010). In an effort to correct these maladaptive interactions, PCIT theorists understand change as occurring as a result of a modification in the parent’s behavior and ultimately through the adoption of an Authoritative parenting style (Zisser & Eyberg, 2010). Through a review of treatment components, theoretical background, and the literature behind PCIT, this family based intervention will be explored and the clinical
Family therapy approach would be beneficial for families who are affected by substance abuse, divorce, custody battles and more. I will relate this therapy approach to my childhood. My parents always fought. They simply could not raise their children without fighting and the result of the fighting was substance abuse. My mother is an alcoholic and my father is an avid pill taker.
Today child neglect is the largest part of child abuse in the United States, and almost two-thirds of all reported cases in child protective services is neglect (Dubowitz). Before the 1970’s child abuse mostly referred to physical abuse; however, now it encompasses physical, emotional, and sexual abuse as well as neglect (Compton’s). Physical abuse is when a child is hurt by getting hit, punched, kicked, or any other form of beating by an adult (Compton’s). This abuse will only harm the child physically and though it is horrific and can lead to long term effects it will normally only lead to violence. Emotional abuse is when an adult is hateful to the child by calling him names, and another form of emotional abuse is when an adult is punishing a child in a way that will cause him mental trauma (Compton’s). Emotional abuse is terrible for the child’s self-esteem however they can go and learn that they are important to the world by their contributions. Sexual abuse is when a child is touched inappropriately or molested (Compton’s). This is detrimental to a child but in most cases the child will block this out for when they grow older it is like it never happened which will cause no harm to their mental state. Neglect is when an adult will not seek medical help for their child and will not provide them with food, shelter, clothing, or emotional support (Sullivan). This is where the real trauma takes place on a child. The child will not suffer from being hit but they suffer from starving until someone is kind enough to feed them or they die from malnutrition. The child will not suffer from a parent calling them names but they might never know if their parent knows their name or cares to even speak to th...