Child Maltreatment Analysis

Child maltreatment is a preventable public health problem. Research has demonstrated that neighborhood structural factors (e.g. poverty, crime) can influence the proportion of a neighborhood’s children who are victims of maltreatment. A newer strategy is the identi- fication of potentially modifiable social processes at the neighborhood level that can also influence maltreatment. Toward this end, this study examines neighborhood-level data (maltreatment cases substantiated by Illinois’ child protection agency, 1995–2005, social processes measured by the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, U.S. Census data, proportions of neighborhoods on public assistance, and crime data) that were linked across clusters of contiguous, relatively

In 2013 an estimated 679,000 children were victims of maltreatment and approximately 3.1 million children received help from Childhood Protective Services in the United States alone. Abuse or neglect can be categorized as maltreatment, which takes many different forms from physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, and parental neglect. It is accepted that childhood maltreatment has lasting effects as the victims grow into adults. One example of these effects is behavioral

Child maltreatment, also referred to as child maltreatment and neglect, includes all the various forms of abuse ranging from physical, emotional and sexual abuse to neglect and exploitation. This type of abuse can result in the potential or actual harm to a child's health, there development and dignity.

A person who is physically abused reacts in society differently then others. The way a person interact socially molds the way society accepts and works with them. Teisl and Cicchetti (2008) study showed that children who are maltreated are more aggressive and disruptive them those who are not maltreated. People develop the basis how is it appropriate to act in society at a young age. When trauma takes place, like physical abuse, it disrupts the process. Some research done on students in high school has shown that the abuse had lower effectiveness. This may mean that the students are able to develop effective coping skills or that the full effects have not yet emerged (Kamsner & McCabe, 2000). It was made known

Within the United States, child maltreatment is becoming more and more commonly reported as there is over 3 million reports each year. Due to the constant increase of child maltreatment reports, society has become more aware of the issue, which has led to awareness campaigns. (Payne, 87). Even with societies’ knowledge of such abuse there are still serval child maltreatment cases that are not reported. The children that are victims of maltreatment pertains any sort of harm to the child whether it is by injury, neglect, physical, emotional, or even sexual abuse by someone who holds a major role in the child’s life, a parent or guardian figure (“What is Child Abuse”).

Child maltreatment is characterized as “all intentional harm to, or avoidable endangerment of, anyone under 18 years of age” (Berger, 2014, pp. 236). Subtypes of child maltreatment includes child abuse (intentional harm inflicted on a child physically, emotionally, or sexually) and child neglect (failure to provide physical, educational or emotional needs) (Berger, 2014). Lower socioeconomic status (SES) and dysfunctional families can increases the risk for child maltreatment (Harpur, Polek, & van Harmelen, 2015). Additional circumstances that can increase the risk for child maltreatment is low maternal education, single-parenthood, non-biological caregivers, and parental substance abuse (Harpur et al, 2015). In 2012, in the United States,

Child maltreatment is a term that covers a broad spectrum of child mistreatment including, child abuse (physical, sexual, and emotional) and child neglect (emotional and physical). Long term effects of child maltreat vary depending on the severity of the abuse or neglect and the length of time that the child is exposed to the abuse (i.e. if it is a onetime event or ongoing chronic exposure). As Greeson, et al. (2011), points out, child maltreatment experiences tend to be both chronic and multifaceted, creating multiple long term consequences for adult survivors.

Child maltreatment is not a new social problem for the United States however, child maltreatment remains to be a substantial social problem that continues to draw the attention of legislators at the federal and state level, the child welfare system, and society as a whole. Child maltreatment includes the unthinkable act of physical, sexual, or emotional abuse inflicted on a child by a parent or caregiver which results in harm, potential for harm, or threat of harm to a minor child. In addition to abuse, child maltreatment includes neglect of a child by a parent or caregiver. The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) guides the response and treatment to the increasingly recognized issue of child abuse and neglect experienced by children

In the US alone nearly “3 million children experience some form of maltreatment” (Spinazzola, Hidgdon, Ford, Briggs, Liang, Layne, Pynoos, Stolbach, Kisiel, 2014 p. S19). The maltreatment of children is an issue that is happening around the world. Most people think about physical abuse being the most common form of maltreatment; however, emotional abuse accounts for “36%” ( Spinazzola et al 2014 p. S19) , and emotional neglect accounts for “52%”(Spinazzola et al 2014 p. S19) of identified child maltreatment cases. Most studies look at how abuse and neglect impacts children in many emotional and behavioral ways; meanwhile, nothing is changing when it comes to their recovery. Most maltreated children will

The maltreatment of children occurs at extraordinarily increasing proportions and is becoming a significant health risk to the children it is happening to. One of the major public health concerns should be identifying the risk factors associated with the maltreatment of these children and the just how much resistance these children really have against this abuse. Regardless of how much elasticity the general public in a whole may think these children have against maltreatment, they are still at a major risk of having diminished or compromised psychological and physical health later in life as an adult and are also are at extreme risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Children who were not subject to maltreatment are still

Out-of-home care (OOHC) refers to the care of children who are unable to live with their families, usually because they have been subjected to maltreatment, or are at risk of maltreatment (CFCA, 2015a). It has been shown that childhood maltreatment can have significant psychological and physiological effects on childhood development across multiple key domains, including cognitive, social-emotional, academic, and language (Perry, 2002; Perry, 2009; CFCA, 2014). In addition, numerous studies have shown that children who have suffered maltreatment are at a higher risk of experiencing speech and language delays than other children (Arora, Kaltner & Williams, 2014; Nathanson & Tzioumi, 2007; Chambers, Saunders, New, Williams & Stachurska, 2010).

In keeping with evolving understanding of child maltreatment from research and clinical experience, Belsky (1993) expanded this ecological perspective and introduced a developmental-ecological analysis of child maltreatment. This approach included the “developmental context”, the “immediate interactional context”, and “the broader context”. Belsky made a distinction stating that aspects within the child, innate and or biological, play a role in the child’s experience of maltreatment and developmental dysfunction. These include aspects such as the child’s age, health and behaviors. Belsky further determined that parent-child interaction was a key factor related to child maltreatment and occurred within the immediate interactional context. Concurrently, community,

Neglected children can lead to harmful effects to their brains. It is shown that children that who have been exposed to trauma, it causes damage that researchers have pinpointed to toxic stress (Texas Tech University). In addition, the constant worrying for themselves and others derive from their past experiences, which drain much of their mental abilities. The trauma can be so bad that it alters their cognitive abilities as well as their ability to function, which in turn reaches the point where trauma-affected behavior cannot be unlearned (Jackowski). Neglection from adults bring up children to be hateful and aggressive as they grow and cease their ability to function.

Plenty of past research support the claim that maltreatment during childhood alter the physiological makeup of the brain, which in turn affect the individual’s memory processing. Hart and Rubia (2012) define child maltreatment as an act or series of acts by a primary caregiver that results in harm to a child, and it consists of four categories: physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect.

Child abuse and neglect have immediate and long-term consequences. In addition to negatively impacting the child, child abuse and neglect impacts the family, the school community, and even future generations. The ability to survive and be successful in the face of child abuse and neglect depends on a variety of factors, including the extent and type of abuse or neglect, whether it was continual or infrequent, the age of the child when abuse was initiated, the child’s relationship to the abuser, and how the abuse or neglect was responded to. Outcomes are also dependent on the child’s personality traits, inner strength, and the support the child receives from those around them. It is important to acknowledge that some children will not develop behavioral problems, so it cannot be assumed that a