Essay Sample on Child Abuse & Neglect: Impact on Well-Being & Health

Introduction

Child abuse and neglect are defined as behaviors by parents or caregivers as well as other adults, which is considered unethical and has a significant risk in causing emotional or physical harm to a young person (Gould, Clarke, Heim, Harvey, Majer & Nemeroff, 2012). The behavior by parents could be intentional or unintentional or consist of acts of omission and commission(Gould et al., 2012). Child abuse and neglect experience significantly affects a child's well-being and health and could have adverse effects in adulthood (Gould et al., 2012). The consequences of child abuse and neglect for adult economic outcomes remain unfocused. Understanding the long term effects of child abuse and neglect is essential as the causes of abuse and neglect could be unintentional and, therefore, could be avoided and curb the long term effects. The following assignment examines the long term effects of child abuse and neglect.

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History and Background

Child maltreatment, which is the abuse and neglect of children, presents a global problem. Child maltreatment is often classified into four types, which are sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect (Norman, Byambaa, De, Butchart, Scott & Vos, 2012). Most cases of child abuse and neglect have been associated with parents who have experienced child abuse and neglect (Norman et al., 2012). Other causes of neglect and abuse include poverty, alcohol abuse, and mental health problems. Most cases of child abuse and neglect are rarely hidden, resulting in uncertainty on the severity and frequency of child abuse and neglect. The World Health Organisation (WHO) approximated that 20 % of women and around 10% of men have been abused as children while childhood physical abuse prevails at 25-50 %( Norman et al., 2012).

Child abuse and neglect can have devastating consequences. Over the last 30 years, the effects of child abuse and neglect have been described in the cognitive, physical, behavioral, and psychological development of children(Gould et al., 2012). Physical effects include minor injuries, severe brain damage, and, in some cases, death. Psychological consequences include chronic low self-esteem, while cognitive effects involve learning disorders and attentional problems. Behavioral outcomes are evidenced by violent behaviors (Gould et al., 2012). Several complexities hinder understanding of factors and mitigation of child abuse and neglect, such as the fact that the majority of children fail to show signs of disturbance.

As a significant public health concern, a better understanding of child abuse and neglect and their long term effect on a child's health is essential in informing prevention strategies and enhance counseling or treatment of victims.

Statistics

In the United States, approximately 3.2 million cases of child maltreatment and 794 000 cases of child abuse or neglect were reported in 2007 (Currie & Spatz Widom, 2010). During the same year, 1760 children were reported to have died due to child abuse or neglect (Currie & Spatz Widom, 2010). Along with these statistics, it was reported that abuse and neglect at an early age increased the negative consequences for children in the context of functioning and development, including social, psychiatric, behavioral, interpersonal functioning, and academic(Currie & Spatz Widom, 2010).

Long Term Effects of Child Abuse and Neglect

Currie and Spatz Widom (2010) highlighted that victims of child abuse and neglect experience economic consequences. Cases of abuse and neglect were reported to be high in families with low socioeconomic status (Currie & Spatz Widom, 2010). The effects on employment, education, wages, occupation, and assets are significant and consequential with abuse and neglect experiences contributing to reduced peak earning capacity of close to $5000 annually (Currie & Spatz Widom, 2010). Child abuse also contributes to physical health problems like chronic diseases and limited activity on employment, which is an addition to associated psychological costs (Currie & Spatz Widom, 2010). Other associated costs of child abuse and neglect are prevention costs approximated at $4000 annually per child (Currie & Spatz Widom, 2010).

Child abuse and neglect have also been reported to disrupt healthy emotional development (Young & Widom, 2014). Abusing parents exhibit less positive emotions and higher negative emotions when compared to non-abusive parents. Abusive parents also tend to isolate their children from social interactions creating an environment with fewer non-parental models that are crucial for emotional communication and development (Young & Widom, 2014). Young and Widom (2014) also asserted that children experiencing abuse and neglect have difficulties in predicting the effects of their behaviors, which is mostly manifested in decreased processing of emotional information.

There is an increased risk for poor academic performance and intelligence for victims of child abuse and neglect in childhood, and these impacts may extend to adulthood (Young & Widom, 2014). as such, there are deficits in performance o processing tasks as there is a general deficit in intelligence. Further, psychological effects arising from child abuse and neglect may affect emotional processing in adulthood, where adults who have experienced abuse and neglect at childhood have anxiety disorders (Young & Widom, 2014).

Another notable long term effect is the increased risk of depression (Young & Widom, 2014). Abused children will, therefore, have challenges in recognizing emotions due to higher depression levels and deficits in regulating emotions (Young & Widom, 2014). Masten et al. (2008), as cited by Young and Widom (2014), argued that child abuse is related to post-traumatic disorder as victims of abuse and neglect at childhood have difficulties in identifying fearful situations.

Young and Widom (2014) asserted that in addition to internalizing consequences, victims of child abuse and neglect had been associated with externalizing traits such as antisocial behaviors. Intergenerational transmission of abuse and neglect is another long term effect of experiencing childhood abuse as most adults go on to abuse and neglect their children (Gelkopf, 2018). Other notable effects include victimization, physical and mental health problems, suicidal behaviors, alcohol and drug abuse, violence, aggression, and criminal behavior.

Social Justice Consideration

Social justice is all about the moral undertaking to ensure that people are treated equally and that resources are distributed evenly. Governments have a moral and economic imperative to provide intervention policies and strategies to child abuse and neglect menace. The risks faced by deprived children can be considered as a social justice challenge. Abuse and neglect at an early stage is a prevailing indicator of adult mental disorders, violent behavior, and physical illnesses, among other long term effects. Gelkopf (2018) identified socioeconomic inequality as predisposing factors to the adverse impacts in adulthood. Abuse and neglect do not occur in a vacuum but rather within a social context, which sets the probability of exposure (Gelkopf, 2018). As such, long term effects of child abuse and neglect are augmented by economic and social factors. Child abuse and neglect beget social problems. In a fair economy where social justice prevails, causes of child abuse and neglect can be mitigated through effective measures such a government intervention and investment in prevention measures.

Conclusion

In conclusion, child abuse and neglect have social and economic effects that extend to adulthood. Contributing factors can be mitigated through measures such as compelling social care programs to help unprivileged families.

References

Currie, J., & Spatz Widom, C. (2010). Long-term consequences of child abuse and neglect on adult economic well-being. Child maltreatment, 15(2), 111-120.

Gelkopf, M. (2018). Social Injustice and the Cycle of Traumatic Childhood Experiences and Multiple Problems in Adulthood. JAMA network open, 1(7), e184488-e184488.

Gould, F., Clarke, J., Heim, C., Harvey, P. D., Majer, M., & Nemeroff, C. B. (2012). The effects of child abuse and neglect on cognitive functioning in adulthood. Journal of psychiatric research, 46(4), 500-506.

Norman, R. E., Byambaa, M., De, R., Butchart, A., Scott, J., & Vos, T. (2012). The long-term health consequences of child physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS medicine, 9(11).

Young, J. C., & Widom, C. S. (2014). Long-term effects of child abuse and neglect on emotion processing in adulthood. Child abuse & neglect, 38(8), 1369-1381.