Childhood abuse, neglect, and trauma are a worldwide issue, affecting more than 800,000 children just in the United States. Childhood abuse has been defined as any treatment that is willfully or unreasonably done to a child that causes physical injury, emotional injury, or any injury to the health and wellbeing of the child. The effects of maltreatment can last long into adulthood, and can include anxiety, depression, dissociation, intrusive thoughts, impulsivity, and later on the development of posttraumatic stress disorder. Child maltreatment can have many forms, including trauma, either viewing or involved in, sexual abuse, prenatal alcohol syndrome, moral jeopardy, and neglect. According to the U.S. DHHS Children’s Bureau, 906,000 cases of child maltreatment were validated, approximately 60% were neglected, 20% were physically abused, 10% were sexually abused, and 5% were emotionally abused (Hyter, 2007). Although the number of cases are large, the United Nations determined in 2001, that due to those who are afraid to report, or are unaware of the abuse, orders a study to determine worldwide global issue. Drinking during …show more content…
pregnancy not only affects the fetus negatively, but is also considered maltreatment. Studies have shown that children who live in households where the abuse of alcohol is present, especially at prenatal stages, are two to three times more likely to abuse alcohol later in life than those who are not exposed to alcohol. Fetal alcohol syndrome disorder is a spectrum of disorders that are characterized by fetal alcohol syndrome, and alcohol related neurodevelopmental disorders. FAS consist of growth deficiencies, certain facial phenotypes, as well as developmental disorders whereas ARND is characterized as delays, or disorders in many developmental areas. Complex trauma exposure occurs when multiple traumatic experiences occur within the caregivers system. Complex trauma affects the safety and stability with the child’s life, and can include emotional and physical abuse, sexual abuse, as well as witnessing domestic violence. In a study performed utilizing the Vineland-II Adaptive Behavior Scale, researchers performed a descriptive study using 57 children, 27 boys and 30 girls. 19 of the children were in foster care, 38 children were in adoptive families, with ages ranging from 2 to 18, and a variety of ethnic background. In order for the subject to be involved, children had to complete a Vineland-II, meet DSM-IV-R criteria for reactive attachment disorder, meet the impairment of seven domains, including attachment, biology, affect regulation, dissociation, behavioral control, cognition, and self-concept. The Vineland-II assesses adaptive behavior, average score is indicated as below 18, elevated scores, 18 to 10, or 84%, and clinically significant, 21 to 24, 98%. The maladaptive behavior index indicate that older children, mean age of 14, with a score of 67.7% indicating the older group shows significantly more difficulties in socialization, and adaptive behavioral functioning, whereas younger children, mean age of 5.75, had a score of 78.8%. Theory of mind is the understanding of others beliefs and their state on mind. ToM reinforces effective communication as well as social relationships. A study performed on children, consisting of 105 Australian children where 52 had experienced maltreatment at some point, and 23 who were not maltreated, tested individually on ToM test. These test include false belief test, first-order false belief total score, belief emotion test, second order false belief task, ToM scale tasks, spontaneous use of cognitive verbs, language ability, maltreatment coding, as well as onset of maltreatment, and duration of maltreatment. Based on the results, the authors of the study decided to take children from age 7.5 years and younger. There was a huge gap that emerged between maltreated and the control group, where the maltreated group passed fewer tests than their peers in the control group. There are also indications indicating sever delays of ToM understanding in children from ages 4 to 12, that emerge clearly on the total false belief as well as the advanced belief based emotion. ToM does increase with age, yet, the results indicate that maltreated children develop ToM at a slower pace than non-abused children. The study also showed that abused children also are known to hide their emotions, a more advanced level of ToM, maybe impart due to needing to hide emotion at home, although it also shows that maltreated children also have a difficult time predicting others facial cues and emotions. The encoding of traumatic events into the memory works the same as encoding positive events into the memory. Although there are some who believe in repression, a defense mechanism children use to prevent memories from coming back, studies show that children abused physically and sexually can be recalled. The continued stress maltreatment puts on brain development in children has shown a decreased myelination in children, especially in males who suffer from PTSD. “Children with maltreatment-related PTSD, particularly males, have been shown to have smaller corpus callosum” (Howe, Cicchetti, & Toth, 2006). There is also evidence of decreased cerebral volume as well as frontal cortices, and reduced right temporal lobe volumes in children who have been maltreated, leading to decreased neurological development. With this decrease, it is easy to see that maltreated children are affected into adulthood. In a study performed by Kaiser Permanente’s Health Appraisal Clinic in San Diego, the health of adults who were maltreated as children and those who were not maltreated, were examined. Out of over 6000 subjects, with an average age of 55 years, those who were maltreated as children were found to have a lower quality of health resulting in a marginal decrease in “at least 2 years of undiscounted quality-adjusted life expectancy” (Edwards Corso, 1998) compared to those who were not maltreated. The differences between the two groups also diminished as they became older, around 70 years of age. Looking at the evidence of child maltreatment, the effects of neglect, sexual abuse, physical abuse, as well as trauma, can start prenatally and have lasting effects through adult hood. Across cultures, physical abuse has been used as a discipline tool for parents, those parents do not understand the negative effects not only on the emotional development of a child, but also on the development of the child’s brain. Results of these studies are an important first step towards economic evaluations. These evaluations can be used by policy makers to determine the effects of intervention on both the length of life as well as the quality of life. Evaluations, such as these, can also help those policy makers determine the best, cost effective interventions to prevent childhood maltreatment, as well as treatment. With increased research on the developmental effects of childhood maltreatment, we are able to determine treatment for these children.
Starting from a young age, children can learn sensory and self-regulation, followed by social interactions. Educators will be able to develop a better understanding of the student’s level of adaptive functioning, instead of where the child should be at their age. Educators will also be able to determine that the defiant behavior the student is expressing could be from lack of understanding. Educators and professionals will also be able to provide therapeutic interventions to help children develop perspectives of others. They can teach the child how to interpret what others are thinking and feeling by facial expressions, and teach children that others can have different thoughts and
intentions.
Psychological maltreatment is also often referred to interchangeably as emotional or mental abuse. This refers to any form of maltreatment that can be categorized as an individual being subjected to the activities of another individual that frequently result in any form of mental trauma of the victim. Psychological maltreatment can be seen as one of the most serious and slightly overlooked problems in modern society (Lesson & Nixon, 2010). In general, psychological maltreatment is considered any kind of abuse that is emotional opposed to physical in nature. Nevertheless, there is much controversy regarding the true definition and consequences of psychological maltreatment. As of now, psychological maltreatment is one of the most difficult forms of maltreatment to detect and
Childhood maltreatment is defined as emotional or physical maltreatment and sexual abuse that has the potential to cause harm to a child (The relation) while childhood adversity refers to physical or emotional acts that may be potentially harmful to a child’s development (Relationship). Both have similar effects in that they have been found to increase the risk of the development of a psychotic disorder and psychotic symptoms in adults. Childhood maltreatment has been proven to increase the risk of developing depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia in adults. The studies observed in this paper will help to understand if childhood maltreatment and adversity has any effect on the social functioning of people diagnosed with psychotic disorders,
A silent epidemic in America is the all too common childhood exposure to interpersonal traumatic stressors (D’Andrea, Ford, Stolbach, Spinazzola, & van der Kolk, 2012). Approximately 6.6 million children were reported to Child Protective Services (CPS) in 2014 with alleged abuse or neglect (ACF, 2014). Parents are the culprit of eighty percent of all children who endure maltreatment (van der Kolk, 2005). According to Fratto (2016), maltreatment is abuse and/ or neglect by a parent or caregiver. Children who have been exposed to emotional and physical abuse, neglect, sexual abuse, or witness to war can affect the development of a secure attachment between the child and caregiver (Cook et al., 2005). Evidence shows children
The mistreatment of children is classified by four types of actions: physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse, and neglect. Although, in recent years several steps have been taken to prevent the maltreatment of children it seems that child abuse is still prevalent in today's society. Countless children around the world suffer from some form of abuse and in many cases the same child experiences more than one. There is no exact number of victims because it difficult to measure the exact amount of children going through abuse. Child abuse almost always occurs in private, and because abuse is often hidden from view and its victims may be too young or too frightened to speak out, experts in child welfare suggest that its true prevalence
Child abuse in general is quite complex and at the same time one of the most challenging social issue facing people all around the USA. Child abuse cases have been recorded in all the states of the USA. The cases occur in all areas be it cities, small towns, suburbs, and even in rural areas. The vice also happens in all types of families regardless of the ethnic origin of the family or the even family income (UNICEF, 2015). It is thus important that effort is put into reducing cases of child abuse.
Laws that protect children against maltreatment should exist globally, and harsh consequences for those who break the laws. There should also be centres where abused children can be helped, providing shelter and medical help for those injured. To help reduce cases where children are forced to work to support their families, financial aid should be provided which would allow children to go to school, while their families are still supported.
Child maltreatment can affect any child, usually aged 0-18, and it occurs across socioeconomic, religious, ethnic or even educational backgrounds. Arguably, child abuse and neglect is a violation of basic human rights of a child resulting from social, familial, psychological and economic factors (Kiran, 2011). Familial factors include lack of support, poverty, single parenthood, and domestic violence among others, (McCoy and Keen, 2009). The common types of child maltreatment include physical abuse, emotional maltreatment, neglect, and sexual abuse among others. Abuse and neglect can lead to a variety of impacts on children and young people such as physical, behavioral as well as psychological consequences which will affect the development and growth of the child either positively or negatively based on the environment and agency. More so, emotional, cognitive and physical developmental impacts from child neglect in the early stages of childhood can be carried on into adulthood. Research findings reveal that the experience of maltreatment can cause major long-term consequences on all aspects of a child’s health, growth as well as intellectual development and mental wellbeing, and these effects can impair their functioning as adults. Commonly, the act of abuse/ or neglect toward a child affects the child’s physical, behavioral development and growth, which can be positive or negative, depending on the child’s environment and agency. Another way to understand how the act has affected the child is to look at the child for who they are, and interviewing and observing their behaviors of their everyday life.
We’ll start with child abuse victims and the affects and reasons of this abuse. There are four types of child abuse and I will list them in order from least to greatest, neglect, physical, sexual and emotional abuse. Neglect takes first with the NCVS having 54% reports of child neglect in 2007. Neglect is a very serious form of abuse it is the failure for a parent or guardian to provide for a child’s basic needs, including physical and educational needs. We grow and development drastically in the first twelve years of our life so when parental guidance and love is absent it affects a child’s developmental skills along with learning right from wrong. Many forms of neglect occur in larger households and with households with domestic violence. Many parents with multiple kids become too busy focusing on the older children they tend to forget the youngest one. So it’s common for a three year old to walk out of the front door and on to the street when no one is there to tell him or...
In our world today many children are experiencing child abuse. When it comes to child abuse it can be shown in many forms such as, physical, sexual or emotional maltreatment or neglect of a child or children. Child abuse is divided into four different categories which are physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect. For the many American that experiences some types of abuse can suffer from longs term and short term effects throughout their life time. On average, 2000 children a year die from child abuse or neglect in the United States and is estimated that that figure is actually much higher (Jelic Tuscic, 25). It has still been very difficult to define how widespread sexual and emotional abuse because
Child abuse is a worldwide problem that is yet to be fixed. Child abuse or in other words maltreatment comes in all different forms, from emotional, sexual abuse, or neglect. Child maltreatment is a serious problem that can have long lasting harmful effects on its victim’s. More than one third of the country’s population, which is around 440 million children suffer from abuse each year, according to a study on child abuse by Ministry of Women and Children Development.
With four million adolescent in the United States assessed to have encountered no less than one traumatic occasion, childhood trauma has turned into a pressing open wellbeing concern. A traumatic occasion can include interpersonal occasions, for example, physical or sexual misuse, war, group roughness, disregard, abuse, loss of a guardian, seeing brutality or encountering trauma vicariously; it can likewise come about because of extreme or life- undermining wounds, sickness and mischances. The immediate and aberrant expenses connected with Child abuse alone make it among the most-immoderate open wellbeing issues in the United States. In the light of national overviews of youth in the United States, 14-34 percent of kids have encountered no
Across the United States childhood trauma effects many youths and negatively impacts their well-being, cognitive functioning, and academic success (Brunzell, Waters, Stokes). Because of these effects it can lead to decreased IQ’s, reading ability, lower grade point average, decreased rates of high school graduation, increased expulsions, and suspensions (Child Trauma Toolkit for Educators, 2008). Children that have been exposed to childhood trauma struggle with self-regulation and maintaining healthy relationships (Brunzell, Waters, Stokes). Due to psychological trauma, success in academic achievement has become a barrier for many children because of their cognitive, social, and emotional development (Brunzell, Waters, Stokes). Childhood trauma effects students on how they may act within the classroom such as, failing to understand directions, over reacting to comments or criticism from teachers and or peers, loud noises, physical contact, environmental cues,
Child abuse is a sore subject, but according to an Adverse Childhood Experiences Study, it is more common than most would like to admit, “Every year more than 3.6 million referrals are made to child protection agencies involving more than 6.6 million children” . Across the world, children are constantly being mistreated, abused, and neglected. This leads to mental health problems not only later in life, but also as a child. Mental Health problems are not as common in children as they are in adults, making it difficult for other children to process their differences, only adding to their struggles. Child abuse can, and often does, go hand-in-hand with neglect.
A few moments in childhood could take a lifetime to recover from “You’re an idiot!” “Why can you not do anything right?” “You are so fat and lazy.” “If you do not get your chores done, I will kick your ass!” Emotional abuse occurs in one out of every ten children (Banqueri, Mendez, Arias, 2016).
Child abuse is a very serious problem that continues to happen all over the world. The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, defines child abuse as a failure to act as a parent or caregiver which results in physical/emotional harm, sexual abuse, and in some cases death. There are many different types of child abuse such as emotional, physical, neglect, and sexual. With each type of abuse there are warning signs you can spot before it is too late. When a child is abused there is a huge possibility that it can cause them to have many long term effects.