...University of Maryland University College Physical, Behavioral, and Emotional Developmental Effects of Child Sexual Abuse Cathy F. Breingan PSYC355, Child Psychology Joann Altiero, Ph.D. April, 2009 It is difficult to believe that it is a sick world out there full of very sick and vile people. Not only is it bad enough that adults cannot even feel safe anymore out there in the world but the children are just as vulnerable—they are more vulnerable and at risk in more ways than one. One of those vulnerability and risk is child abuse. There are different types of child abuse. They are child neglect, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and the focus of this paper, child sexual abuse. The Darkness to Light Organization “defines child sexual abuse in four distinct ways: (1) Any sexual act between an adult and a minor or between two minors when one exerts power over the other; (2) Forcing, coercing or persuading a child to engage in any type of sexual act. This, of course, includes sexual contact. It also includes non-contact acts such as exhibitionism, exposure to pornography, voyeurism and communication in a sexual manner by phone or internet; (3) an ongoing and traumatic experience for its victims; and (4) a crime punishable by law” (cited in Dove & Miller, 2007). With sexual abuse come negative effects and developmental issues that can carry through adulthood. These effects will haunt the victims for the rest...
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...A very common problem in the world, though rarely discussed, is child abuse. Even in a well developed country like the United States, many children are raised in abusive households. Every day, the United States loses an average of four to seven children to child abuse and neglect (Child Abuse Statistics, 2017). Child abuse is an issue that opens up to many larger scale problems, but many people fail to consider it as a priority when it comes to tackling issues in our society. Child Abuse Child abuse generally refers to the mistreatment of a child by a parent or another adult. No one knows how many instances of child abuse occur each year because many cases of child abuse are never reported (Tollefson, 2018). Child abuse appears in many forms that may include physical, emotional, sexual abuse, and another form of child abuse is neglect. Neglect is the failure of a parent or caregiver to for the basic needs of a child and it is also the most common child abuse (Tollefson, 2018). When people think of child abuse, their first thought...
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...Child Abuse Abril Smith Albany State University Dr. Ibe Abstract Child Abuse is one of the most unreported crimes in the United States. The crime rate is increasing by the year. There are different types of child abuse. Every type of child abuse is affect in a different way. As you read my paper, you will gain a better understanding of child abuse. Studies have reported that they are finding different ways to help heal children from child neglect. Introduction Throughout this world, there are millions of children who are abused and neglected. Child abuse is one of the most harmful crimes that have a major effect over children. However, Child abuse is a global concern in this country. Child abuse is one of the most underreported crimes in this world. The crime rate is steadily increasing across the world. Child Abuse is basically any sexual contact between a child and an adult or another child. There are many different kind of sexual abuse or assault of a child. Some forms are: actual or attempted penetration of the anus or vagina, oral sexual contact, foundling or touching the child’s private parts of forcing the child to touch other private parts, exposing children to adult sexual activity, and having children to perform in pornographic movies. It has been stated that one in every four girls and one in every six boys will be victim of sexual abuse before the age of 18. There are many places where Child abuse takes place, such as: neighborhoods, ethnic, and socio-economic...
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...Most of the time, physical abuse is not recognize by peoples as a serious problem. Physical abuse occurs when someone physically hurts you, such as by hitting you or throwing something at you. Even if someone only hits you once or doesn't hurt you that badly, it is a big deal. It may be not so serious because it seems they’re not badly hurt, but what the people doesn’t know is they are causing harm, a serious harm to that people they hurt physically.Abuse tends to escalate, putting you at greater risk in the future. Just one incident of being physically hurt by anyone is unacceptable, and you should take steps to stop the abuse. They cause harm in the sense that that even small hurting can cause hidden scars, Hidden scars which are formed by the emotional and psychological wounds. This Hidden scars is manifested by almost all of the people specifically during their teenage years. All parents want a disciplined and well behaved child. However, there are times when a parent loses control or simply has no control over their child. This is when simple parenting crosses the line and becomes emotional abuse. Emotional abuse is elusive. Unlike physical abuse, the people doing it and receiving it may not even know it is happening. It can be more harmful than physical abuse because it can undermine what we think about ourselves. It can cripple all we are meant to be as we allow something untrue to define us. Emotional abuse can happen between parent and child, husband and wife, among...
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...TOPIC: Physical Abuse SUB-TOPIC: The primary effect of Physical Abuse on children Thesis statement: Physical abuse as cause physical, emotional and social effects on children. Physical effects -Main point #1: Physical abuse effect children’s self-esteem and confidence. Sub point #1: Low performances at school. Sub point #2: They would not to participate in social activities within the classroom amongst other students Sources: Physical abuse. (2010).in eSchooltoday. Retrieved on November 11, 2013, from http://www.eschooltoday.com/child-abuse/physical-child-abuse/what-is-physical-child-abuse.html . Ward, L. (2005). Abuse affects school work. Retrieved on November 11, 2013 from http://www.theguardian.com/society/2005/may/25/childrensservices.schools Emotional effects -Main point #2: How Physical Abuse may appeal to their emotion. Sub point #1: They would tend to always be gloomy or sad. Sub point #2: They will also have a hard time trying to express their feeling to others. Sources: Stosny, S. (2008). Anger in the Age of Entitlement. Retrieved on November 12, 2013 from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/anger-in-the-age-entitlement/200808/effects-emotional-abuse-it-hurts-when-i-love Social effects -Main point #3: The effect children who have been physical abuse has on the environment or surrounding. Sub point #1: They tend to abuse other persons due to the anger they develop over a period of time. Sub point #2: Ways in which the environment or the surrounding...
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...Yesterday we discussed potential signs ofmistreatment or abuse in a day care setting. Today we continue our discussion regarding child abuse as we consider the signs of various types of abuse. While many of these topics are exceptionally troubling, as parents it is important to pay attention to changes in the behavior of our children and recognize the importance of addressing these issues head on. When it comes to unspeakable acts of sexual abuse of children there may or may not be any outwardly physical signs. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to any changes in the child’s behavior. In these situations, a mandated reporter or other person who is concerned about the child’s well-being should listen to the child closely and attentively in a calm and natural demeanor to put the child at ease. Because most sexual abuse is conducted in secrecy, the most important evidence in these cases is the testimony of the victim. If a child displays the following signs, they may be the victim of sexual abuse: • Has difficulty walking or sitting • Sudden refusal to participate in gym or physical activities • Sudden change in appetite • Demonstrates bizarre, sophisticated, or unusual sexual knowledge or behavior • Becomes pregnant or contracts an STD • Runs away • Reports sexual abuse by a parent or caregiver Parents or adult caregivers who have sexually abused a child may be: • Unusually protective of the child or limit the child’s interaction with others • Secretive...
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...June 16, 2013 Child Abuse Must Be Stopped Ever wonder why the society has so much parents getting away with crimes? In a world where anything can happen we see children everyday being mistreated by the one person that should be taking care of them and giving them love. Parents discipline their children and act as if they are real parents but really those parents that abuse and hurt their children are not good parents at all. Parents should care for the health of their child and treat their child better than what they threat them. Why is it that parents have the right to abuse their own kids but nobody else can touch them or abuse them? Why is it that parents don’t understand that every child needs a parents comfort? Child abuse is now a global problem that escalates every year. Child abuse will not be stopped if we don’t try and punish parents that do harm to their children. Parents should be legally punished if they are verbally, emotionally, sexually, or mentally abusing their children. Parents don’t see that the most terrible thing for children is to be physically abused. Physical abuse is one of the most common ways a parent abuses their child. Physical abuse is abuse involving contact intended to cause feelings of intimidation, injury, or other physical suffering of the body. Once a parent hits a child they will be marked for life, a child may not have a mark on them but that child will always have that memory in their head. No matter what the child did or did not do...
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...PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT Psychological Effects of Child Abuse and Neglect Freddy Cabrera General Psychology 1012 4 April 2012 Florida National College Abstract Child abuse and neglect is a growing issue that threatens the health of its victims not only physically but psychologically as well. Some of these psychological effects include difficulties during infancy, poor mental and emotional health, cognitive difficulties, and social difficulties. Psychological Effects of Child Abuse and Neglect The year is 2012 and in this day in age, society is still faced with issues such as child abuse and neglect. “An estimated 905,000 children were victims of child abuse or neglect in 2006” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008). Child abuse and neglect is a growing dilemma not only in the United States but also worldwide. Child abuse and neglect is an issue that must be studied to see the significant effects it has on its victims. These effects can be great, the most prominent being physical, psychological, and societal consequences. The following will focus on the psychological effects, and these can be summarized with difficulties during infancy, poor mental and emotional health, cognitive difficulties, and social difficulties. When taking a look at child abuse and neglect one must start at the earliest point in which such can occur. This first point is infancy. During infancy, the child is most vulnerable due to its dependency on the mother...
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...How Child Abuse Effects a Student’s Education To look into the eyes of a child and witness a fearful and emotionless gaze due to child abuse is devastating. All children deserve their innocence yet there are many who have it ripped from them. Many would agree that a child’s education is something of value and that someday they will be controlling and determining our future. However, there are several who beg to differ and decide to detrimentally effect a child’s education. Child abuse is the physical, emotional, or sexual mistreatment of a child and is a leading case in the United States. A child is physically, psychologically, emotionally, behaviorally and cognitively effected due to child abuse. It is not a simple problem but there are many solutions to diminish the likelihood of its reoccurrence. The effects of child abuse depend on how severe the abuse is, however, regardless of the severity, the child’s educational outlook is most definitely effected. The probability of encountering an abused child is very likely in the education field which makes it imperative for educators to educate themselves and their students on the topic of abuse. “The seven dimensions of children’s well-being are: health, education, identity, family and social relationships, emotional and behavioral development, self presentation and self care skills” (Stevenson, 2005). When either of these dimensions is negatively altered it is considered child abuse or neglect. A child who is noticeably...
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...Discipline or Abuse: Where is the line drawn? According to childhelp.org, a foundation for the prevention and treatment of child abuse, every year 3.3 million reports of child abuse are made in the United States. And in these 3.3 million reports approximately six million children are harmed every year by one of these malicious acts; and that’s about six million too many. Simply defined, child abuse refers to physical, mental, or sexual harm done to a minor whether it is intentional or unintentional. But, unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Not only are there several different categories for child abuse, but states also have their own laws are regulations defining the acts. Although Congress has enacted several pieces of legislature in response to the continual problem, clearly that is not enough. It was reported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that in 2011 approximately 5 children were lost every day due to abuse related deaths (childhelp.org). There is an obvious need for reformation in order for this pandemic to be overcome. Although it’s not the most known form of maltreatment, child neglect is the most prevalent form of child abuse in the U.S. today, as reported on childhelp.org by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. They reported that of the 3.3 million cases reported each year, 78.3 percent alone is due to child neglect (childhelp.org). Neglect falls into four basic categories: physical, educational, emotional, and medical. Physical...
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...Child Abuse Intentional acts that result in physical and emotional harm to children is child abuse. Child abuse covers a wide range of behaviour, from actual physical assault by parents who neglect the child’s basic needs. It is a silent crime which occurs in all income, racial, religious, and ethnic groups and in urban or rural communities. It can be a parent, guardian, paid caregiver, or sibling. The children with disabilities are at a higher risk of child abuse There are several different types of child abuse, and some children experience more than one form. Sexual abuse occurs when the adults use children’s for sexual satisfaction or expose them to sexual activities. It may also begin with kissing and it may lead to more invasive sexual act, like oral sex and vaginal or anal penetration. Emotional abuse destroys a child’s self-esteem. It is commonly verbal abuse of a child in the form of shouting. threats, and degrading criticism. Other types of emotional abuse can be shutting a child in the dark closet, and social isolation such as denying a child friends. Physical Abuse Physical abuse includes deliberate acts of violence that can injure or kill a child. The signs of physical abuse can be the unexplained bruises, broken bones, or the burn marks. Some parents feel they physically need to punish or discipline the child and they think what they are doing is good for the child. Physical abuse usually leaves the...
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...Rondi Macias Professor Amabisca ENG 101 Essay 4 November 25, 2014 Another Child Gone As Laurie Roberts reports in the Arizona Republic in 2009. Another day, another horror to another Arizona child. This time it's 3-year-old Natalia Santillan, who had the nerve to have accidents in her pants. There, of course, could only be one reason that a three year old would engage in such behavior. She had to be doing it on purpose, right? At least, that's what Peoria police report that Ayrin Amber Vick and her boyfriend Joe Ramirez thought. Text messages between the two suggested that they thought the child was lazy and unwilling to get up and go to the bathroom because she apparently didn't have accidents while in the company other people, according to court documents released Thursday. Little Natalia was living with her uncle and Vick, their 10-month old son Dominick and Vick's eight-year-old daughter Alexis because her own mother was in prison On April 7, Peoria police say Vick texted her boyfriend around noon to say that the child had had multiple accidents and that she "cannot handle it anymore." Three hours later, police say she called 911 to report that Natalia had "suddenly collapsed" and wasn't breathing. The child was covered in bruises, including inside both ears, and had balding spots where her hair had been pulled out. She had a cut over her left eye and a burn in the process of healing under her right eye. She died an hour later at Phoenix Children's Hospital. ...
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...Altruism & Society Campaign - Child Abuse The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) defines child abuse and neglect as, at minimum: “Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation; or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm” (Childwelfare, 2008, pg. 3).The number of confirmed reports of child abuse in 2005 is 899,000 (U.S. Department, 2007). In 2005, 12 children out of every 1,000 children up to age 18 in the United States was a victim of some form of maltreatment or abuse. Child abuse falls into six categories, some that are more self-evident such as physical abuse that leaves marks on the outside of the body and others, such as emotional, which leaves no mark save the one on the child’s heart and mind. The various forms of maltreatment for 2005 fall into the following categories: Neglect 62.8% Physical Abuse 16.6% Sexual Abuse 9.3% Emotional/psychological 7.1% Medical Neglect 2.0% Other 14.3% The listed percentages equal over 100% as children are not always the victim of just one category; regrettably, children may be the victim of both physical and emotional abuse. Studies into the cycle of abuse has shown that a person abused as a child becoming abusive as an adult, reveals “about one-third of people who are abused in childhood will become abusers themselves” ((NYTimes, 1989, pg. 1). Research...
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...Child Abuse According to the non-profit organization Prevent Child Abuse New York (PCANY), several factors cause some people to have difficulty meeting the demands of parenthood, leading them to become abusive when they reach a breaking point or don’t know what else to do. These factors include immaturity, unrealistic expectations, emotional problems, economic crisis, lack of parenting knowledge, difficulty in relationships, depression and other mental health problems. When the stress of childcare combines with anxiety from other sources, some parents lack the skills to cope with it in healthy ways. Instead, their tempers get the best of them in times of crisis. The two main causes of child abuse are domestic violence and substance abuse. Children who live in households where violence is present usually end up becoming victims themselves. PCANY reports that 50 to 70 percent of men who abuse their female partners also abuse their children. Substance abuse is another leading cause of child abuse. According to PCANY, drugs or alcohol contribute to 70 percent of cases of child maltreatment, meaning physical abuse or neglect. Kids under 5 are the most susceptible to abuse or neglect by a substance-abusing parent and represent the fastest growing population of foster children. The most obvious effect of child abuse is physical injury to the child. According to the Child Welfare Information Gateway, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, physical injuries...
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...of Children of Addictive Parents Nothing makes a child grow up faster than having a parent who is addicted to drugs. A child of an addicted parent has no choice but to act as an adult. These children are often left alone and when they aren’t alone, their addicted parent is usually passed out in a drug induced stupor; leaving the child to fend for themselves and/or their siblings. Does having a drug addicted parent have an effect on a child’s emotional development? If so, does this form of abuse that is recognized in the category of neglect have a long lasting effect on the child into adulthood? A child of an addict is constantly exposed to risks more so than the average child. The children are placed in harmful situations such as being minimally supervised, extended exposure to secondhand smoke; exposure to HIV infected needles and are placed in situations where they can accidentally ingest the parent’s drugs. There are many different factors that lead to child abuse but poverty, alcohol, and drug use seem to be to main component to the disturbing increase of neglected children. Children raised in an unloving, unresponsive household are emotionally neglected. In addition, neglected children are more likely to come from single parent households. Overall incidents of child abuse cases have fallen, however; abuse of children in single-parent households still holds the overall national trend. Although child abuse and neglect overall are “significantly” down, in single-parent...
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