The Many Faces of Child Abuse

The Many Faces of Child Abuse: Types, Causes, Warning Signs, Effects and Treatment

Fight Child Abuse by Empowering Yourself with Knowledge

What is child abuse? Child abuse is a term that generally refers to the mistreatment of a child by a parent or another adult. There is no standard definition however, as the term child abuse encompasses a broad range of harmful acts perpetrated against children. While the definition of child abuse is changing, it remains a very serious and widespread problem in our society.

There are several types of child abuse. One type of child abuse is that of emotional abuse. Yelling at a child, threatening a child, and calling that child names would be considered emotional abuse. Children who have been emotionally abused tend to remember the harmful words that were said to them much clearer than they would a spanking they may have received. Emotional abuse may not look as painful, but it can be just as painful if not more painful than physical abuse.

Another type of child abuse is that of physical abuse. This is typically what people think of when they hear the term "child abuse." The definition of physical abuse is any physical force or action that results in or may result in the non-accidental injury of a child. Physical abuse can come in the form of cigarette burns, grabbing a child too hard, strangulation, and spanking or hitting a child too hard. Physical abuse happens mainly to the children where the parents know that the children cannot fight back, such as with smaller, younger and handicapped children. No one knows how many instances of child abuse occur each year because many cases of child abuse are never reported. Physical child abuse is rarely ever reported so there is no way of knowing an exact number or even an estimate of how many children are actually abused. Children are frequently brought to emergency departments because of these injuries. Although the true incidence of intentional injury is unknown estimates have been made that up to 10% of childhood injuries presented to emergency departments are the result of child abuse.

Neglect is another type of child abuse. This form of child abuse occurs when a parent or caregiver fails to provide for the basic needs of a child. It is the most common form of child abuse. If a child does something wrong a parent could punish that child by not feeding him or her or by locking the child in a room for long periods of time. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) can in fact be a form of neglect. SIDS results from neglect when parents put their small infants in sleep environments that aren't suitable for the infants to sleep in. As a result, these infants die in their sleep. Another instance of neglect occurs due to lack of supervision. Most drowning deaths occur due to neglect as a result of improper supervision.

Sexual abuse is yet another form of child abuse. Pedophilia falls under the category of sexual abuse. Adults who are sexually attracted to children are called pedophiles. Children should be warned not to let people, even family members, touch them in ways that make them uncomfortable. Children should also be told to tell a trusted adult if they are sexually abused. Children really cannot help themselves in these situations because the offending adult will often threaten their lives or the lives of their family if they tell about the abuse.

Child trafficking is another form of sexual/physical abuse that is quite different. Child trafficking occurs when children are sold illegally for large amounts of money. The children are sold as labor slaves, sex slaves, or whatever the buyer wants the child to be. Human trafficking has always been a problem in some cultures but increased in the early 1990s, experts say.

Views about the causes of child abuse have changed through the years. Many social scientists once believed that only people with severe emotional problems would abuse children. However, studies indicate that most individuals who abuse children do not suffer from traditional psychiatric illnesses. Another common view is that abused children grow up to be abusive adults, a phenomenon referred to as the cycle of abuse. Research has shown, however, that abused children do not necessarily become abusers as adults. Today, many experts believe that child abuse is widespread because society regards physical punishment by parents as a reasonable way of modifying a child's behavior. Adults who hurt children sometimes only intend to correct them and do not realize how easily children can be injured. Stress is yet another reason for child abuse. Parents who are unemployed, extremely isolated, or under a great deal of stress for other reasons are more likely to abuse their children than parents who do not have such problems. The mentally handicapped and premature babies can also be a great stress on parents. Children who misbehave can often lead to stressing the parents and can therefore lead to abuse. There are group programs available to these parents that are undergoing these types of stresses so that they can deal with their issues properly and not take their anger out on their children.

Most abusers have similar traits. The vast majority of the time abusers are caregivers that are related to the child. For the children who are sexually abused, their abuser is usually a close relative or neighbor; someone that they spend a lot of time with. Abusers tend to be under a great deal of stress, unhappy, and are often times lonely. Abusers normally feel isolated, and could have been abused as children themselves. Mothers are more likely to emotionally and physically abuse than fathers, and fathers are more likely to sexually abuse their children than mothers.

There are signs of child abuse exhibited by abused children. Children develop a range of poorly adapted, anti-social and self-destructive behaviors as a way to cope with their abusive situations. Children who experience emotional abuse show certain signs. They are not close with their parents, they may show extremes in behavior, act inappropriate for their age (too adult or too infantile), and may even attempt suicide because of the abuse. Their emotional and physical development is often times delayed as well. Children who are subjected to physical abuse have very obvious signs that they may be being abused. The children will have bruises and other unexplained injuries, they will miss school and have fading bruises or other marks after an absence from school, the child will cower at the sight of their parents, and when it is time for these children to go home some will act afraid and may cry because they do not want to leave the safety of school. When a child is being neglected they may report that there is no one there for them, they may come to school unkempt, and they may steal from classmates as a way to survive and eat. Neglected children tend to have repeated absences, abuse alcohol or drugs, medical needs aren't being met most times, and these children may lack sufficient clothing for the weather (no jacket, inappropriate shoes, etc.). Sexually abused children will have problems sitting or walking, refuse to change for gym or participate in physical activities, have nightmares and wet the bed, and demonstrate generally bizarre, sophisticated or unusual sexual knowledge or behavior.

Child abuse doesn't stop at the event unfortunately. Children experience short and long-term effects as a result of the abuse they experience. The short-term effects include feelings of guilt and violation. These children will sometimes feel that the abuse is their fault. Children feel out of control and worry about being abused again. School performance suffers because of truancy and concentration problems and the child's self-esteem is negatively affected. Because of the fear they feel at doing something to trigger an "attack" these children will lose their sense of curiosity and wUnfortunately the system of dealing with child abuse today has some major pitfalls. ``The whole structure of the way the child-protective system works is extremely challenging because it waits for children to be abused and neglected and then pours resources in, trying to fix the problem,'' said David Sanders, executive vice president for systems improvement at Casey Family Programs and former DCFS director. "The best thing to do is to actually try and prevent abuse and neglect in the first place." Hopefully someone listens to Mr. Sanders soon.

All hope is not lost for victims of child abuse. There are several options available to treat abused children so that they may lead healthy, "normal" lives. One such treatment option is called trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy. This was originally developed to treat sexually abused children, but is now used for victims of any kind of trauma. It targets trauma-related symptoms in children including Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), clinical depression, and anxiety. Another treatment option is called abuse-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, and it was designed for children who have experienced physical abuse. It targets externalizing behaviors and strengthens pro-social behaviors. Offending parents are included in treatment, to improve parenting skills and practices. A third treatment option is child-parent psychotherapy and it was designed to improve the child-parent relationship following the experience of domestic violence. It targets trauma-related symptoms in infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, including PTSD, aggression, defiance, and anxiety.

Child abuse is a serious problem that must be understood. There is no one single definition or treatment. Regardless, knowing more about this all-encompassing topic is important. Knowledge is power and in order to combat this wide-spread problem a great deal of power will be needed. Hopefully, with more time, this is an issue that will dissipate so that all of our society's children can feel safe and confident.

Resources:

Anderson, Troy. "Cost of Preventing Child Abuse Rising." Daily News of Los Angeles 29 Jan 2008: Valley, p A3

Brown, Sarah D., Brack, Greg, & Mullis, Frances. "Traumatic Symptoms in Sexually Abused Children: Implications for School Counselors." Aug 2008, Vol. 11 Issue 6, p368-379
Iwasaki, John. "Human Trafficking Increasing Worldwide." Seattle Post-Intelligencer 5 Aug 2008: News Section, p.B1
Gupta, Anna. "Responses to child neglect." Community Care 19 June 2008: 1712, p 24-25

Lombardi, Kate Stone. "A Surge in Reports of Abuse." New York Times 16 Dec 2007: Westchester Weekly Deskill stop trying new things. The end result is that of a child that never reaches their full intellectual potential. Long-term effects include aggression lasting into adulthood, adult depression, and problematic social relations later in life and while holding future jobs. Abused children are more likely to choose abusive adult relationships or become abusers themselves. Some of the other long-lasting emotional and behavioral problems resulting from childhood abuse include eating disorders, substance abuse, compulsive sexual behaviors, and excessive thrill seeking/dangerous behaviors that put the life of the adult subjected to the past abuse into unnecessary jeopardy.

The fight against child abuse continues on today. At present, state child welfare experts investigate abuse cases and counsel families of abused children. There are support programs available for abused children and abusive parents. Parent support programs, such as Parents Anonymous, child and family support centers, and other professional services can help relieve many of the stresses that lead to abuse. In extreme cases of child abuse, a juvenile court may remove a child from the home and place the child in a foster home or other type of out-of-home care facility to ensure the child's safety.

Richey, Warren. "Child-abuse claims vs. parent's rights." The Christian Science Monitor 12 June 2008

Tollefson, Derrik R. "Child abuse." World Book Advanced. 2008. 22 Oct. 2008
Walling, Anne D. "Checklist Improves Awareness of Child Abuse." American Family Physician 15 Aug 2002: Vol. 66 Issue 4,