Proposal On Child Abuse

A once bright and chatty child may become withdrawn and shy away from adult attention. The child maybe showing signs of aggressive behaviour and/or exhibiting signs of self harm. Abuse can affect a child from infancy through to adolescence and then into adulthood. It can set back a child's physical development, such as a tense mealtime can affect the child’s ability to eat.

This could lead to deficits in cognitive and social skills or even mental retardation (DePanfilis 2006; Shipman and Taussing 2009). While neglect is generally the omission of care, this lack of care can lead children to sustain injuries from a lack of adequate supervision (DePanfilis 2006). These physical injuries may not be directly caused by the parent, but the inattention of the parent left the child in a harmful situation. It has been found that children may also suffer from intellectual damages, and have lower IQ scores (DePanfilis 2006). Socially, children may have a hard time coping. They suffer from mistrust, difficulty understanding emotions, impaired cognition and have a lack of empathy (DePanfilis

Depression and anxiety, for example, may make a person more likely to smoke, abuse alcohol or drugs, or overeat. High-risk behaviors, in turn, can lead to long-term physical health problems, such as sexually transmitted diseases, cancer, and obesity. Not all children who have been abused or neglected will experience long-term consequences, but they may have an increased susceptibility. The immediate physical effects of abuse or neglect can be relatively minor (bruises or cuts) or severe (broken bones, hemorrhage, or even death). In some cases, the physical effects are temporary; however, the pain and suffering they cause a child should not be discounted. Child abuse and neglect can have a multitude of long-term effects on physical health. NSCAW researchers found that, at some point during the 3 years following a maltreatment investigation, 28 percent of children had a chronic health condition (Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation [ACF/OPRE], 2007). Below are some outcomes other researchers have identified: Impaired brain development. Child abuse and neglect have been shown to cause important regions of the brain to fail to form or grow properly, resulting in impaired development. These alterations in brain maturation have long-term consequences for cognitive, language, and academic abilities and are connected with mental health disorders (Tarullo,

There are a myriad of ways that the environment can influences behaviors and some children are subjected to childhood maltreatment. These youths may develop into adults with serious emotional problems or face various addictions. In an abusive environment, it may subject the abuse survivors struggle with many negative effects that include substance abuse, mental disorders, learning disabilities, impulsivity, promiscuity, anti-social behaviors, and various other complications.

When a person is abusing a child, he/she does not think about the effects. When people are mistreating a child, they will be in the moment and not thinking of what they are doing. If an individual chronically abuses his/her child, he is not thinking about the effects the abuse has on his child. There are various long and short term effects of child abuse. Unfortunately, these short-term effects of child abuse are not the most frightening; most abused children do not have lasting physical effects. Other than some bruises and social withdrawal, short term effects are not clear. If asked about bruises, children will make up a lie to protect their abuser (Friedman). The effects of being abused as a child continue into adulthood and create the long term effects. The disturbing part is that abused children will most likely grow up to be troubled adolescents and adults who may even abuse their own children.

Child abuse is still a significant problem in United States. There are 2.9 million child abuse reports to Child Protective Services in 2005 and 825,000 indicated cases. Child abuse has profound impact on the child’s current and future development. The consequences include health and physical effects, intellectual and cognitive impact, and emotional, psychological and behavioral consequences. To improve parenting practice of first time parents is an important way to address this problem. The rate of child abuse is highest for children between birth and 3 years of age. A new Cognitive Behavioral Parent Training Program for Child Abuse Prevention targeted at first time mothers is formed by absorbing elements from existed parent

“There are situations of where the child shuts down and stays in his own world. Studies have shown a link between child abuse and delayed intellectual development. The child loses his ability to adapt to his or her environment leading to poor cognitive development. The child produces feelings of guilt, violation, loss of control and lowered self-esteem sometimes with suicidal tendencies. Common problems include emotional and behavioral problems, poor performance in school, and possible further abuse (Husted).

The importance of Childhood Trauma is associated with the way children react later on in their life, as it plays an important role. There are several different types of maltreatment that are associated with abuse that can harm the child in the long run. Any type of physical abuse, emotional abuse or sexual abuse contributes to the negative affects that can change the child’s personality. If the child’s parents obtain physical neglect or emotional neglect, it can factor in changing a child’s moods, as it causes them to change into a different person. This experience causes them to develop different types of personality disorders such as Antisocial, Borderline, Narcissistic, Paranoia, Schizoid, and Schizotypal. Many children are affected through the terrible experience which develops mistrust in the world, and later causes them to turn against society because of the constant neglect that is inflicted onto them.

"Physical consequences such as damage to a child's growing brain, can have psychological implications, such as cognitive delay or emotional difficulties." () "The cognitive effects of abuse range from attentional problems and learning disorders to serve organic brain syndromes. Behaviorally, the consequences of abuse range from poor peer relations all the way to extraordinary violent behaviors. Thus, the consequences of abuse and neglect affect the victims themselves and the society in which they live. (Nap.edu) Parents think they don't do damages as long as there is no violence. False, children can suffer from low self esteem, anger issues, trust issues and many more. Is easy to destroy and change an infant's behavior and mind. According to nap.edu "the scientific study of child maltreatment and its consequences is in its infancy." But that is not the only thing that can cause issues, "maltreatment often occurs in the presence of multiple problems within a family or social environment, including poverty, violence, substance abuse and unemployment.

In other instances, the parent can confiscate the child’s belongings or force the children to strip down naked and be photographed as a form of punishment. Considering the types of abuse that these children experience, there are psychological effects that can affect their life as they get older. The effects of household abuse can extend outside the home and affect the child in their performance in society. “Children Exposed to Domestic Violence” states that children exposed to family violence can experience difficulties in paying attention and staying on task (Geffner 39). Abused children are prone to externalizing problems which causes children to act out. Externalizing problems include temper tantrums, impulsivity, hyperactivity, aggression, conflict, cruelty and bullying. Another issue that abused children develop are internalizing problems. Internalizing problems are issues such as headaches, sleep disturbances, anxiety, fear of separation, social withdraw and depression. This overall causes the children to be less engaged in tasks and in normal behaviors.

In many cases of neglect, there has been an association with the brain failing to form appropriately. This causes impaired physical, mental, and emotional development (DePanfilis, 2006). A child's brain learns to adapt to a less than positive environment and this stunts the process of normal development. The brains of neglected children are not integrated and this causes difficulties in emotional, social, and cognitive development. The sensitive period, during the first two years of life, is a critical time in which brain activity faces severe psychosocial deprivation if faced with neglect and is unlikely to be recovered (Vanderwert, Marshall, Nelson III, Zeanah & Fox, 2010).

Every year, child abuse and neglect affect more than one million children nation-wide (Currie and Tekin 1). Along with this, child abuse is the source of severe injury to more than 500,000 children and the death of over 1,500 children (Currie and Tekin 1). These outrageously large numbers reveal the extent to which child abuse and neglect impact society; however, they do not acknowledge the effect abuse can have on a child’s life and the repercussions that may occur in both the individual’s childhood and adulthood. While the effects most certainly include physical pain and possibly future disabilities, child abuse and neglect can also affects the child’s psychological welfare. Psychological effects are often more difficult to recognize,

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

As a result of emotional neglect for the child will totally works on destroying the attitude of the child in his home some noticeable actions will be easily visible as a

People may not be aware, but any one of their peers, friends, or neighbors may be victims of child abuse. Every day, someone experiences physical, emotional, neglect, and/or sexual abuse. Abuse can lead to death or injury for the rest of a victim's life, from either the perpetrator or themselves. In order to prevent child abuse society must: recognize the types of abuse, understand common causes of abuse, know the characteristics of abusers, and realize the effects abuse has, not just on the child, but on families and communities across the world.