Break The Chain Series; Child Abuse (Concluding Part)
Here is the concluding part of the series on Child Abuse. If you did not get to read the first part or you need to refresh, please check it here. Now, let's go on to see other forms of abuse children are susceptible to.
Physical Abuse
Physical abuse has been a normal aspect of domestic life for a long time. Physical assaults that would be serious criminal offenses if committed by one man against another - for instance, hitting, slapping, or striking with an object - have been legally and socially sanctioned when committed by a man against his wife and child, or by parents against their children. Today, incidents of domestic violence committed against both women and children remain at epidemic proportions, although there is increasing recognition of the prevalence and harms of violence against women and children.
Whilst community attitudes to violence against women and children have changed for the better, many policy-makers have failed to outlaw physical assaults against children by caregivers. According to the 2007 report of the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children, a number of countries have failed to prohibit violence against children, and have failed to commit to legislative reform. In particular, the legal defences of "reasonable correction" and "reasonable chastisement" are still available to adults who are charged with violent offenses against children in many jurisdictions.
How many children are physically abused? A large sample of American families found that 2.4% of children had been kicked, bitten, punched, beaten up, burned, scalded, or threatened or attacked with a knife or a gun by their parents. An additional 8.5% had been hit with an object by their parents.
Characteristics of parents who physically abuse children
Characteristics of physically abused children Boys and girls are equally likely to be physically assaulted by their parents, and whilst research suggests that physical abuse peaks when children are aged 4 to 8 years old, physical assault resulting in death occurs most often to infants and toddlers.
Signs in Childhood
Physically abused children find it difficult relating to their peers and the adults around them. The constant threat of violence at home makes them perpetually vigilant and mistrustful, and they may be overly domineering and aggressive in their attempts to predict and control other people's behaviour. They are also vulnerable to "emotional storms", or instances of overwhelming emotional responses to everyday situations. These "storms" can take the form of profound grief, fear, or rage.
Physically abused children may also have problems with:
Signs in Adulthood
Adults physically abused in childhood are at increased risk of either aggressive and violent behaviour, or shy and avoidant behaviour leading to rejection or re-victimisation. This polarised behaviour is often driven by hyper-vigilance and the anticipation of threat and violence even in everyday situations. Men with a history of physical abuse in childhood are particularly prone to violent behaviour. Physically abused men are over-represented amongst violent and sexual offenders.
Family Violence
Family violence, or domestic violence, usually
refers to the physical assault of children and women by male relatives, usually a father and husband/partner. In these situations, a man uses violence to control his partner and children, often in the belief that violence is a male prerogative ("I'm a guy, I can't control myself"), or that his victims are responsible for his behaviour ("You brought it on yourself"). Whilst women may also be perpetrators of family violence, they are usually "fighting back" against a physically abusive partner, and it is unusual for violent women to inflict the same scale of harm as violent men.
Who commits domestic violence?
Research overwhelmingly suggests that family violence is enacted by men against women and children. Whilst women can and do commit violent offences within families, rates of female-initiated violence are much lower than male violence, and it is rarely as severe and brutal.
Signs in childhood
A child witnessing family violence, and domestic violence, is at risk of:
Signs in adulthood
Adults exposed to domestic violence as children can carry with them a legacy of trauma-related symptoms and developmental delays. Women who grew up in an environment of family violence are more likely to be victimised in adulthood, whilst men who grew up in a violent environment are more likely to commit violent offences in adulthood.
Sexual Abuse
Sexual abuse describes any incident in which an adult engages a minor in a sexual act, or exposes the minor to inappropriate sexual behaviour or material. Sexual abuse also describes any incident in which a child is coerced into sexual activity by another child. A person may sexually abuse a child using threats and physical force, but sexual abuse often involves subtle forms of manipulation, in which the child is coerced into believing that the activity is an expression of love, or that the child brought the abuse upon themselves. Sexual abuse involves contact and non-contact offences.
Who is most likely to be sexually abused?
Whilst all children are vulnerable to sexual abuse, girls are more likely to be sexually abused than boys. Disabled children are up to seven times more likely to be abused than their non-disabled peers.
How often is sexual abuse reported to the authorities?
In one study, only 10% of child sexual abuse experiences were ever reported to the police, a doctor, or a health agency.
Who sexually abuses children?
Across all community-based studies, most abusers are male and related to the child. Most adults who sexually abuse children are not mentally ill and do not meet the diagnostic criteria for "paedophilia".
Signs in Childhood
Sexually abused children exhibit a range of behaviours, including:
Signs in adulthood
Adults sexually abused as children have poorer mental health than other adults. They are more likely to have a history of eating disorders, depression, substance abuse, and suicide attempts. Sexual abuse is also associated with financial problems in adulthood, and a decreased likelihood to graduate from high school or undertake further education.
Organised Sexual Abuse
This refers to the range of circumstances in which multiple children are subject to sexual abuse by multiple perpetrators. In these circumstances, children are subject to a range of serious harms that can include child prostitution, the manufacture of child pornography, and bizarre and sadistic sexual practices, including ritualistic abuse and torture.
What are the circumstances in which children are subject to organised sexual abuse?
Many children subject to organised abuse are raised in abusive families, and their parents make them available for abuse outside the home. This abuse may include extended family members, family "friends", or people who pay to abuse the child.
Other children are trafficked into organised abuse by perpetrators in schools, churches, state or religious institutions, or whilst homeless or without stable housing.
Who is most likely to be sexually abused in organised contexts?
Children who are vulnerable to organised abuse include the children of parents involved in organised abuse, and children from unstable or unhappy family backgrounds who may be targeted by abusers outside the family.
Who sexually abuses children in organised contexts?
Organised abuse, like all forms of child abuse, is primarily committed by parents and relatives. Organised abuse differs from other forms of sexual abuse in that women are often reported as perpetrators. Research on female sexual abusers has found that they were women who had grown up in environments where sexual abuse is normative, and, as adults, they may sexually abuse in organised contexts alongside male offenders.
Signs in childhood
Young children subject to organised sexual abuse often have severe traumatic and dissociative symptoms that inhibit disclosure or help-seeking behaviour. They are often very withdrawn children with strong suicidal ideation. They may exhibit disturbed behaviours while at play or when socialising with their peers or other adults.
Signs in adulthood
Organised abuse, and ritual abuse, is a key predisposing factor to the development of Dissociative Identity Disorder and other dissociative spectrum disorders. Adults with histories of organised abuse frequently have long histories of suicide attempts and self-harm, and they often live with a heavy burden of mental and physical illnesses.
Emotional/Psychological Abuse
This refers to the psychological and social aspects of child abuse; it is the most common form of child abuse. Many parents are emotionally abusive without being violent or sexually abusive, However, emotional abuse invariably accompanies physical and sexual abuse. Some parents who are emotionally abusive parents practice forms of child-rearing that are orientated towards fulfilling their own needs and goals, rather than those of their children. Their parenting style may be characterised by overt aggression towards their children, including shouting and intimidation, or they may manipulate their children using more subtle means, such as emotional blackmail.
Emotional abuse does not only occur in the home. Children can be emotionally abused by teachers and other adults in a position of power over the child. Children can also be emotionally abused by other children in the form of "bullying". Chronic emotional abuse in schools is a serious cause of harm to victimised children and warrants ongoing active intervention.
Who is most likely to be emotionally abused?Boys and girls are equally likely to be victims of emotional abuse by their parents. Emotional maltreatment has been reported to peak in the 6 to 8 age range, this remains at a similar level throughout adolescence.
Characteristics of emotionally abusive parents
Research findings suggest that emotionally abusive parents have negative attitudes towards children, perceive parents as unrewarding and difficult to enjoy, and they associate their own negative feelings with the child's difficult behaviour, particularly when the child reacts against their poor parenting methods. Emotional abuse has increasingly been linked to parental mental health problems, domestic violence, drug and alcohol misuse, being abused or having been in care as children.
Signs in Childhood
From infancy to adulthood, emotionally abused people are often more withdrawn and emotionally disengaged than their peers, find it difficult to predict other people's behaviour, understand why they behave in the manner they do, and respond appropriately.
Signs of Emotional Abuse in children
They often:
Signs in Adulthood
Adults emotionally abused as children are more
likely to experience mental health problems and difficulties in personal relationships. Many of the harms of physical and sexual abuse are related to the emotional abuse that accompanies them, and as a result many emotionally abused adults exhibit a range of complex psychological and psychosocial problems associated with multiple forms of trauma in childhood.
Significant early relationships in childhood shape our response to new social situations in adulthood. Adults with emotionally abusive parents are at a disadvantage as they try to form personal, professional and romantic relationships, since they may easily misinterpret other people's behaviours and social cues, or misapply the rules that governed their abusive relationship with their parent to everyday social situations
Causes of Child Abuse
Understanding the causes of abuse is crucial to addressing the problem of child abuse. Parents who physically abuse their spouses are more likely than others to physically abuse their children. However, it is impossible to know whether marital strife is a cause of child abuse, or if both the marital strife and the abuse are caused by tendencies in the abuser.
Sometimes, parents set expectations for their child that are clearly beyond the child's capability. When parents' expectations are particularly deviant (e.g., preschool children who are expected to be totally responsible for self-care or provision of nurturance to parents) the resulting frustration caused by the child's non-compliance, is believed to function as a contributory, if not necessary, cause of child abuse. Children resulting from unintended pregnancies are more likely to be abused or neglected. In addition, unintended pregnancies are more likely, than intended pregnancies, to be associated with abusive relationships, and there is an increased risk of physical violence during pregnancy. They also result in poorer maternal mental health, and lower mother-child relationship quality.
There is some limited evidence that children with moderate or severe disabilities are more likely to be victims of abuse than non-disabled children. A study on child abuse sought to determine:
Substance abuse can be a major contributing factor to child abuse. One U.S. study found that parents with documented substance abuse, most commonly alcohol, cocaine, and heroin, were much more likely to mistreat their children, and were also much more likely to reject court-ordered services and treatments. Another study found that over two-thirds of cases of child maltreatment involved parents with substance abuse problems. This study specifically found relationships between alcohol and physical abuse, and between cocaine and sexual abuse. Although the abuse survivor does not always realise the abuse is wrong, the internal confusion can lead to chaos. Inner anger turns to outer frustration. Once aged 17/18, drink and drugs are used to numb the hurt feelings, nightmares and daytime flashbacks. Acquisitive crimes to pay for the chemicals are inevitable if the survivor is unable to find employment.
A 2010 article in the BBC reports that thousands of African children have been abandoned, tortured and murdered because they are believed to be witches. Unemployment and financial difficulties are associated with increased rates of child abuse. In 2009 CBS News reported that child abuse in the United States had increased during the economic recession. It gave the example of a father who had never been the primary care-taker of the children. Now that the father was in that role, the children began to come in with injuries. Child-abuse cases go through screeners. Eventually they reach the various social workers and services (counseling, referral to day care centers and Alcoholics Anonymous in local neighborhoods). Having been abused as a child seems to lead to a repetition with one's own children. Beyond that, the causes of child abuse seem to be deep-rooted anger and frustration and an intolerable sense of physical or emotional inadequacy. Anger most of all.
A 1988 study of child murders in the US found that children are 100 times more often killed by a "non-biological" parent (e.g., step-parent, co-habitee or boyfriend/girlfriend of a biological parent) than by a biological parent. An evolutionary psychology explanation for this is that using resources in order to take care of another person's biological child is likely not a good strategy for increasing reproductive success. More generally, stepchildren have a much higher risk of being abused which is sometimes referred to as the Cinderella Effect. The Cinderella Effect attempts to explain the observation that parents are more likely to kill their stepchildren than their biological children using evolutionary logic - as described by Daly and Wilson: "research concerning animal social behaviour provide a rationale for expecting parents to be discriminative in their care and affection, and more specifically, to discriminate in favour of their own young".
Psychologists conducted a study in the United States in 2010 which examined over 200 regular church attendees from eleven different denominations of Christianity, most of whom were educated, upper-middle class White Americans, found that extrinsic religious orientation was associated with a greater risk of physical child abuse. Those with a more extrinsic religious orientation who also adhered to greater social conformity were particularly more likely to share characteristics with physically abusive subjects. Subjects who adhered to Biblical literalism exhibited a higher potential of physical child abuse. Those who had a more intrinsic religious orientation were not found to be at a greater risk of child abuse, although they sometimes exhibited greater social conformity or a greater propensity for holding literal interpretations of the Bible. Approximately 85% of the study's subjects were parents.
Physical Abuse
Physical abuse has been a normal aspect of domestic life for a long time. Physical assaults that would be serious criminal offenses if committed by one man against another - for instance, hitting, slapping, or striking with an object - have been legally and socially sanctioned when committed by a man against his wife and child, or by parents against their children. Today, incidents of domestic violence committed against both women and children remain at epidemic proportions, although there is increasing recognition of the prevalence and harms of violence against women and children.
Whilst community attitudes to violence against women and children have changed for the better, many policy-makers have failed to outlaw physical assaults against children by caregivers. According to the 2007 report of the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children, a number of countries have failed to prohibit violence against children, and have failed to commit to legislative reform. In particular, the legal defences of "reasonable correction" and "reasonable chastisement" are still available to adults who are charged with violent offenses against children in many jurisdictions.
Characteristics of parents who physically abuse children
- Emotional impairment
- Substance abuse
- Lack of social support
- Presence of domestic violence and a history of childhood abuse
Characteristics of physically abused children Boys and girls are equally likely to be physically assaulted by their parents, and whilst research suggests that physical abuse peaks when children are aged 4 to 8 years old, physical assault resulting in death occurs most often to infants and toddlers.
Signs in Childhood
Physically abused children find it difficult relating to their peers and the adults around them. The constant threat of violence at home makes them perpetually vigilant and mistrustful, and they may be overly domineering and aggressive in their attempts to predict and control other people's behaviour. They are also vulnerable to "emotional storms", or instances of overwhelming emotional responses to everyday situations. These "storms" can take the form of profound grief, fear, or rage.
Physically abused children may also have problems with:
- academic achievement
- physical development and coordination
- developing friendships and relationships
- aggression and anger management
- depression, anxiety and low self-esteem.
Signs in Adulthood
Adults physically abused in childhood are at increased risk of either aggressive and violent behaviour, or shy and avoidant behaviour leading to rejection or re-victimisation. This polarised behaviour is often driven by hyper-vigilance and the anticipation of threat and violence even in everyday situations. Men with a history of physical abuse in childhood are particularly prone to violent behaviour. Physically abused men are over-represented amongst violent and sexual offenders.
Family Violence
Family violence, or domestic violence, usually
Who commits domestic violence?
Research overwhelmingly suggests that family violence is enacted by men against women and children. Whilst women can and do commit violent offences within families, rates of female-initiated violence are much lower than male violence, and it is rarely as severe and brutal.
Signs in childhood
A child witnessing family violence, and domestic violence, is at risk of:
- behavioural and emotional difficulties
- learning difficulties
- long-term developmental problems
- aggressive language and behaviour
- restlessness, anxiety and depression
Signs in adulthood
Adults exposed to domestic violence as children can carry with them a legacy of trauma-related symptoms and developmental delays. Women who grew up in an environment of family violence are more likely to be victimised in adulthood, whilst men who grew up in a violent environment are more likely to commit violent offences in adulthood.
Sexual Abuse
Who is most likely to be sexually abused?
Whilst all children are vulnerable to sexual abuse, girls are more likely to be sexually abused than boys. Disabled children are up to seven times more likely to be abused than their non-disabled peers.
How often is sexual abuse reported to the authorities?
In one study, only 10% of child sexual abuse experiences were ever reported to the police, a doctor, or a health agency.
Who sexually abuses children?
Across all community-based studies, most abusers are male and related to the child. Most adults who sexually abuse children are not mentally ill and do not meet the diagnostic criteria for "paedophilia".
Signs in Childhood
Sexually abused children exhibit a range of behaviours, including:
- withdrawn, unhappy and suicidal behaviour
- self-harm and suicidality
- aggressive and violent behaviour
- bedwetting, sleep problems, nightmares
- eating problems e.g. anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa
- mood swings
- detachment
- pains for no medical reason
- sexual behaviour, language, or knowledge too advanced for their age
Signs in adulthood
Adults sexually abused as children have poorer mental health than other adults. They are more likely to have a history of eating disorders, depression, substance abuse, and suicide attempts. Sexual abuse is also associated with financial problems in adulthood, and a decreased likelihood to graduate from high school or undertake further education.
Organised Sexual Abuse
This refers to the range of circumstances in which multiple children are subject to sexual abuse by multiple perpetrators. In these circumstances, children are subject to a range of serious harms that can include child prostitution, the manufacture of child pornography, and bizarre and sadistic sexual practices, including ritualistic abuse and torture.
What are the circumstances in which children are subject to organised sexual abuse?
Many children subject to organised abuse are raised in abusive families, and their parents make them available for abuse outside the home. This abuse may include extended family members, family "friends", or people who pay to abuse the child.
Other children are trafficked into organised abuse by perpetrators in schools, churches, state or religious institutions, or whilst homeless or without stable housing.
Who is most likely to be sexually abused in organised contexts?
Children who are vulnerable to organised abuse include the children of parents involved in organised abuse, and children from unstable or unhappy family backgrounds who may be targeted by abusers outside the family.
Who sexually abuses children in organised contexts?
Organised abuse, like all forms of child abuse, is primarily committed by parents and relatives. Organised abuse differs from other forms of sexual abuse in that women are often reported as perpetrators. Research on female sexual abusers has found that they were women who had grown up in environments where sexual abuse is normative, and, as adults, they may sexually abuse in organised contexts alongside male offenders.
Signs in childhood
Young children subject to organised sexual abuse often have severe traumatic and dissociative symptoms that inhibit disclosure or help-seeking behaviour. They are often very withdrawn children with strong suicidal ideation. They may exhibit disturbed behaviours while at play or when socialising with their peers or other adults.
Signs in adulthood
Organised abuse, and ritual abuse, is a key predisposing factor to the development of Dissociative Identity Disorder and other dissociative spectrum disorders. Adults with histories of organised abuse frequently have long histories of suicide attempts and self-harm, and they often live with a heavy burden of mental and physical illnesses.
Emotional/Psychological Abuse
This refers to the psychological and social aspects of child abuse; it is the most common form of child abuse. Many parents are emotionally abusive without being violent or sexually abusive, However, emotional abuse invariably accompanies physical and sexual abuse. Some parents who are emotionally abusive parents practice forms of child-rearing that are orientated towards fulfilling their own needs and goals, rather than those of their children. Their parenting style may be characterised by overt aggression towards their children, including shouting and intimidation, or they may manipulate their children using more subtle means, such as emotional blackmail.
Emotional abuse does not only occur in the home. Children can be emotionally abused by teachers and other adults in a position of power over the child. Children can also be emotionally abused by other children in the form of "bullying". Chronic emotional abuse in schools is a serious cause of harm to victimised children and warrants ongoing active intervention.
Who is most likely to be emotionally abused?Boys and girls are equally likely to be victims of emotional abuse by their parents. Emotional maltreatment has been reported to peak in the 6 to 8 age range, this remains at a similar level throughout adolescence.
Characteristics of emotionally abusive parents
Research findings suggest that emotionally abusive parents have negative attitudes towards children, perceive parents as unrewarding and difficult to enjoy, and they associate their own negative feelings with the child's difficult behaviour, particularly when the child reacts against their poor parenting methods. Emotional abuse has increasingly been linked to parental mental health problems, domestic violence, drug and alcohol misuse, being abused or having been in care as children.
Signs in Childhood
From infancy to adulthood, emotionally abused people are often more withdrawn and emotionally disengaged than their peers, find it difficult to predict other people's behaviour, understand why they behave in the manner they do, and respond appropriately.
Signs of Emotional Abuse in children
They often:
- feel unhappy, frightened and distressed
- behave aggressively and anti-socially, or they may act too mature for their age
- experience difficulties with academic achievement and school attendance
- find it difficult to make friends
- show signs of physical neglect and malnourishment
- experience incontinence and mysterious pains
Signs in Adulthood
Adults emotionally abused as children are more
Significant early relationships in childhood shape our response to new social situations in adulthood. Adults with emotionally abusive parents are at a disadvantage as they try to form personal, professional and romantic relationships, since they may easily misinterpret other people's behaviours and social cues, or misapply the rules that governed their abusive relationship with their parent to everyday social situations
Causes of Child Abuse
Understanding the causes of abuse is crucial to addressing the problem of child abuse. Parents who physically abuse their spouses are more likely than others to physically abuse their children. However, it is impossible to know whether marital strife is a cause of child abuse, or if both the marital strife and the abuse are caused by tendencies in the abuser.
Sometimes, parents set expectations for their child that are clearly beyond the child's capability. When parents' expectations are particularly deviant (e.g., preschool children who are expected to be totally responsible for self-care or provision of nurturance to parents) the resulting frustration caused by the child's non-compliance, is believed to function as a contributory, if not necessary, cause of child abuse. Children resulting from unintended pregnancies are more likely to be abused or neglected. In addition, unintended pregnancies are more likely, than intended pregnancies, to be associated with abusive relationships, and there is an increased risk of physical violence during pregnancy. They also result in poorer maternal mental health, and lower mother-child relationship quality.
There is some limited evidence that children with moderate or severe disabilities are more likely to be victims of abuse than non-disabled children. A study on child abuse sought to determine:
- the forms of child abuse perpetrated on children with disabilities;
- the extent of child abuse;
- and the causes of child abuse of children with disabilities.
Substance abuse can be a major contributing factor to child abuse. One U.S. study found that parents with documented substance abuse, most commonly alcohol, cocaine, and heroin, were much more likely to mistreat their children, and were also much more likely to reject court-ordered services and treatments. Another study found that over two-thirds of cases of child maltreatment involved parents with substance abuse problems. This study specifically found relationships between alcohol and physical abuse, and between cocaine and sexual abuse. Although the abuse survivor does not always realise the abuse is wrong, the internal confusion can lead to chaos. Inner anger turns to outer frustration. Once aged 17/18, drink and drugs are used to numb the hurt feelings, nightmares and daytime flashbacks. Acquisitive crimes to pay for the chemicals are inevitable if the survivor is unable to find employment.
A 2010 article in the BBC reports that thousands of African children have been abandoned, tortured and murdered because they are believed to be witches. Unemployment and financial difficulties are associated with increased rates of child abuse. In 2009 CBS News reported that child abuse in the United States had increased during the economic recession. It gave the example of a father who had never been the primary care-taker of the children. Now that the father was in that role, the children began to come in with injuries. Child-abuse cases go through screeners. Eventually they reach the various social workers and services (counseling, referral to day care centers and Alcoholics Anonymous in local neighborhoods). Having been abused as a child seems to lead to a repetition with one's own children. Beyond that, the causes of child abuse seem to be deep-rooted anger and frustration and an intolerable sense of physical or emotional inadequacy. Anger most of all.
A 1988 study of child murders in the US found that children are 100 times more often killed by a "non-biological" parent (e.g., step-parent, co-habitee or boyfriend/girlfriend of a biological parent) than by a biological parent. An evolutionary psychology explanation for this is that using resources in order to take care of another person's biological child is likely not a good strategy for increasing reproductive success. More generally, stepchildren have a much higher risk of being abused which is sometimes referred to as the Cinderella Effect. The Cinderella Effect attempts to explain the observation that parents are more likely to kill their stepchildren than their biological children using evolutionary logic - as described by Daly and Wilson: "research concerning animal social behaviour provide a rationale for expecting parents to be discriminative in their care and affection, and more specifically, to discriminate in favour of their own young".
Psychologists conducted a study in the United States in 2010 which examined over 200 regular church attendees from eleven different denominations of Christianity, most of whom were educated, upper-middle class White Americans, found that extrinsic religious orientation was associated with a greater risk of physical child abuse. Those with a more extrinsic religious orientation who also adhered to greater social conformity were particularly more likely to share characteristics with physically abusive subjects. Subjects who adhered to Biblical literalism exhibited a higher potential of physical child abuse. Those who had a more intrinsic religious orientation were not found to be at a greater risk of child abuse, although they sometimes exhibited greater social conformity or a greater propensity for holding literal interpretations of the Bible. Approximately 85% of the study's subjects were parents.
Culled and edited. Credits: Wikipedia, ASCA, Google images
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