Children Who Have Experienced Abuse - Research Paper Sample

Introduction

Children with any given society should receive critical care and health necessities without encountering different neglect and abuse forms. Notably, despite having mechanisms to ensure that children are protected from abuse and neglect, the cases still exists within communities. Children get exposed to diverse forms of abuse and neglect, such as emotional, physical, sexual abuse, which significantly affects their physical and psychological well-being as they grow. Equally, children in various environments could get neglect by their parents and care providers, depriving them of safety, healthcare, clothing, housing, and educational needs. Moreover, multiple theories persist in explaining the concepts of child abuse and neglect in the society including labeling, psychoanalytic, environmental, social learning, and cognitive development. Nevertheless, children exposed to abuse and neglects experiences physical and mental developmental challenges and well-being. Hence, leading to psychological problems such as high-risk behaviors, including aggressiveness, low self-esteem, and substance use. Therefore, child maltreatment occurs in different forms that impact an individual’s development and well-being.

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Child Abuse

Child abuse occurs when parent or caregiver’s activities lead to injuries and exposure of the child to harm, including physical and emotional or failing to act, resulting in associated danger. However, child abuse occurs in various forms, such as exploitation, neglect, physical, sexual and emotional abuse (World Health Organization, 1986). For instance, physical abuse happens when children get exposed to risks to different types of body harm actions that result in physical injuries such as assaults (Merrick & Guinn, 2018). Activities leading to physical injuries of caregivers include punching, kicking, shaking, and pushing, causing cuts and bruises, causing pain to the child. Moreover, emotional abuse occurs a child experience rejection and ignoring a child's opinion leading to unwanted attitudes and showing limited interest in children (Merrick & Guinn, 2018). Equally, the child's humiliation through criticizing, demeaning, and calling different unfriendly names leads to psychological torture (Banyard et al., 2017). On the same note, isolation of a child from peers and the rest of the siblings by parents or caregivers results in emotional abuse.

Sexual abuse among the children occurs when adults, including the parents and care providers, engage and use the child for sexual functions or make the child participate in sexual activities, resulting in various negative impacts. According to Merrick and Guinn (2018), sexual abuse among the children occurs in different ways such as exploitation, luring children to view sex act in live activities or pornographic videos, and penetrations. Equally, constant and non-contact, oral sex and fondling, together with inappropriate talks about sex, occur as sexual abuse among the children.

Child Neglect

Child neglect occurs when children are denied care, support, affection, and supervision by the care providers and parents, limiting their access to quality well-being, health care, and safety. Child neglect happens in diverse types such as educational, emotional, physical, and health care (Hirschy & Wilkinson, 2009). For example, children require emotional support, affection, and attention while growing (World Health Organization, 1986). Notably, keeping the child from the social environment through isolation and encouraging children to participate in substance abuse and crimes occur as critical emotional neglect by parents and caregivers (Merrick & Guinn, 2018). Furthermore, children need care in health, supervisor for safety, food, clothing, and shelter. Merrick and Guinn (2018) argue that physical neglect happens when such a requirement is inadequate to the child through deserting or refusal to offer necessary care by parents and care providers. Nevertheless, exposing children to unsafe environments and having limited supervision on the children occur as physical neglect.

Educational neglect involves permitting the child to miss schools without substantial reasons such as sickness or family issues. In such a situation, the parent or the caregiver offers little effort to follow up on school absenteeism leading to negligence (Hirschy & Wilkinson 2009). Equally, parents keep children home without rolling them or offering home-based education facilities, and services occur as learning neglect. According to Merrick and Guinn (2018), medical neglect persists when care providers and parents cannot provide the child with vital medication for illness and injuries. Besides, medical negligence manifests through parents declining to take their children to hospitals and keeping children away from appropriate health care procedures (Merrick & Guinn, 2018). On the same note, parents' and caregivers' healthcare neglect occur in failure to offer significant assistance following medical recommendations and prescriptions (Hirschy & Wilkinson, 2009). Nevertheless, medical care negligence occur when parents and care providers fail to provide dental and preventive medical care, leading to severe conditions.

Psychoanalytic Theory

The model argues that unconscious parental motives and conflicts are a significant determinant of abusive behavior while offering parenting roles and care to the children. Furthermore, the theory explains that abusive traits fundamentally originate from the parents' and caregivers' state of mental and psychological troubles (Newberger et al., 1982). Newberger et al. (1982) explain that, when an individual undergoes various forms of abuse and violence at an early age, such a person possesses high chances getting involved in different activities lead to child abuse compared to those who encountered limited or no abuse and violence.

Social Theory

The model argues that various social factors result in aggressive behaviors towards the children under the care, leading to child abuse and neglect activities. As per Newberger et al. (1982), the social issues affecting the parents and care providers, such as stress and depression, would yield some aggression towards a child. Furthermore, the nature of interaction within the family and community's social system contributes to child abuse if the parent and caregiver are affected negatively in both psychological and physical perspectives (Newberger et al., 1982). Equally, when the abuser gets isolated and lacks support from family and society, the abuse increases towards children in the surrounding. However, the social learning approach explains that child abuse occurs as learned traits through interaction in environments. As a result, violence originates from the family’s or community’s orientations.

Environmental Theory

The approach suggests that child abuse occurs due to the stress originating from social and environmental surroundings. A life full of stress initiating factors such as unemployment, violence, poverty, and unavailability of adequate housing among the parents and care providers would result in abusive orientations (Newberger et al., 1982). According to Newberger et al. (1982), ecological systems include macro, micro, and ecosystems, which define the aggressive behaviors leading to child abuse activities. Furthermore, diverse issues found in the family environmental context that occur as overwhelming leadings to living under stressful life causes interference with caregivers and parent's capability to provide critical care for the children leading to neglect and abuse.

Labeling Theory

The concept argues that social inequality persists as the primary factor for the parents and caregiver to participate in actions leading to child abuse. As per Newberger et al. (1982), the dominant groups' interests and actions in society defines the marginalized groups whose challenges facilitate child abuse activities while trying to assist the professional. As a result, despite all socioeconomic classes experiencing domestic violence, individuals living in the lower-class experience higher child abuse (Newberger et al., 1982). Moreover, the cognitive-developmental model argues that child abuse originates from the existing egocentricity of the caregiver and parent's comprehension of the children and their role in providing the necessary care (Newberger et al., 1982). The approach explains that parents view children's developmental level, and their roles result in abuse and neglect.

Impacts of Abuse on Child’s Development and Wellbeing

Mental and physical harms caused by children’s exposure and reaction to neglect and abuse have lifelong impacts on the child's well-being and development. As a result, childhood abuse and neglect are critically associated with behavioral, psychological, and physical outcomes, affecting how the adults behave and relate with others in the family and community (Banyard et al., 2017). Psychical health results from neglect and abuse significantly contribute to different disorders due to affected body parts, including the brain, negatively impacting a child's development. According to Banyard et al. (2017), child abuse and neglect result in brain damage, back problems, lung infections, and migraine headaches, to name a few, which imposes challenges to the children's growth. Moreover, children who experienced maltreatment have a high chance of having psychological problems (Hirschy & Wilkinson, 2009). For example, disrupted brain functions would impair cognitive skills, working memory, flexibility, and self-control (Hirschy & Wilkinson, 2009).

On the same note, childhood maltreatment results in poor emotional and mental health, leading to depression and anxiety in adult stages, negatively impacting their well-being and development. Besides, children that experienced abuse and neglect possess high chances of developing social challenges and attachment issues. Hirschy and Wilkinson (2009), argue that attachment conditions negatively impact social, peer, and romantic associations later in life, which affects their development and well-being. Similarly, children's maltreatment results in post-traumatic stress, leading to conditions such as avoiding particular places, events, people, guilt, shame, and fear within the family or community level (Sousa et al., 2018). Such actions affect an individual's happiness and development.

Conclusion

Child neglect and abuse result in various behavioral consequences that affect the child in the adolescent and adulthood stages. Banyard et al. (2017) explain that abused and neglected children engage in unhealthy sexual behaviors such as early initiation, multiple sexual partners, and some transactional sexual activities which put their lives in danger. Furthermore, maltreatment among the children leads to juvenile delinquency, which results in adults engaging in diverse criminal activities (Hirschy & Wilkinson, 2009). On the same note, neglected and abused children have a high degree of participating substance abuse and taking alcohol in the adult stage, which affects their well-being within the family and society.