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Types of Abuse
Overview 1. Neglect 2. Physical abuse 3. Emotional abuse
4. Sexual abuse
1. Neglect has three different categories, which include, - physical, - educational, and - emotional neglect Neglect includes the failure to provide adequate food, clothing, or hygiene. Not meeting a child's need for cleanliness, clothing, emotional support, love and affection, education, nutritious food, clothing, adequate shelter or safety; Leaving a child unwatched; Leaving a child in an unsafe place or causing a child to be in a dangerous situation or place; Not seeking necessary medical or dental attention for a child; Not having a child attend school; Not seeking special services for children in need of educational support.
An example of emotional neglect would be inadequate
nurturing or affection.
2. Physical
Abuse
may include
striking, burning, shaking, pinching, or pulling hair or
ear. Beating with a belt, shoe, or other object; Biting a
child; Breaking a child's arm, leg, or other bones; Burning
a child with matches or cigarettes; Hitting a child; Kicking
a child; Not letting a child eat, drink, or use the
bathroom; Pulling a child's hair out; Punching a child;
Scalding a child with water that is too hot; Shaking,
shoving, or slapping a child. The parent or caretaker need
not have intended to hurt the child for it to constitute
physical abuse.
3. Psychological or Emotional
Abuse:
Emotional abuse is more than just verbal abuse. It is an
attack on a child's emotional and social development, and is
a basic threat to healthy human development. Emotional abuse
can take many forms includes verbal abuse, withholding
affection, belittling, extreme punishment and corruption,
ignoring, rejecting, terrorizing, and isolating. It may also
entail the abuser minimizing, or downplaying the severity of
abuse along with the act of invalidation. Invalidation is to
reject, ignore, mock, tease, judge, or diminish someone's
feelings. It is an attempt to control how they feel and for
how long they feel it. 4. Child Sexual Abuse: Digital (finger) penetration; Exhibitionism; Fondling a child's genitals; Having intercourse with a child; Having oral sex with a child; Having sex in front of a child; Having a child touch an older person's genitals; Incest; Masturbation; Oral-genital contact; Prostitution; Rape; Showing an adult's genitalia to a child; Showing pornographic images or movies to a child; Sodomy; Using a child in pornographic movie production.
Many experts believe that sexual abuse is the most
under-reported form of child maltreatment because of the
secrecy or conspiracy of silence that so often characterizes
these cases.
Definition
and Recognition of Child Abuse
Definition
of Neglect
Harm can be defined as the ill-treatment or the impairment of the health or development of a child. Whether it is significant is determined by his or her health and development as compared to that which could reasonably be expected of a child of similar age.
Neglect generally becomes
apparent in different ways over a period of time rather than
at one specific point. For instance, a child who suffers a
series of minor injuries is not having his or her needs met
for supervision and safety. A child whose ongoing failure to
gain weight or whose height is significantly below average
may be being deprived of adequate nutrition. A child who
consistently misses school may be being deprived of
intellectual stimulation. The threshold of significant harm
is reached when the child's needs are neglected to the
extent that his or her well-being and/or development are
severely affected.
Definition
of Emotional Abuse
Emotional abuse can be
manifested in terms of the child's behavioral, cognitive,
affective or physical functioning. Examples of these
include: 'anxious' attachment, non-organic failure to
thrive, unhappiness, low self-esteem, educational and
developmental underachievement, and oppositional behavior.
The threshold of significant harm is reached when abusive
interactions dominate and become typical of the relationship
between the child and the parent or care-giver.
Definition
of Physical Abuse
(i) shaking (ii) use of excessive force in handling (iii) deliberate poisoning (iv) suffocation (v) Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy* (vi) allowing or creating a substantial risk of significant harm to a child. Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy:* This is a condition where parents, usually the mother (according to current research and case experience), fabricate stories of illness about their child or cause physical signs of illness. This can occur where the parent secretly administers dangerous drugs or other poisonous substances to the child or by smothering. The symptoms which alert to the possibility of Munchausen’s Syndrome by Proxy include the following: (i) symptoms which cannot be explained by any medical tests; symptoms never observed by anyone other than the caregiver; symptoms reported to occur only at home or when a parent visits a child in hospital; (ii) high level of demand for investigations of symptoms without any documented physical signs; (iii) unexplained problems with medical treatment such as drips coming out and lines being interfered with;
(iv) presence
of un-prescribed medication or poisons in the blood or urine.
Definition of Sexual Abuse
(i) exposure of the sexual organs or any sexual act intentionally performed in the presence of the child; (ii) intentional touching or molesting of the body of a child whether by a person or object for the purpose of the sexual arousal or gratification; (iii) masturbation in the presence of the child or the involvement of the child in an act of masturbation; (iv) sexual intercourse with the child whether oral, vaginal, or anal; (v) Sexual exploitation of a child includes inciting, encouraging propositioning, requiring or permitting a child to solicit for, or to engage in, prostitution or other sexual acts. Sexual exploitation also occurs when a child is involved in the exhibition, modeling or posing for the purpose of sexual arousal, gratification or sexual act, including its recording (on film, video tape or other media) or the manipulation, for those purposes, of the image by computer or other means. It may also include showing sexually explicit material to children which is often a feature of the “grooming” process by perpetrators of abuse.
(vi) Consensual sexual
activity involving an adult and an under-age person. In
relation to child sexual abuse, it should be noted that, for
the purposes of the criminal law, the age of consent to
sexual intercourse is 17 years. This means, for example,
that sexual intercourse between a 16 year-old girl and her
17 year-old boyfriend is illegal, although it might not be
regarded as constituting child sexual abuse.
Children with Special Vulnerabilities
Points to
Remember
Some signs of abuse are more indicative than others - these include: (i) disclosure of abuse and neglect by a child or young person; (ii) age-inappropriate or abnormal sexual play or knowledge; (iii) specific injuries or patterns of injuries; (iv) absconding from home or a care situation; (v) attempted suicide; (vi) under-age pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease; (vii) signs in one or more categories at the same time. For example, signs of developmental delay, physical injury and behavioral signs may together indicate a pattern of abuse. Neglect is as potentially fatal as physical abuse. It can cause delayed physical, psychological and emotional development, chronic ill-health and significant long-term damage. It may also precede, or co-exist with, other forms of abuse and must be treated seriously. Child abuse is not restricted to any socio-economic group, gender or culture. All signs must be considered in the wider social and family context. However serious deficits in child safety and welfare transcend cultural, social and ethnic norms and must elicit a response. Challenging behavior by a child or young person should not render them liable to abuse. Children in certain circumstances may present management problems. This should not leave them vulnerable to harsh disciplinary measures or neglect of care. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between indicators of child abuse and other adversities suffered by children and families. Deprivation, stress or mental health problems should not be used as a justification for omissions of care or commissions of harm by parents or caregiver. The child’s welfare must be the primary consideration.
[With special thanks to the
National Guidelines for the Protection
and Welfare of Children
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