Long-Term Consequences Of Child Abuse

7/1/2013

Think deep of how abuse can hurt or damage a child mentally and physically. The victim can end up living with a life of long-term suffering consequences. There are many kinds of abuse: physical abuse, neglect, psychological or emotional and “custodial interference” (CDC, 1). Imagine the harmful effects that abuse brings to a child. It has been shown that 1,770 children from infancy to early child hood have died from physical abuse. Psychological disorders in another study show 80 percent of children to teens were diagnostic with one or more psychiatric disorders by 21 years of age. It’s no surprise that the harmful percentages shown have a huge affect on the victim’s behavior. Not all abused children suffer from long-term consequences;
the victims that do suffer from it have serious physical health, psychological and behavioral issues. Paying more attention to this serious issue can save a lot of lives and help a great deal of people.
“An estimated 763,000 children were confirmed by Child Protective Services as being victims of maltreatment in 2009” (DHHS, 2011). Child maltreatment is a term used to describe all forms of child abuse and neglect. Physical, sexual, neglect and emotional/ psychological abuse are some of the main forms of child maltreatment. The consequences can also affect the child in a combination of ways. “Physical consequences, such as damage to a child 's growing brain, can have psychological implications such as cognitive delays or emotional difficulties” (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2). The different combinations can be affected be following: * The child’s age and when the abuse started * The type of abuse * How long the abuse lasted throughout the day and the “severity” (CWIG, 3) * The victims abuser
Serious conditions of abuse can damage a child for almost the rest of their life or the child can cope with the situation.
Even if both victims suffer from similar kinds of abuse, it depends on the type of abuse, the child’s age and development. For example, an infant that was neglected until the age of 5 can cause psychology consequences. Meaning “the immediate emotional effects of abuse and neglect-- isolation, fear, and an inability to trust--can translate into lifelong consequences, including low self esteem, depression, and relationship difficulties” (CWIG, 9). The child that doesn’t suffer the long-term consequences would have experienced, for example both sever physical abuse and neglect. That would lead to behavioral consequences meaning difficulties during adolescence such as delinquency, poor grades in school and even drug use. For victims that have that ability to cope with those issues is sometimes referred to as “resilience” (CWIG, 4). The “positive and promotive factors may contribute to an abused or neglected child 's resilience” (CWIG4). Positive influences like role models and mentors will encourage the child to open up. Living in a stable community provides “safe schools and adequate health care” (Dedria, 4). With the help from family, friends and even the community can really help to encourage the child to cope with the
situation.
A good example of a child that coped with severe abuse is Mary Ellen Wilson. She was an eight year old girl who experienced some of the worse cases of child abuse. She was severely abuse by her foster mother and father. The ongoing cruelties and deprivations included: given regular and severe beatings a day, was forced to sleep on the floor, had no warm clothes to wear in cold weather, was frequently left alone in a darkened, locked room, and was forbidden to go outdoors, except at night in her own yard. Her next door neighbor Ms. Wheeler saw evidence of Physical abuse, malnourishment, and neglect in Mary Ellen 's condition, and further on got Mary removed from the home. With support from the community and Mary Ellen’s new adopted family she was able to eventually cope with the abuse. “Mary Ellen’s case of child abuse led to the creation of the New York Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Children” (Markel, Howard December 14, 2009).
There are many immediate and long term effects that result to neglect.
Child neglect is when the caregiver (mother, father, babysitter, etc.) fails to care for the child’s needs. These needs include housing, food, clothing, education, and access to medical care. Research by the Child Welfare Information Gateway indicates that the influence of neglect is often immediately noticeable in severe cases. Most effects go unobserved for years. “Neglect becomes more obvious as the child ages and develops physically, intellectually, emotionally, and socially” (DePanfilis, 2006). There are a number of causes that provoke the consequences of neglect. One of the major influences is the child’s age and developmental stage the abuse stared. It affects the child’s self-esteem, feeling of guilt, insecurity, and trouble with performing stable relationships in adulthood. Other outcomes include health problems from lack of proper medical care such as not being immunized or not receiving necessary surgeries. Neglected children may be in poor physical health due to medical neglect or neglect of prenatal care before being born. “Diane DePanfilis, the Children’s Bureau, and the Office on Child Abuse and Neglect found that neglected children display poorer school performances overall compared to children who had never been abused” (2006). The abused children will often have issues with brain development that causes cognitive abilities. Neglected children will develop speech problems with language
because of being ignored and not being given enough stimuli from caregiver or environment.
Psychological/emotional abuse is often known as behaviors that harm a child’s self-worth or emotional well-being. Examples include name calling, shaming, rejection, withholding love, and threatening. It can also refer to a form of disciplinary action for the child, but time after time it will create negative outcomes. Emotional abuse is a lot harder to recognize than any other form of abuse because it is more subtle. When Child Protective Services (CPS) arrange family assessments they find it hard to prove because the emotional/ psychological abuse dose not leave physical evidence behind. The rates for emotional abuse and other types of child abuse are getting very high. This issue demands immediate action to prevent further causes on the psychological development in children. Emotional abuse is becoming a widespread because of the need for enforcing disciplinary action for the child. The physical and/or emotional abuse of a child by a parent, guardian, or any other care giver is a major problem in homes across the United States. “It is estimated that 94 percent of parents resort to physical abuse for the purpose of child discipline, and research suggests that verbal abuse through psychological aggression is equally prevalent in American families” (Straus &ump; Field, 2003).
Serious Physical abuse is very traumatizing for a child. It is “defined as non-accidental trauma or physical injury caused by punching, beating, kicking, biting, burning or otherwise harming a child, physical abuse is the most visible form of child maltreatment” (American Humane Association 2005). Today unfortunately sexual abuse is on the rise. It can badly influence the child’s behaviors. Besides the physical and mental painfulness, abused child might jump into bad social activities, such as: adolescent pregnant, crime tendency, and drug addiction. The National Child Abuse Statistics have shown that 80 percent of the physically abuse children were diagnose with a psychiatric disorder by age 21 years of age. These disorders include: depression, anxiety, ADHD, posttraumatic stress disorder and eating disorders.
(Conclusion)Understanding the importance of child abuse and the long-term consequences is more than just being able to recognize it. It can lead others to do something positive for this dynamic global problem. Abuse is serious and should be addressed a lot more then it is now.
Work Cited https://www.childwelfare.gov/preventing/communities/building.cfm http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/childmaltreatment/consequences.html https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/long_term_consequences.cfm free/pdf?_r=1&res=9904E6DE1139EF34BC4F52DFB266838F669FDE http://www.americanhumane.org/children/stop-child-abuse/fact-sheets/child-physical-abuse.html http://www.endcorporalpunishment.org/pages/pdfs/reports/report_in%20full_final_pdf%20format_with%20the%20cover%20page%20included_finalised.pdf
http://www.focusonthefamily.com/lifechallenges/abuse_and_addiction/understanding_emotional_abuse/healing_the_wounds_of_emotional_abuse.aspx