The Long Term Effects Of Child Maltreatment

This paper provides a summary of the short and long-term effects causes by child abuse. The focus is primarily on the four most common forms of abuse and the long-term effect that are experienced in adolescence through adulthood. These four forms of abuse are physical, sexual, and emotional and

Herb was a very loving little boy, who always tried to make everyone around him happy. He would climb up in your lap at the age of two or three, and whisper in your ear “I’m your boy, but don’t tell nobody”. Growing up, Herb was an accomplished athlete, and performed reasonably well academically. As Herb reached adulthood, he always took great strides to make the people around him feel happy and special. It was not unusual to find him helping his father on the farm or working on his sister’s car. The only payment he wanted was to see their smile and know he had helped. In adulthood, his little girl became the light of his life and no one suspected that there was a problem. Until the morning, his wife walked

The long term ramifications of child abuse and neglect are profound and may endure long after the maltreatment has occurred. Individuals that undergo such abuse either physically or mentally may affect various aspects of their development. The outcome of abuse and neglect can range from minor effects to fatal situations. In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” Dill was emotionally damaged and neglected by his parents.

Every year, within Australia, the number of children who are removed from the care of their parents and placed into government regulated care continues to grow significantly. For these children, maltreatment (or the risk of maltreatment), in the form of abuse or neglect within the family home result in the need for them to be relocated to alternative care arrangements, more commonly referred to as out-of-home care (OOHC). The research which investigates the effects of maltreatment on children, conclusively shows that experiencing trauma and/or neglect during childhood can result in considerable physiological and psychological effects on development across multiple key domains, such as cognitive, social-emotional, academic, and language

The aim of the research is to explore the long term effects of CSA in three developmental domains; Social, Emotional and Behavioural. The three domains are associated with The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families, (Department of Health 2012). Each domain plays a vital role in the developmental needs of a child, interruptions in one or more of the domains can lead to a child not meeting their full potential, (Department for Education and Skills 2004). The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families, highlights the importance of these specific developmental domains in order for a child to achieve, it is for this reason why I have chosen to explore these areas. The emotional aspect will discuss depression, feelings of guilt and anxiety. The social aspect will focus on relationships and intimacy, and finally the behavioural aspect will discuss issues self-destructive behaviours.

When most people think of “child abuse”, the disturbing news stories of young girls being raped or sexually exploited come to mind but that’s not the only side of it. People seem to only consider physical abuse armful when emotional and mental abuse is just as bad, if not worse.

The maltreatment of children occurs at extraordinarily increasing proportions and is becoming a significant health risk to the children it is happening to. One of the major public health concerns should be identifying the risk factors associated with the maltreatment of these children and the just how much resistance these children really have against this abuse. Regardless of how much elasticity the general public in a whole may think these children have against maltreatment, they are still at a major risk of having diminished or compromised psychological and physical health later in life as an adult and are also are at extreme risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Children who were not subject to maltreatment are still

This article from Child Welfare Information Gateway provides the long-term consequences of child abuse and neglect. A child can be impacted by child abuse and neglect in four ways, physical, psychological, behavioral, and societal consequences. These consequences are difficult to differentiate and often times seem like a rippling- effect. For example, a child who has suffered from physical abuse, such as damage to their brain, can show signs of psychological problems as well and vice versa.

In this paper, childhood psychological abuse will be referred to as acts of commission or omission towards a child by the primary caregiver which involves risk of causing potential harm or substantial harm to the child’s health, survival or development (Child Family Community Australia (CFCA), 2015 & WHO, 2017). More specifically physical abuse is an act of violence with the use of intentional physical force resulting in a non-accidental injury or physical trauma (Department of Communities, Child Safety & Disability, 2017 and NSPCC, 2017). Physical abuse occurs in a variety of forms including; hitting, shaking, throwing objects, burning, biting, slapping, kicking, punching and strangling (NPCC, 2017) causing severe injury and long-lasting implications (NSPCC,2017).

According to the Administration for Children and Families (2013), there are one million verified cases of childhood maltreatment reported annually in the United States. This constitutes approximately 35% of the childhood population in the United States. Of these cases, 79.5% were the result of neglect, emotional abuse, and abandonment. Over 3% of these children attempted or completed suicide (Administration for Children and Families, 2013).

Child maltreatment is an issue that most social workers will face throughout their career. Although there are many causes to a child being neglected, sexually or physically abused; studies have shown that poverty is in many cases linked to child maltreatment. There are currently 488 counties in America where twenty percent of the population has lived below the poverty line for the past thirty years or more (Clyburn, 2014). Studies have shown that poverty is linked to child abuse and neglect. With poverty comes the stresses of housing and instability, childcare burden, substance availability and susceptibility to crime in order to satisfy material needs. And in the midst of all of this, there are children who are being targeted by their parent or guardian when life becomes too difficult to endure.

An article posted by the Australian Institute of Family Studies explains the long-term effects of child abuse and neglect for adult survivors. The article explains that there are many different types of child abuse which falls in the categories of physical, emotional, neglect, sexual and witnessing family violence. Abuse can also intentional or sometimes even unintentional. Also, different sub-types of maltreatment may be related to different negative outcomes. The author

If child maltreatment could be reduced, the prevalence of mental disorders, drug use, suicide attempts, sexually transmitted infections and risky sexual behavior would decrease, which is my second hypothesis (Norman et al., 2012). It would also be beneficial to strengthen child protection systems in school and the community so people can learn how to identify and be aware of the warning signs of child maltreatment (Jewkes et al., 2010). In addition, there should be more services to children who are recovering from child maltreatment to help with their emotional and psychological needs (Jewkes et al., 2010).

The issue of child abuse happen all over the world. Why are the case of child abuse increasing in recent years in Australia? This report aims to explain causes, effects and recommendations.

Child abuse is a worldwide problem that is occurring with increasing frequency. It affects all ages, genders, races, ethnicities, and socioeconomic groups (Howard &Brooks-Gunn, 2009). In Australia the number of children reported to child protective services for being at risk of abuse has more than doubled over the last 5 years. Although these figures demonstrate the rising rates of child abuse within Australia, many cases are still remaining undetected and unreported (Kodner & Wetherton, 2013). Child abuse is also the third leading cause of death in children between one and five years of age. It is a significant problem that often goes unrecognised until severe injury or death has occurred (Crisp & Lister, 2009).