Poly-Victimization of Children: Disability as a Risk Factor and Adverse Impacts Essay

Introduction

Child poly-victimization or exposure of a child to multiple types of victimization has always been on the rise. In fact, it is estimated that about 83% of adolescents have at least experienced one type of victimization during their lives, and polyvictims have experienced more than four domains of victimization (Pereda, Guilera & Abad, 2014). Sadly, a majority of the poly-victimization are children with disabilities (Turner, 2018). The various forms of victimization that these children are exposed to include childhood sexual abuse, neglect, bullying, domestic violence, community and gang violence, terrorism and cyberbullying. Disability increases the risk of a child to poly-victimization that ultimately lead to detrimental and potentially lifelong biopsychosocial impacts on an individual.

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Child Disability as a Risk to Poly-Victimization

Many scholars who have examined the issue of poly-victimization agree that disability exposes children to more forms of abuse. For example, Chan, Emery, and Ip (2016) cited that children with disabilities were more likely experience various forms of abuse than their counterparts and that in fact 32% to 60% of those children have encountered maltreatment with a possibility of experiencing further lifetime physical maltreatment at a rate of 1.6 times more compared to children without disability. Likewise, World Health Organization (2018) established that children with disabilities are 3.7 times more likely to fall, victims of any sort of violence, 3.6 times more likely to experience physical violence, and 2.9 more times likely to be sexually abused. But how does disability associate or relate to poky-victimization? This is perhaps the most important question that needs to be answered to understand how disability acts as a risk or exposure to the victimization of a minor.

According to World Health Organization (2018), disability comes along with stigma and discrimination which largely increase the chances of abuse to a child. For instance, a majority of children with disabilities are placed in care institutions where violence vulnerability is high. In such settings as well as other places where children with disabilities can be kept, disabled minors with communication impairments have difficulties in disclosing abusive experiences which makes it hard for preventive measures to be initiated and thus continue to ensure more victimization in their lifetime (World Health Organization, 2018). These settings create a conducive environment where multiple victimizations can take place without being noticed.

Moreover, different types of disabilities make a child vulnerable to multiple types of victimization at the same time. For instance, attention-deficit disorder increases the chance of a child to property crime and peer victimization. Similarly, internalizing psychological disorders increase the chance of sexual victimization and child maltreatment, while learning or developmental disorders elevate the risk for property crime (Turner, Vanderminden, Finkelhor, Hamby & Shattuck, 2011). These intriguing findings suggest that disabilities related to behavioral and interpersonal difficulties are strong risk factors that enhance the vulnerability of a child to victimization. For example, a child with internalizing disorders such as anxiety may be more vulnerable to sexual victimization because his or her ability to negotiate for safe sexual interactions is impeded. Likewise, physical disabilities, as well as developmental disorders, act as signals to the perpetrators who find such individuals weak and easy targets of various forms of victimization such as bullying or sexual harassment (Turner et al., 2011).

Adverse Impacts of Poly-Victimization for Children with Disabilities

Polyvictims, whether children with disabilities or not, bear several consequences for their victimization immediately or later in life. In general, the most common consequences of child poly-victimization include longlasting effects on mental health, risky sexual behavior, drug and alcohol misuse, criminal behavior and obesity (Rashford, Lorraine, Corra, Bradely & Fisher, 2014).

However, poly-victimization can adversely impact on the children with disabilities more than non-disabled. Disabled children who experience poly-victimization are more likely to suffer detrimental lifelong biopsychosocial impacts (Ford & Delker, 2018). For instance, young children who experience poly-victimization are most likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Ford & Delker, 2018). If this occurs in children with communication disorders, it may severely affect their development because it would be difficult to diagnose and treat. Exposure of children with disabilities to multiple victimizations during their early years can elevate the risk of developing disruptive behavior problems. For example, a toddler with executive function problems can develop disruptive behavior problem if expected to various forms of abuse at early years of development (Ford & Delker, 2018).

Although disabled children may often encounter difficulties in reporting repeated victimizations whether, in care institutions or other public places such as schools, the abuse has a way of influencing them to develop adaptations to handle the issue. In most cases, multiple victimizations which are repeated cause trauma-related coping adaptations that were elicited in the first case of victimization (Ford & Delker, 2018). For example, an abused child may shift from hypervigilance to threat avoidance as a means to cope self-protection. Such coping is associated with stress reactions that arise when arousal exceed adaptive capacities (Ford, 2013). Therefore, a polyvictim stands at risk for complex post-traumatic dysregulation in multiple areas including affective, biological, behavioral and cognitive.

Apart from biopsychosocial impacts, poly-victimization can also contribute to other negative outcomes on the children that are abused including less positive school engagement. For example, when disabled children fall vulnerable to peer victimization at school as well as sexual harassment, they are likely to develop negative attitudes towards school. Negative attitudes towards school may lead to further consequences such as absenteeism or low motivation to participate in learning activities. It also affects learner's interaction with peers and such an individual may never develop cooperative skills. All these factors can eventually lead to poor academic performance and the polyvictim ends up as a school dropout who later engages in crime, drug, and substance abuse and unemployment (Voisin & Elsaesser, 2013). In other words, poly-victimization of a minor can have a lasting effect on the life of that individual which may be a total ruin.

Conclusion

Although disability is not by anyone's choice, it has been allowed to act as a risk factor for poly-victimization of disabled children which has, in turn, led to a myriad of long-lasting negative effects on the affected individual. Disabled children are victimized by a number of perpetrators ranging from their caretakers in care institutions to peers in public places such as schools. At care institutions, disabled children are under the hands of caretakers who may consciously subject them to various forms of abuse from time to time exploiting their inability to speak up for help. In schools, their peers exploit their weaknesses to express or negotiate and bully them. Any form of victimization to disabled children has a negative impact on an individual as a whole. Most common impacts manifest in biopsychosocial effects that affect the mental well-being of the child. By extension, the polyvictim may find it difficult to cope up with abuse and this can affect academic performance which further ruins their lives.

References

Chan, K. L., Emery, C. R., & Ip, P. (2016). Children with disability are more at risk of violence victimization: evidence from a study of school-aged Chinese children. Journal of interpersonal violence, 31(6), 1026-1046.

Ford, J. D. (2013). How can self-regulation enhance our understanding of trauma and dissociation? Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 3(4), 25.

Ford, J. D., & Delker, B. C. (2018). Polyvictimization in childhood and its adverse impacts across the lifespan: Introduction to the special issue. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 3(4), 23.

Pereda, N., Guilera, G., & Abad, J. (2014). Victimization and polyvictimization of Spanish children and youth: Results from a community sample. Child Abuse & Neglect, 38(4), 640-649.

Rashford, Lorraine, Corra, S., Bradely, C., & Fisher, H. (2014). Victimization, polyvictimization and deliquency among children and young adults in the UK. Criminology, 47 (1). Pp. 59-83.

Turner, H. (2018). Poly-victimization Among Children and Youth with Disabilities. [online] Calio.dspacedirect.org. Available at: https://calio.dspacedirect.org/handle/11212/2466 [Accessed 31 Oct. 2018].

Turner, H. A., Vanderminden, J., Finkelhor, D., Hamby, S., & Shattuck, A. (2011). Disability and victimization in a national sample of children and youth. Child maltreatment, 16(4), 275-286.

Voisin, D. R., & Elsaesser, C. M. (2013). Pathways from polyvictimization to youth problem behaviors: The critical role of school engagement. International Journal of Higher Education, 2(4), 15.

World Health Organization (2018). WHO | Children with disabilities more likely to experience violence. [online] Who.int. Available at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/notes/2012/child_disabilities_violence_20120712/en/ [Accessed 31 Oct. 2018].