Child Maltreatment In Adulthood

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 abuse or child maltreatment is a major public health concern. Child abuse does not only affect the family it occurs in, but also society at large through significant financial and

There are negative mental health consequences in adulthood due to traumatic events in childhood, (Mock & Arai, 2010) as trauma can increase the risk of many psychiatric disorders ( Alim et al.,2008). There are socioeconomic disadvantages resulting from ACEs (Mock & Arai, 2010) and studies have also found ACEs to be associated with negative effects on physical health in adulthood, including obesity, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes (Youssef et al., 2017). However, studies have repeatedly shown that not all children exposed to abuse or trauma experience adverse consequences, National Scientific Council on the

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”).

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 safety and security of many children across the world are in danger due to physical abuse. Child abuse has been linked to an assortment of changes in the brain which result in psychological, behavioral, and academic problems. While it is unclear whether the population that had been maltreated as children is accurate, physical maltreatment in the first 5 years of life places a child at risk for a variety of psychological and behavioral problems during adolescence. The following three literature reviews attempts to prove and support the premise.

There are significant signs of psychological trauma due to any kind of abuse. Children experience feelings of low self esteem and depression. Many exhibit behavioral problems including aggression towards other children. Other emotional problems include hostility, fear, humiliation and the inability to express feelings. The social impacts of physical abuse include inability to form relationships, poor social skills, poor cognitive language skills, distrust of others, over-compliance with authority figures, and tendency to solve interpersonal problems with aggression. (2008, p. 1). Verbal and physical abuse has a cumulative impact on children’s socialization. Abused children are caught in damaged relationships and are not socialized in positive, supportive way (Craig & Dunn, Ex.: 2010, p. 196). They learn defiance, manipulation and other problem behaviors that are used to escape any maltreatment. In turn they will learn to exploit, degrade and terrorize.

Each year in the USA there are approximately one million reports of child maltreatment, about 25% relate to physical abuse and about 1000 children die of maltreatment each year (US Department of Health and Human Services 1999). During the past few decades, researchers have aimed at detecting the children, who are at high risk of becoming victims of abuse, so that appropriate interventions can be undertaken. The risk factors that have been emphasized include characteristics of the child, family, and social environment, and the relationship.

Childhood trauma is one of the most heartbreaking situations to ever fathom happening. Childhood trauma includes neglect, maltreatment, physical and emotional abuse, and many other forms of mistreatment amongst children. Childhood trauma occurs between the ages of 0 and 6 years of age. When referencing to childhood trauma, one must take thought into who commits the abuse, who is affected by the abuse, and what long term effects can the abuse have on the victims. One must also take into consideration the sex differences when referring to childhood trauma. Numerous of studies have been conducted and many findings have been made. Prior to conducting this research paper, I only considered childhood trauma to be what it was and never considered the long term effects. Because of my assumption, I never even considered the other categories of the trauma.

Children in our society today are negatively impacted by the behavior, parental guidance, and rearing of their parents, which can be described as maltreatment. Maltreatment is known worldwide as a variety of types of abuse and neglect that include sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect, educational neglect, and emotional neglect (Regoli, Hewitt, & Delisi, 2014). Interestingly, these forms of abuse and neglect cause the children to develop feelings of low self-esteem and feelings of aggressiveness that result in negative health outcomes in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Research shows that negative outcomes are linked to child maltreatment that includes a worsened general physical health, elevated levels of risky

Bellis and Zisk (2014).This article is about how childhood trauma effects psychosocial, medical, and public policy. When trauma happens in a child's developmental stage, it creates overwhelming stress. Chronic intrapersonal violence is extremely common in children all over the world. The article says that childhood traumas is a fairly new study, so there is not as much information about traumas as adolescents versus adults. The authors goals is to show the long and short term effect on children after these traumatic experiences.

Maltreated children are at increased risk for suffering from psychological disorders throughout their lifespan (CDC, 2014; Draper, Pfaff, Snowdon, & Lautenschlager, 2008; Fitzpatrick, Carr, Dooley, Flanagan-Howard,

If trauma occurs, especially in the early years of childhood, the disturbance could limit the child’s “developmental possibilities” in multiple facets of life that incorporates personal, familial, cultural, and ecological realms (Paris, 2012, p. 84). Further, this could lead to future re-victimization, and the misdiagnosis and

However, all forms of child abuse carry emotional consequences because the child's psychological and emotional development inevitably suffers from all forms of abuse. An intervention model that would focus on emotional abuse could also focus on preventing other forms of abuse because violent behavior towards children often comes from the same underlying causes, and most risk factors for child maltreatment are associated with caregiver, family, and environmental factors (McDonald, 2007). With this in mind, a possible solution would have to include early detection, but the intervention would most likely focus on factors that cause all types of child abuse. Despite the widespread occurrences of all forms of abuse, emotional neglect or maltreatment are practically impossible to detect while they occur and impair the child's normal development and social integration. Emotional abuse includes includes verbal, mental, and psychological maltreatment of children, and it is frequently overlooked by the community and mental health professionals who do not define emotional abuse as a suitable factor for diagnostic purposes (as cited in Schneider, Baumrind, & Kimerling, 2007). In reality, emotional abuse is frequently used in many families, it occurs in several worldwide cultures, and it carries significant consequences that should not be overlooked.

Throughout the course of history, millions of children have been victims of physical abuse; it has been shown that the effects of this abuse can profoundly influence ones mental and physical health in the span of his or hers life.