Effects Of Maltreatment On Childhood Brain Development

Child abuse and neglect is a big problem in the United States. Child abuse is sexual, physical, emotional, and even verbal maltreatment towards the children. When food, clothing, and shelter is not provided this is termed neglect. Many children in the United States are abused and neglected by parents, grandparents, guardians, and friends of the family. Many children suffer abuse such as beating, starved,

          There are many different types of child abuse. There is maltreatment and sexual abuse. Maltreatment is an area that encompasses many different things, such as physical abuse, child neglect, and emotional abuse. Physical abuse may begin with “shaken – baby syndrome” and

However, Cognitive-behavioral therapy is one of the most well-known theories that has been used to help the victims of maltreatment. Between 2005 and 2006, over one million reports of child maltreatment; to include neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse was reported (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). In children the effects of maltreatment result in several psychological disorders to include depression, anxiety, PTSD and other behavioral issues whether it happened once or repeatedly.

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.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 3.3 million referrals for alleged maltreatment were made in 2013. Out of the 3.3 million referrals, 899,000 children were officially documented as being maltreated(Child Abuse & Neglect 2015). Child abuse is the mistreatment of a child. Child abuse is recognized in several forms; physical, emotional, sexual and neglect. Children who experience any form of abuse will tend to withdraw themselves from their peers and sometimes from other family members who are not aware of what is taking place. Child abuse occurs not just in the homes of these children, but can also occur in schools, churches and after school programs. Anywhere a child is present there is a chance that abuse can

Secondly, stress falls on describing and classifying child abuse and its prevalence in children under six years of age. After a brief outline of the areas in which a victim is challenged, focus shifts onward to specific emotional and social drawbacks that ensue. A more in-depth account of this matter follows, enlisting Alan Schore's right-brain correlations, an analysis based on the phenomenon of dissociation, and other probable prospects for the victim.

There were 4 million reports of child maltreatment in the United States involving more than seven million children. (child abuse and neglect) There are different types of neglect/abuse. The three main types are Physical abuse, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse. Foster children tend to come from broken homes.

Childhood trauma affects many brain systems. The stress response system and its cosystems pay the greatest toll when a child experiences chronic threat. Taking a closer look at the

In 2006, an estimated 905,000 children were victims of child abuse or neglect. Statistically, the amount of children that suffer from such abuse is 1 in 10. Younger children are the most vulnerable to the maltreatment that is performed by their parents or guardians. Over 25% of abused children are under the age of 3 and 45% are under the age of 5. The rate of child mortality is higher for boys than girls and 85% of fatalities are caucasian children (Child Abuse Facts 1).

Child Maltreatment is the general term used to describe all forms of child abuse and neglect. There is no one commonly accepted definition of child abuse and neglect. Maltreatment is frequently linked with poverty and its associated burdens such as single parenthood, social isolation, unemployment and poor education. (Wulczyn, 2009).

Child abuse is a widespread problem in America and beyond. Every year more than 3 million reports of child abuse are made in the United States involving more than 6 million children(1a). For many years, experts believed that the negative effects of child abuse, such as emotional problems, flashbacks to traumatic events, and even learning problems, were psychological phenomena only, able to be cured with therapy. Now, however, beliefs are being changed with the help of tools such as MRI imaging, able to detect actual changes in brain anatomy, and it appears that what doesn't kill you may still permanently weaken you, at least when it comes to child abuse.

According to the article, infants and young children are on the duration of experiencing some form of maltreatment that impacts their cognitive, social, physical, and emotional development. This maltreatment is the outcome of unsupportive family environments, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and abuse. Since the first few years of a child’s life are the most crucial in development, their lives are strongly impacted when they experience such inflicted harm. This was a developmental study examining young children with TBI and those without TBI and their cognitive and social development (Landry, Swank, Stuebing, Prasad, & Ewing-Cobbs, 2004).

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

Child abuse and neglect has long lasting effects on the physical development of a child’s brain as well as how the brain processes situations. One of the ways childhood maltreatment effects the brain is how it responds to stress, which can affect other areas of an individual’s health. As Dr. Panzer explains, “The purpose of the stress response is to mobilize resources with the aim of increasing the individual’s chance of survival. Inappropriate responsiveness of the stress system may contribute to various endocrine, metabolic, autoimmune and psychiatric disorders.” (Panzer, 2008, p.2). Since abuse and neglect are highly stressful situations it is common for the aforementioned health concerns to arise from the overactive stress response, and although a child can be taken out of the toxic environment the disorders may be long lasting.

According to americanhumane.org, many children have suffered from maltreatment. The different type of maltreatment that children suffered was physical abuse, medical neglect, sexual abuse, emotional/psychological abuse and neglect. Since 1999, the majority of children about sixty-two percent were victims of neglect. I must state that parenting classes can avoid the increasing percentage of neglect and abuse.