Download CHILD ABUSEb 2004

CHILD ABUSE
Child Abuse
Child abuse represents one of the
most significant risk factors to the
psychological well-being of
children and its effects may endure
through adolescence and
adulthood.
READINGS
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Wenar, C. & Kerig, P. (2000)“Risk factors
in the family context: Child maltreatment
and divorce” in Developmental
Psychopathology (pp. 303-311). Singapore:
McGraw-Hill
LECTURE QUESTIONS
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What are the different types of abuse?
How is abuse constructed in legal, social and
psychological terms?
How does child abuse link with woman abuse?
What are the longer and shorter term effects of
child abuse and what factors influence whether
they occur?
What risk and protective factors may influence
whether physical child abuse occurs?
What is the debate over Section 59?
Types of child abuse
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Child sexual abuse-includes non contact abuse,
contact abuse and involving child in pornography
Emotional abuse- includes rejection, isolation,
oppression, threats, humiliation, corruption
Neglect- includes failure to provide necessities for
health, lack of supervision, medical neglect,
abandonment and refusal to assume parental
responsibility
Physical abuse- inflicitng range of physical injuries
Exposure to domestic violence- allowing child to
witness violence between parents
Prevalence of child abuse
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Sources- CYFS & Women’s Refuge referrals,
hospital admissions, surveys, police records
CYFS abuse referrals 1999-2000 26 588,
substantiated 9 385 and in 1998-9 by type:
Sexual abuse:
1 375
Physical Abuse:
1 660
Emotional Abuse: 1 414
Women’s Refuge Stats (1998)
6 984 women with 9 487 children
sought help from a Women’s Refuge
Understandings of physical child
abuse
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Lay-pieced together from popular culture, family
values, education programmes
Legal -what constitutes rights of parents versus
rights of children,‘reasonable force’
Social -e.g., social disadvantage, society’s tolerance
for violence
Psychological- inadequacy of parents,
characteristics of child
Feminist-power, dominance & authority over child
as well as mother as in wider social imbalances
Confounds in theory, research, practice
Physical child abuse
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CYFS: “any act or acts that result in inflicted injury
to a child or young person”, such as:
Bruises & welts
Cuts and abrasions
Fractures or sprains
Abdominal injuiries
Head injuries
Injuries to internal organs
Strangulation or suffocation
Poisoning
Burns or scalds
Links with woman abuse
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Estmates around 50% of families (Straus & Gelles)
Beaten mothers twice as likely to abuse children
(Straus & Gelles) but Walker study battered women,
53% of fathers, 28% of mothers
More severe abuse of mother, more severe that of
child
Abuse of child may be tactic for control and
dominance over mother
Some children may incur abuse when attempt to
intervene to defend or protect mother
My research- more than half students reporting
physical abuse said also observed parental violence
Shorter term effects
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Physical and neurological: fractures, internal damage
to organs, brain damage, impairments to sight and
hearing, restriction of growth
Emotional: anxiety, depression, overly compliant,
uncontrolled anger, attachment problems
Social: aggression, withdrawal, hypervigilance,
pseudomature, oppositional, peer problems, empathy
Psychosomatic: bed-wetting, tantrums, eating or sleep
problems
Cognitive and language problems-poor achievement
Psychological: low self worth, self efficacy
Longer term effects
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Higher risk of teenage delinquency, aggression,
domestic violence, child abuse, domestic abuse in
adolescence & adulthood
Higher risk of self-injury, suicide, anxiety,
depression, somatic symptoms
Possible problems with intimate relationships
Possible long term educational consequences
Most children will NOT endure lasting effects
Links to psychological problems
in adulthood
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Read (2003): links to psychotic disorders in
adulthood (child sexual abuse)
Briere (1997): child sexual abuse most powerful
predictor of later psychiatric symptoms and disorders
Post traumatic stress disorder, depression,
suicidality, anxiety, substance abuse
Violence victimisation in adulthood (physical and
sexual child abuse)
Violent behaviour in adulthood (emotional and
physical abuse)
Links to eating disorders (tentative)
What makes the difference?
Frequency and severity of abuse
 Co-occurrence of other types of abuse
 Other contextual risk factors (parental
problems, parent-child relationship etc)
 Whether child subjected to multiple
placements
 Presence of resiliency or protective factors
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Risk factors: child
Young
 Premature or low birth weight
 Developmental delay
 Poor physical health
 Difficult temperament
 Aggressive
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Risk factors: parents
Young
 Abusive histories
 Unrealistic expectations of child
 Limited knowledge of child development
 Psychological problems esp substance
abuse
 Poor coping skills
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Risk factors: relational
Poor parent-child attachment
 Inconsistent discipline
 Problems in marital relationship
 Power/intimacy problems
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Risk Factors: Social
Poor social support network
 High family stress
 Social disadvantage
 Crowded living conditions
 Isolation
 Poor connection extended family
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Protective factors
Child’s age, lack of neuro. injury, easy
temperament, intelligent, positive self
esteem, good functioning level
 Positive relationship non abusing adult/s
 Low family stress, absence of financial
worries
 Access to good social support
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‘Spare the rod’: Section 59
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Should parents retain the right to physically punish
their children using ‘reasonable force’
What is ‘reasonable force’- different juries have
different notions
Research evidence- compelling links between
physical punishment and child abuse, domestic
violence (Children’s Issues Centre lit.review).
BUT: Abuse history is not a prescription for adult
violence
Checkpoint
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What different abuse terms mean and how abuse
variously constructed
Links of child abuse to other forms of violence
Effects of physical child abuse
What risk and protective factors are
What the issues are in the debate
about repealing Section 59 of the
Crimes Act and how research
literature can inform it