Child Maltreatment And Its Effects On Children

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

The conceptualisation of the long-term effects of child maltreatment reflects the surrounding circumstances which expose child abuse as a common event. Childhood abuse is a growing epidemic which evokes extreme emotional responses both privately and publicly and is viewed as a risk factor for an extensive variety of consequent problems. 2014 demonstrated that over 137,585 child abuse cases involving 99,210 Australian children were investigated (Australian Institute of Family Studies 2015). Abuse is categorised into neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse and emotional abuse. Contrary to the implied supposition that emotional abuse is less injurious in comparison to sexual and physical abuse, emotional abuse ranked as the most commonly substantiated harm type in Victoria, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Australia Capital Territory (AIFS 2015). Childhood abuse occurs throughout a period where complex and ordered changes occur within a child’s physiological, psychological and sociological being. The following report will accentuate how the state of flux instigated by childhood abuse leaves children susceptible harmful consequences that will pervert or prevent a normal developmental procedure. Through psychological and physiological wellbeing, adult delinquency and the effects on different genders readers will be able to identify the harmful consequences childhood abuse places on victims and survivors.

The maltreatment of children affects many areas are including that child’s genes, nervous system, and brain; another area that is indirectly affected by a child’s maltreatment is our society.

Child maltreatment has been a serious public health problem not just in the United States but globally. Maltreatment is defined as neglect which means failure to provide for a child’s basic physical, educational, or psychological needs. Physical abuse such as causing physical harm, sexual abuse, abuse that includes fondling a child’s genitals or breasts, and psychological abuse, such as verbal put-downs and other behavior that terrorizes, threatens, rejects or isolates the child. “According to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), in 2007 approximately 794,000 children (10.6 per 1,000 children of all ages) were identified as victims of child abuse or neglect. Approximately one-half (46.1%) of all victims were non-Hispanic white, 21.7% were African American, and 20.8% were Hispanic. One-third (31.9%) were under the age of 4 years.” (Gross, 2010)

Every year, within Australia, the number of children who are removed from the care of their parents and placed into government regulated care continues to grow significantly. For these children, maltreatment (or the risk of maltreatment), in the form of abuse or neglect within the family home result in the need for them to be relocated to alternative care arrangements, more commonly referred to as out-of-home care (OOHC). The research which investigates the effects of maltreatment on children, conclusively shows that experiencing trauma and/or neglect during childhood can result in considerable physiological and psychological effects on development across multiple key domains, such as cognitive, social-emotional, academic, and language

The maltreatment of children within the United States is an unfortunate but evident issue that presents some very detrimental consequences for the victims. Victims of child maltreatment typically suffer from both short-term and long-term consequences, resulting from the negligence of their parents. Across the nation techniques and measures have been taken in order to prevent the advancement of child abuse within high-risk homes, although despite these efforts sometimes it is too late for the child and the damage is too extensive for them to recover completely.

The author of this book ,Stuart was abused by his step father that almost ruined his life and ended up in hospital, but in this book he writes about how he survived the

The first step in preventing future sufferings is understanding the problem. Sara R. Jaffee and Cindy W. Christian, in their article, “ The Biological Embedding of Child Abuse and Neglect Implications for Policy and Practice” inform that child maltreatment often causes serious implications later in life, and can be explained by medical and psychological responses. Jaffee and Christian support this suggestion with studies and experiments conducted on adults with neglected pasts that show that “Victims of maltreatment differ from non-victims with respect to brain structure and function, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-(HPA) axis and autonomic nervous system function, immune function, and epigenetic markers”(Jaffee and Cindy 1). Jaffee and Cindy’s purpose is to inform readers of the medical and scientific explanations of the long term effects of child maltreatment in order to allow others to better understand the dire need to help the children suffering from maltreatment.

From a historical perspective, child maltreatment has varied in form depending the time and place and the standing of which children hold within family and society. Child maltreatment as defined by the, includes physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, in addition to neglect (National Institution, 2011). Early childhood experiences create the basis for expression of intelligence, emotions, and personality (National Institution, 2011). When these experiences are predominantly negative, the stage is set for emotional, developmental, and behavioral problems that persist throughout life. Studies have shown that the brains of children who have experienced long-lasting abuse and neglect remain in a state of "hyper-arousal" or anticipation of forthcoming danger. This hyper-arousal may affect learning and the ability to form emotional bonds with others (National Institution, 2011). In the book Children and criminality, Flowers give a historical background of child maltreatment leading to his findings of how the treatment of children was and is based on seven distinct premises; (1) the value of children in a given time and place (2) how they fit into the structure of society; (3) religious beliefs and superstitions; (4) exploitation; (5) societal ideology; (6) economic stresses; and (7) psychological and societal induced stresses (Flowers, 1986).

The topic of child maltreatment is a serious subject, and is important because maltreatment can hinder cognitive, biological, and social development. This topic has a large impact on caregivers of maltreated children. This information is relevant because it can help individuals in understand and interact with those who were maltreated in childhood. For example, maltreated children have lower rates of prosocial behavior, and exhibit withdrawn and aggressive/disruptive behavior (Alink, Cicchetti, Kim, & Rogosch, 2012). By knowing this information, caregivers can find more effective ways of communicating and interacting with maltreated children. Additionally, maltreatment occurs more frequently than we think. In a nationwide survey of young adult,

Child abuse is considered socially unacceptable, unfortunately it happens every day. The effects from childhood maltreatment are long lasting and potentially life threatening. Childhood maltreatment is an act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or other care giver that results in harm, potential for harm, or threat of harm to a child (Saha, 2012, p. 213). Child abuse acts are committed behind closed doors and lack the necessary attention they need to be prevented. Research has shown that the acts of abuse do not stop behind closed doors. Maltreatment of a child causes effects such as; relationship violence, suicidal behaviors, and repercussions to the brains structure and function.

Maltreatment in children is described in four different forms those are physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, or neglect (Taylor et al., 2016). Roughly 700,000children are victims of abuse or neglect, (Child Abuse Statistics - American SPCC, 2016). Children who experience maltreatment often lack the ability to form secure attachments, because their abuse is often at the hand of immediate family members or close friends, (Child Abuse Statistics - American SPCC," 2016). When the abuser is the mother, the child often learns to become an abuser or exhibits aggressive behavior during their adolescents and adulthood, (Ellenbogen, Trocmé, & Wekerle, 2013). In addition to the possibility of becoming an abuser or an aggressor when children

If child maltreatment could be reduced, the prevalence of mental disorders, drug use, suicide attempts, sexually transmitted infections and risky sexual behavior would decrease, which is my second hypothesis (Norman et al., 2012). It would also be beneficial to strengthen child protection systems in school and the community so people can learn how to identify and be aware of the warning signs of child maltreatment (Jewkes et al., 2010). In addition, there should be more services to children who are recovering from child maltreatment to help with their emotional and psychological needs (Jewkes et al., 2010).

In addressing child abuse we are confronted with a series of problems. On the one hand, there is a lack of the true extent of the phenomenon because no data are available and that the issue, often refers to the most intimate spaces of family life. Furthermore, cultural and historical traditions affect the way each society faces this problem. Finally, there are varying opinions as to its definition and classification, as well as the consequences of child abuse may have and its subsequent therapeutic management.

One million children in forty- eight states were victims of substantiated child abuse and neglect in 1994 (Child - Abuse Prevention 1). Out of all the abuse allegations in 2000 only 879,000 cases were able to be proved. Which approximately 1200 children died as a result of child abuse or neglect and forty-four percent of these were younger than one years old. Defenseless children are severely abused constantly every year across the United States, leaving life -long negative effects on their futures. By educating our youth about the impact their words and physical abuse can cause someone, our future generations will have an understanding of why they should handle their aggression.