The Abuse That May Affect Adults

Psychological or emotional abuse - is any action which has an effect on an individual's mental well-being, causes suffering and effects their quality of life and ability to function to their full potential.

Emotional abuse – involves the persistent psychological mistreatment of a child and may include making the child feel inadequate, unloved or worthless, imposing inappropriate developmental expectations on a child, threatening, taunting or humiliating the child or exploiting or corrupting

Physical abuse is “the mistreatment of a child that causes physical injury, impairment, or endangerment.” (Layman 15) It accounts for about 25 percent of abuse cases. (Moses) Children who have been abused usually show certain signs. They tend to be apathetic and withdrawn, but at the same time, constantly scanning their environment for danger. (Oates 43) Physical abuse can leave all kinds of injuries.

“The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act” states’ that “child abuse is the leading cause of death in children under the age of eighteen.” Child abuse occurs when adults inflict violence and cruelty upon children. Abuse is any willful act that results in physical, mental, or sexual injury that causes or is likely to cause the child to be physically, mental, or emotionally impaired. Abuse happens to children of any age, sex, race, religion, and social status.

Emotional abuse is any kind of abuse that is emotional rather than physical in nature.

Abuse may be revealed in a number of different ways. For example you may find that someone wants to tell you about it because they trust you. Also it might be from someone who has observed the abuse taking place, e.g. resident seeing a care worker shaking another resident because they were too slow getting dressed. The abuse is disclosed to the professional, sometimes with a request for confidentiality.

Physical abuse of the elderly occurs when a carer harms the individual or places them in danger. A carer may be a family member or someone who is responsible for taking caring of them. The carer may hit, slap, kick, push, burn, or force feed the elderly person and these are all considered to be signs of physical abuse. They may also give the wrong amount or even the wrong medicine to the elderly person. Physical abuse also includes sexual abuse; when someone has sexual contact with an individual without their consent.

Emotional / psychological abuse is when a person uses threats, bullying, trying to control a person’s mind, makes them feel powerless, as well as making them believe it is their own fault. This type of abuse results in mental and physical distress and includes

Emotional / psychological abuse is doing or saying things that demean and make someone feel less of themselves. This includes bulling, blaming, threatening and damaging other’s feelings of self-esteem.

Physical: Physical abuse is deliberate physical force that may result in bodily injury, pain, or impairment. Both old and young people can be physically abused.

Physical abuse is deliberate physical force that may result in bodily injury, pain, or impairment. Both old and young people can be physically abused. There are signs or indicators to show physical abuse and there are ways in which victims and abusers act or interact with each other.

1.1a – Physical abuse can be defined as causing actual physical harm to an individual. 1.2a - The signs and symptoms associated with physical abuse can be e.g. hitting, shaking, biting, throwing, burning and suffocating. 1.3a - The factors that may contribute to an individual being more vulnerable to physical abuse can be due to their age, their physical ability, a physical disability, a sensory impairment, learning difficulties, mental health issues, or their culture or religion.

(1) There are several interesting issues that the documentary addresses. One of them being the suggestion that our understanding of elder abuse lies decades behind that of child abuse. Edwin Walker states that, "in the field of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation, we are 40 years behind that of Child Protective Services" (Npt, 2017). Also, elder abuse is underreported. Apparently, it is estimated that one in ten adults over the age of 60 is a victim and that “there are over five million elder abuse victims in the U.S, which is more than the combined total of child abuse victims and domestic violence victims” (2017). But of course, there is no way to be 100 percent sure of the actual numbers of older adults being abused. Furthermore,

In many instances, when someone hears the word abuse, they think of physical abuse. The fact is psychological, also known as emotional, abuse is the most prevalent form of abuse. Having witnessed individuals that are close to me subject themselves to this type of abuse in a relationship and remain in it, I was curious to know more about the effects of psychological abuse. I asked myself questions like what is it? Why do people abuse others this way? Who can be effected? What are the long term effects of being abused? My goal is to be able to sympathize with those who are experiencing psychological abuse and ultimately find a way to lead them to help.

Physical abuse involves the use of force by pinching, punching, slapping, scalding, hitting, kicking, burning or misuse of medication, restraint or inappropriate sanctions. It is a form of physical attack on an individual, it can also be a intentional neglect to prevent physical injury.