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CHILD ABUSE

battered child syndrome. CHILD ABUSE. neglect. sexual abuse. physical abuse. family violence. child maltreatment. emotional abuse. Child Abuse.

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CHILD ABUSE

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  1. battered child syndrome CHILD ABUSE neglect sexual abuse physical abuse family violence child maltreatment emotional abuse

  2. Child Abuse Child abuse represents one of the most significant risk factors to the psychological well-being of children and its effects may endure through adolescence and adulthood.

  3. READINGS • Wenar, C. & Kerig, P. (2000)“Risk factors in the family context: Child maltreatment and divorce” in Developmental Psychopathology (pp. 303-311). Singapore: McGraw-Hill

  4. LECTURE QUESTIONS • What are the different types of abuse? • How is abuse constructed in legal, social and psychological terms? • How does child abuse link with woman abuse? • What are the longer and shorter term effects of child abuse and what factors influence whether they occur? • What risk and protective factors may influence whether physical child abuse occurs? • What is the debate over Section 59?

  5. Types of child abuse • Child sexual abuse-includes non contact abuse, contact abuse and involving child in pornography • Emotional abuse- includes rejection, isolation, oppression, threats, humiliation, corruption • Neglect- includes failure to provide necessities for health, lack of supervision, medical neglect, abandonment and refusal to assume parental responsibility • Physical abuse- inflicitng range of physical injuries • Exposure to domestic violence- allowing child to witness violence between parents

  6. Prevalence of child abuse • Sources- CYFS & Women’s Refuge referrals, hospital admissions, surveys, police records • CYFS abuse referrals 1999-2000 26 588, substantiated 9 385 and in 1998-9 by type: Sexual abuse: 1 375 Physical Abuse: 1 660 Emotional Abuse: 1 414 • Women’s Refuge Stats (1998) 6 984 women with 9 487 children sought help from a Women’s Refuge

  7. Understandings of physical child abuse • Lay-pieced together from popular culture, family values, education programmes • Legal -what constitutes rights of parents versus rights of children,‘reasonable force’ • Social -e.g., social disadvantage, society’s tolerance for violence • Psychological- inadequacy of parents, characteristics of child • Feminist-power, dominance & authority over child as well as mother as in wider social imbalances • Confounds in theory, research, practice

  8. Physical child abuse • CYFS: “any act or acts that result in inflicted injury to a child or young person”, such as: • Bruises & welts • Cuts and abrasions • Fractures or sprains • Abdominal injuiries • Head injuries • Injuries to internal organs • Strangulation or suffocation • Poisoning • Burns or scalds

  9. Links with woman abuse • Estmates around 50% of families (Straus & Gelles) • Beaten mothers twice as likely to abuse children (Straus & Gelles) but Walker study battered women, 53% of fathers, 28% of mothers • More severe abuse of mother, more severe that of child • Abuse of child may be tactic for control and dominance over mother • Some children may incur abuse when attempt to intervene to defend or protect mother • My research- more than half students reporting physical abuse said also observed parental violence

  10. Shorter term effects • Physical and neurological: fractures, internal damage to organs, brain damage, impairments to sight and hearing, restriction of growth • Emotional: anxiety, depression, overly compliant, uncontrolled anger, attachment problems • Social: aggression, withdrawal, hypervigilance, pseudomature, oppositional, peer problems, empathy • Psychosomatic: bed-wetting, tantrums, eating or sleep problems • Cognitive and language problems-poor achievement • Psychological: low self worth, self efficacy

  11. Longer term effects • Higher risk of teenage delinquency, aggression, domestic violence, child abuse, domestic abuse in adolescence & adulthood • Higher risk of self-injury, suicide, anxiety, depression, somatic symptoms • Possible problems with intimate relationships • Possible long term educational consequences • Most children will NOT endure lasting effects

  12. Links to psychological problems in adulthood • Read (2003): links to psychotic disorders in adulthood (child sexual abuse) • Briere (1997): child sexual abuse most powerful predictor of later psychiatric symptoms and disorders • Post traumatic stress disorder, depression, suicidality, anxiety, substance abuse • Violence victimisation in adulthood (physical and sexual child abuse) • Violent behaviour in adulthood (emotional and physical abuse) • Links to eating disorders (tentative)

  13. What makes the difference? • Frequency and severity of abuse • Co-occurrence of other types of abuse • Other contextual risk factors (parental problems, parent-child relationship etc) • Whether child subjected to multiple placements • Presence of resiliency or protective factors

  14. Risk factors: child • Young • Premature or low birth weight • Developmental delay • Poor physical health • Difficult temperament • Aggressive

  15. Risk factors: parents • Young • Abusive histories • Unrealistic expectations of child • Limited knowledge of child development • Psychological problems esp substance abuse • Poor coping skills

  16. Risk factors: relational • Poor parent-child attachment • Inconsistent discipline • Problems in marital relationship • Power/intimacy problems

  17. Risk Factors: Social • Poor social support network • High family stress • Social disadvantage • Crowded living conditions • Isolation • Poor connection extended family

  18. Protective factors • Child’s age, lack of neuro. injury, easy temperament, intelligent, positive self esteem, good functioning level • Positive relationship non abusing adult/s • Low family stress, absence of financial worries • Access to good social support

  19. ‘Spare the rod’: Section 59 • Should parents retain the right to physically punish their children using ‘reasonable force’ • What is ‘reasonable force’- different juries have different notions • Research evidence- compelling links between physical punishment and child abuse, domestic violence (Children’s Issues Centre lit.review). • BUT: Abuse history is not a prescription for adult violence

  20. Checkpoint • What different abuse terms mean and how abuse variously constructed • Links of child abuse to other forms of violence • Effects of physical child abuse • What risk and protective factors are • What the issues are in the debate about repealing Section 59 of the Crimes Act and how research literature can inform it

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