...ISSUE BRIEF November 2009 Understanding the Effects of Maltreatment on Brain Development What’s Inside: • How the Brain Develops This issue brief provides basic information on brain development and the effects of abuse and neglect on that development. The information is designed to help professionals understand the emotional, mental, and behavioral impact of early abuse and neglect in children who come to the attention of the child welfare system. • Effects of Maltreatment on Brain Development • Implications for Practice and Policy • Summary U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families Administration on Children, Youth and Families Children’s Bureau Child Welfare Information Gateway Children’s Bureau/ACYF 1250 Maryland Avenue, SW Eighth Floor Washington, DC 20024 800.394.3366 Email: info@childwelfare.gov www.childwelfare.gov Understanding the Effects of Maltreatment on Brain Development www.childwelfare.gov In recent years, there has been a surge of research into early brain development. New technologies, such as neuroimaging (e.g., magnetic resonance imaging or MRI), provide increased insight into how the brain develops and how early experiences affect that development. One area that has been receiving increasing research attention involves the effects of abuse and neglect on the developing brain, especially during infancy and early childhood. Much of this research is providing biological explanations for what practitioners...
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...Resilience and Child Maltreatment: Protective Factors and Measurements Substantial research exists on the impact that traumatic or stressful events such as maltreatment have on children (McClure, Chavez, Agars, Matosian, 2008). Maltreatment can be expressed in specific situations such as sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, neglect and exposure to violence (McClure, et al 2008; Afifi, MacMillan 2011). Multiple research have concluded that the exposure to such events bring about outcomes that can affect an individual's lifetime (Afifi, McMillan, 2011). Such outcomes include depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, impaired academic/occupational functioning, aggression, crime, violence, suicidal behavior, and inappropriate...
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...References 10-12 The topic of Child Welfare has a plethora of issues and problems that can be addressed to better serve the victims and families. In the Child Welfare profession, one of the biggest misconceptions is the agency wants to permanently remove children from their families and because of this many times Child Welfare workers receives constant ridicule and backlash for carrying out their job duties. In order to properly protect children, Child Welfare workers require a substantial amount of support from other local agencies, state and federal governments. Often in time, when working with families dealing with maltreatment, the individual committing the maltreatment has no idea that what they did was wrong. It is during the removal of the victim(s) and the court hearings where the perpetrator gains insight on what was wrong. In some situations, maltreating parents and guardians simply need help with learning how to cope differently with what is sometimes determined to be misguided anger. Research shows that if a parent or guardian has maltreated a child in the past they are likely to continue the maltreatment if there is no form of intervention and parents or guardians who were maltreated against as a child are likely to maltreat against a child. In the grand scheme of things, if there were programs geared to help new parents and repeat offenders of maltreatment to gain insight into maltreatment, there may be a reduction in the number of abuse and neglect cases reported....
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...office came from a high school. Kate was a 15 year old un-wed pregnant teenager. A new child abuse prevention program was implanted prior to my initial interview with Kate and given her age and circumstance, a referral to this program was warranted. In an effort to combat child abuse it will be imperative to start preventions immediately and consistently. Child abuse affects male and female children, all ages, ethnicities and socioeconomic background (Latz, ppt). The Texas family code defines abuse as: “An act or omission that endangers the child’s physical, mental or emotional health and development.” (Latz, ppt)....
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...Impact and Relationship of Substance Abuse and Child Maltreatment: Risk and Resiliency Factors What Research Tells Us Martha Morrison Dore, Ph.D. Columbia University School of Social Work 622 West 113th Street New York, New York 10027 212/854-5461 Paper prepared for presentation at the conference entitled “Protecting Children in Substance Abusing Families,” September 28, 1998, sponsored by the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare, University of Minnesota School of Social Work, Minneapolis, MN. Researchers are just beginning to demonstrate empirically what child protective services workers have been observing for nearly two decades now: many, if not most, families who come to the attention of the child welfare system are involved with drugs or alcohol or both. Founded cases of child abuse and neglect have risen exponentially since the mid-1980s, when the crack form of cocaine, a cheap, easily used form of the drug, became widely available. Studies conducted since that time have identified substance abuse as a contributing factor in 40% to 80% of substantiated cases of child maltreatment (Curtis & McCullough, 1993; Magura & Laudet, 1996; Murphy, Jellinek, Quinn, Smith, Poitrast, & Goshko, 1991). Further, studies of substance abusing parents have found child-rearing beliefs and attitudes that heighten risk for child abuse (Williams-Peterson et al., 1994), as well as elevated rates of first-time reports to child protective services (Jaudes & Ekwo, 1995), re-reports...
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...Child Abuse and Neglect 29 30 Dimensions and Critical Issues of Child Maltreatment in the African American Community: Causation, Consequences, and Prospects Presenter: Respondent: Joyce N. Thomas, R.N., M.P.H. Robert Pierce, Ph.D. Introduction African Americans, the largest minority population in the United States, suffer disproportionately from preventable diseases and deaths—(Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health, 1994). This statement from the Office of Minority Health not only captures the tragic problem of health related issues of African Americans, it also applies to the social welfare problems of these children and their families. Each year over 2,000 children die at the hands of their parents or caretakers (U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect, 1995). Abuse and neglect in the home are considered one of the leading causes of death for children four years of age and younger and the largest number of child abuse fatalities is due to severe head trauma. Homicide statistics are only part of the grim reality, with near–fatal abuse and neglect accounting for more than 18,000 permanently disabled children, and approximately 142,000 serious injuries (Baladerian, 1991). Findings from the report, A Nation’s Shame: Fatal Child Abuse and Neglect in the United States, indicate that African Americans are overrepresented in both fatalities and near–fatal injuries (U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect, 1995). Research shows that...
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...Child neglect, which is the most common form of maltreatment in the United States, has been repeatedly linked to an increased risk of delinquency. Recent studies about the link between abuse and delinquency present a very strong case for a strong connection between childhood abuse and neglect and later delinquent and criminal behavior. It is my belief and own personal experience, from growing up in the poverty-stricken areas of Chicago, that child neglect does lead to an increased risk of delinquency. This paper will analyze multiple past and current studies regarding the topic of Child Neglect and Juvenile Delinquency. A serious consequence of child maltreatment is an increased risk for crime and violence. In addition to the direct consequences...
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...The Impact Young children are a particularly vulnerable population for a variety of reasons and the impacts of trauma on these children can be lifelong (Zero to Three, 2012). During the early years, the brain undergoes dramatic development as it builds the circuits and processes which become the foundation for all other learning. While genetics provide the blueprint for brain development, it is everyday interactions and experiences with their parents and caregivers that help to shape how the brain becomes hardwired to learn and interact with the world around them (Harvard University, Center on the Developing Child, 2014). It is these early experiences, both good and bad, that shape the quality of brain development. Research shows that toxic...
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...Content The issue of child abuse and neglect is serious, controversial, and is escalating in today’s society. Many people are not aware, but child abuse is rampant in our society. Many child abuse and neglect cases go unreported because a person may not know the signs and symptoms of child abuse and neglect or perhaps the person or person may feel that this is an private issue and needs to be handle with in the home and no outsiders should be involved. Without the proper awareness of child abuse and neglect and the involvement of everyone this issue will continue to raise our eyebrows. In researching this topic, a title came up labeled "It shouldn't hurt to be a child". The title itself speaks volume when it comes to how our little children feel as it happens too often; it is little too late to for that young child who still have so much life ahead of them. Just goggling “child abuse cases” several came up whether it was a news article or a scholar article on child abuse prevention. This type of mistreatment towards our youth does have potential for youth to become juvenile delinquents. The problem is that the youth learns that behavior of child neglect and abuse is okay and acceptable because the one person they believe who loved them unconditional was this way toward them. It’s unfortunately that it may be too late before the youth realize this behavior should not be tolerate or acceptable and it set the child and family up for failure. The child behavior can lead to deviancy...
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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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...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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...Child maltreatment is an unfortunate reality that many social workers must confront during their career. The World Health Organization (2006) has classified child maltreatment into four categories: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional/psychological abuse and neglect (Butchart, Harvey, Mian, Furniss, & Kahane, 2006). Of the four, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) calls emotional abuse “the most challenging and prevalent form of child abuse and neglect…[which] negatively affects the child’s cognitive, social, emotional and/or physical development” (Hibbard et al., 2012). This paper will discuss the biological, psychological and social impacts of emotional abuse on development specific to middle childhood (ages 6-12), introduce...
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...and more likely to be criminals Child Abuse $30K – $200K Teen Pregnancy $120K – $138K High School Dropout $250K – $450K Illegal Drug Abuse $250K – $740K Alcohol Abuse $230K – $690K NOTES: The low-end present value figures reflect only tangible costs; the high-end figures add intangible costs. Because each bar includes individual and societal costs that may overlap with others, they cannot be tallied to produce a total. FIGURE 1 The researchers divide the societal costs of each outcome into two categories: tangible, which covers items such as prison beds that are easier to measure and calcuate in dollars; and intangible, which includes consequences like a crime victim’s pain and suffering that clearly have costs but must be estimated using more complex methods. The average per-person tangible costs, as described below, are substantial: Child Abuse: Societal costs for medical and mental health care and services such as foster care total more than $30,000 for a child who is abused. Teen Parenthood: When a teenager has a child, the nation pays $120,000 for expenses including medical care, social assistance programs and efforts to deal with higher rates of abuse and neglect among these young parents. High School Dropout: Adropout costs society $250,000 through lower earnings and benefits. Illegal Drug Abuse: Treatment, medical care and other societal costs caused by a drug abuser amount to $250,000. Alcohol abuse: Societal costs for an alcoholic, such...
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...Phenomenon of risky behavior: NSSI •Health behavior models and theories for understanding risky behavior Human behavior is complex and describing and predicting it continues to be a challenge in social science. Social influence, such as drugs, family, peers, media, has a great impact on development of negative behavior that would require intervention or prevention to make changes in health and behavioral habits by examining the behaviors of findings based on current research and theories /models of behavioral change. Per Heilbron et al. (2008) many current research focused on prevalent and risky group of self –harm behaviors that are growing mostly due to social, peer influence engaging in NSSI. Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is one of prevalent health behavior risks in pre-adolescence and adolescence, and many fields have offered theories and models that can be important applications for research on peer influence and change of behavior in NSSI groups for behavioral change (Heilbron et al. 2008). Behavioral theories of peer influence are one application to determine NSSI based on Social Cognitive Theory (SCT, originally social learning theory) (Ragin, 2011). Social cognitive theory (SCT) is the psychological model of behavior developed by the work of Albert Bandura (1977; 1986). SCT (Ragin (2011) suggests that cognitive processes are serious to the acquisition and regulation of behaviors, and individuals learn through modeling, direct operant reinforcement with methods...
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...10C - Child Maltreatment P3: Explain the factors that would lead to suspicion of child maltreatment or abuse. Child maltreatment, also referred to as child maltreatment and neglect, includes all the various forms of abuse ranging from physical, emotional and sexual abuse to neglect and exploitation. This type of abuse can result in the potential or actual harm to a child's health, there development and dignity. Physical Abuse: Physical abuse also defined as non-accidental trauma or physical injury, of which can be caused by punching, beating, kicking, biting, burning or harming the child. Physical abuse is the most visible and second most common form of child maltreatment. In most cases, physical abuse is the result of inappropriate or excessive physical discipline. The child's parent or caregiver may strike out in anger, unaware of the magnitude of the force in which they strike the child. There are other various factors which can contribute to child abuse; this includes the immaturity of the parent(s), lack of parenting skills, poor childhood experiences and social isolation, as well as drug or alcohol problems and domestic violence. Other signs that would lead to suspicion of child maltreatment or abuse include: ● Unexplained bruises ● Unexplained burns – this would include cigarette burns or immersion burns ● Unexplained fractures, lacerations or abrasions ● Swollen areas ● Evidence of delayed or inappropriate treatment for injuries ● Withdrawn...
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