Essay On Child Trauma

“Homelessness is much more than the loss of a home, it disrupts every aspect of life” (Bassuk, 2010, pg. 3). Trauma can lead to ongoing negative consequences across a child’s lifespan and can negatively impact various domains. Related domains to childhood trauma include, physical, cognitive, psychological, developmental, and social domains (Bassuk, 2010).
Cognitive/Developmental Domains
Children who have exposure to homelessness and prolonged traumatic experiences have greater long-term effects in their cognitive ability. For instance, they may experience problems with focusing, learning, processing new information (Kilmer et al., 2012) language development, and difficulty planning and orientation to time and space (NCCP, 2017). In addition,
Furthermore, children living in homeless families have a greater risk of experiencing mental health problems, compared with their housed peers. According to NCCP (2009) it has been reported that young children with homeless experiences had more behavioral problems than housed children. A study on school-aged children of homeless families reported that a higher proportion of homeless children experienced mental disorders with impairment, such as disruptive behavior disorders, social phobia, and major depression, as compared to their low-income housed counterparts (NCCP, 2009). Children also exhibit a range of behaviors as a reaction to trauma (e.g., excessive crying, distress, regression, aggression, withdrawal, physical symptoms, acting out traumatic events during play (NCCP, 2017). Children experiencing trauma as a result to homelessness present-physical health difficulties, problems with peers, mental health problems, including internalizing concerns (e.g., anxiety, depression, withdrawal) and externalizing problems (e.g., aggression, acting out) (Kilmer et al.,