Student Number S50242
Teaching Assistant Diploma Course
Assignment Two
Question 5. List possible signs of neglect, physical, emotional and sexual abuse and briefly outline how a Teaching Assistant may deal with a suspicion or disclosure of abuse.
Child abuse is something that nobody wants to be a witness to. Many of walk around blinkered to what is actually going on. As a teaching assistant it is vital that you are aware of the possibility of child abuse happening and know what signs to look for. It is vital that the teaching assistant understands that abuse is usually long standing rather than a one off incident and can be seen across all social classes and cultures.
There are four main forms of child abuse, these being, physical abuse, where injury is inflicted knowingly or nor prevented.
Emotional abuse, which is the verbal attack on a person making them feel worthless or humiliated.
Sexual Abuse, is the abuse of a child to meet the sexual satisfaction of an adult, whether it be rape, full intercourse or looking at pornography.
Neglect, is where the basic needs of a human are not met, i.e. the person is not fed kept warm, loved or given medical attention when needed.
The signs of possible abuse are varied and cannot be put down to one form of abuse. However, there are signs that can be associated with the various categories of abuse. In the case of physical abuse, some of the indicators include cuts, fractures, burns or scalds, scratches and bite marks, the effect of poison. If bruising is evident then it is likely to be in places that are unlikely caused by a fall, with unusual patterns or injury by an object.
Physical abuse can be put into two categories:-
Accidental injuries – which are likely to be few have no definite pattern and be of the same age and colour.
Non-accidental injuries are more likely to be frequent have a definite pattern such as finger and thumb marks. The child should always be asked how the injuries