Impact of Child Maltreatment

Child maltreatment, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is “all types of abuse and neglect of a child under the age of 18 by a parent, caregiver, or another person in a custodial role,” which includes physical, sexual, and emotional abuse ("Injury prevention”). Child maltreatment occurs in all types of households and affects millions of children. The types of abuse may be committed by either one or both of the parents. Biological parents made 80% of the perpetrators in child maltreatment (U.S. Department of Health, 2009). Child maltreatment has an impact on the victims throughout their lives.

In adolescence, child maltreatment changes the child in ways that  may not have happened if they were not abused or neglected. The outlook on life for maltreated children tends to be more negative than other children (Trickett & al., 2011, p. 9). These children are also more likely to be “disliked, physically and verbally aggressive, withdrawn, and less pro-social” than other children (Trickett & al., 2011, p. 6). Peers of these children also notice the difference in their personalities and rate them as aggressive and less cooperative (Trickett & al., 2011, p. 6). Maltreatment is also shown to be a risk factor to delinquent behavior and drug use in adolescence (Trickett & al., 2011, p. 10).

Effects of child maltreatment are shown in adults. These effects may not be seen at first, but after time they become apparent.  Psychiatric disorders are common with victims of child maltreatment. Over 75% of adults who were victims of child maltreatment have at least one disorder, and around half of the adults have three or more (Impact of child abuse). Along with psychiatric disorders, adults who were victims of child maltreatment have higher chances of having chronic pain, depression, eating disorders, sexual dysfunction, unintended pregnancy, or abusing their own children (Newton, 2001).

Child maltreatment causes harm to more than just the victim. The effects of the treatment to the child impacts the other children they interact with at school. There is also an impact on the victim’s spouse when they are an adult, whether it is abuse or marital issues. The impact the treatment has on the victim’s children is very unfortunate because many times the cycle of victimization continues. Understanding the effects of child maltreatment is a step to finding a way to help the victim cope and stop the abuse from taking over their life.

Reference

Impact of child abuse. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.asca.org.au/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=11

Injury prevention & control: violence prevention. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/childmaltreatment/.

Newton, C.j. (2001, April). Child abuse: an overview. Retrieved from http://www.findcounseling.com/journal/child-abuse/survivors-childhood-abuse.html

Trickett, P. , Negriff, S. , Ji, J. , & Peckins, M. (2011). Child maltreatment and adolescent development. Journal of Research on Adolescence (Blackwell Publishing Limited), 21(1), 3-20.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, (2009). Child maltreatment 2009 Washington, DC: Retrieved from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm09/cm09.pdf.

  

Blog #1

Issues within a family affect the members of the family, people close to the family, and governmental agencies. Issues include parental imprisonment, spousal abuse, and child abuse.

More than half of state inmates (52%) and almost two thirds (63%) of federal inmates have children under the age of 18.  The 1,706,600 children of these inmates make 2.3% of the U.S. population. The number of imprisoned parents has increased 79% and the number of children with incarcerated parents has increased 80% between 1991 and 2007. The increase of mothers in prison (131%) has been greater than the increase of fathers in prison (77%) (Glaze & Maruschak, 2008).

With one or both parents in prison, there is a large impact on the child. Contact with the parent is important to how the child handles the incarceration. A study by the U.S. Department of Justice in 1993 showed that 20% of mothers in state prisons see their children less than once a month, and 8% see their children once a week (as cited in Parke & Clarke-Stewart, 2001).  Children of incarcerated mothers have a high chance of emotional problems, psychological problems, or poor academic performance (Baunach, 1985; Stanton, 1980; as cited in Parke & Clarke-Stewart, 2001).

Parental imprisonment may be an important factor in family issues, but it is not the one. In terms of violent crimes, in 2007 23% against women and 3% against men were domestic abuse cases (Domestic Abuse). In the years where teenagers are suppose to be learning how to form safe and healthy relationships, 15% of those teens report being a victim of abuse by their boyfriend or girlfriend (Domestic Abuse). In his paper “Child Abuse and Welfare Abuse,” Mark W. Smith states that there is a “strong association between childhood abuse and later use of welfare programs” (p. 90). With nearly six million children being involved with child abuse cases or allegations in 2007 (National Child Abuse), there could be a large reliance on welfare programs when these children are older. Without understanding the impact these issues have on the family, there are repercussions not only for the lives of the family members but governmental agencies also.

References

Domestic violence. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ncvc.org/ncvc/main.aspx?dbName=DocumentViewer&DocumentID=38711. 

Glaze, L. E., & Maruschak, L. M. (2008). Parents in prison and their minor children. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics (Special Report).

National child abuse statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.childhelp.org/pages/statistics

Parke, R.D., & Clarke-Stewart, K.A. (2001). Effects of Parental Incarceration on Young Children. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (National Policy Conference). Retrieved from http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/prison2home02/parke&stewart.pdf.

Smith, M.W. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, (2004). Child abuse and welfare abuse Retrieved from http://www.aeaweb.org/assa/2005/0107_0800_1201.pdf.