Child Abuse and Neglect

Child abuse is often gone unnoticed by people and these types of cases do not get enough attention due to the fact of the relation of blood related family between the child and the parents. Though sometimes child abuse may be caused by babysitters, family friend, relative or a caregiver. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines child abuse as - “all forms of physical and emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect, and exploitation that results in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, development or dignity” (Gonzalez, Bethencourt Mirabal and McCall, 2021).

Child neglect is the most common form of child mistreatment. It can take a huge toll on a child's mindset and their mental and physical wellbeing. Child neglect is defined by many state laws as - "neglect as the failure of a parent or caregiver to provide needed food, shelter, clothing, medical care, or supervision to the degree that a child’s health, safety, and well-being are threatened with harm" (Morin, 2022).

Types of child abuse

Whether it occurs once or often, there are four basic types of child abuse: emotional abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse, and neglect.

Emotional abuse

Emotional abuse, which is often referred to as psychological or verbal abuse, is continuous non-physical abuse that instills in a kid a sense of unworthiness, unlove, and unworthiness or solely as a means of satisfying the wants of the abuser. This puts a huge alert in a child's mind as they fight for their parents love and want the need to be worthy to them.

Despite being challenging to identify and record, emotional abuse of children, including physical and sexual abuse, is frequently present in all forms of child maltreatment. Types of emotional abuse include:

• Demeaning or belittling
• Criticizing
• Dismissing the child's emotional needs
• Degrading or objectifying the child
• Blaming the child

Sexual abuse

Children are not allowed to provide their permission for any form of sexual activity, according to the legislation. Sexual abuse is defined as any sexual interaction between an adult and a minor. In most of the cases reported by children about sexual abuse, the child seems to know who the predator is. The types of sexual abuse include:

• Molestation
• Forcing a child to perform sexual acts.
• Sexual intercourse of any kind
• Sex trafficking
• Owning any piece of pornographic images or videos of a child.

Physical abuse

Physical abuse is defined as any purposeful or inadvertent act of damage towards a kid that results in injury. This kind of maltreatment commonly contributes to the morbidity and death of children and can lead to physical and mental health issues in adulthood. Types of physical abuse include:

• Hitting or beating a child with a fist or an object
• Burning the child with anything hot
• Kicking
• Deriving a child of air or some sort of ventilation

Neglect

Now this is one of the most common type of child abuse or just simply child neglect. About 61% of children face this type of abuse. When a parent or other adult is unable to ensure that their kid has access to food, clothes, housing, medical treatment, or supervision in order to preserve or safeguard the child's health, safety, and well-being, harm or the danger of harm results. This is known as child neglect. The types of neglect include:

• Denying getting the child medical attention
• Failing to get the emotional needs of the child met
• Denying the child food or drinks
• Leaving a young kid at home alone when they have a risk of getting hurt or posing a huge risk
• Locking a child in a room for hours on end and denying any educational access to the child.

Recognizing signs of abuse

About 4.4 million referrals for the suspected abuse of 7.9 million children were made to Child Protective Services. But 15.7% of the cases were reported by the relatives, caregivers or other guardians of the children. Every child is vulnerable to child abuse, and if a child is experiencing one form of abuse they may be going through another form of abuse, which are hard to recognize half the time.

As the child is abused, there are some forms of symptoms that are noticeable which may clarify the significance of abuse. These symptoms include:

• Constantly being hungry or exhausted
• Missing school on multiple occasions
• Severe changes in mood or behavior
• Their mental health is deteriorating.

Treatment for the child

Depending on the situation of the child with their caretaker, the health care institutes will always ensure that the child is kept safe at all times. And with the help of the health professionals and physicians, the child is able to get adequate treatment. When necessary interventions like medical, dental, or educational services are required, these specialists can help. Furthermore, if necessary, the social worker or agent will report the matter to a family or criminal court.

The child may want to receive right interventions after the main concerns are met with, these interventions may be a great help for the children to get back to their normal and healthy life. For the purpose of addressing their feelings, actions, or worries, children who have endured abuse may benefit from therapy treatments. In a similar vein, caregivers may also get therapy to assist them improve their capacity to care for their children, such as therapies for drug misuse or mental health.

It is frequently necessary to address external variables that may contribute to the continuation and worsening of symptoms and disorders associated with maltreatment. Treatment should be multimodal for these conditions. The majority of cases of maltreatment involve young children, who need careful consideration of their caregiving contexts, which sometimes involve several caregivers, to ensure that assessments and treatments are thorough.

Summary

It is utmost cruelty when a child is going through some form of abuse. Even if it was intentional or unintentional, the children need the parent's highest importance to take care of the child and provide for them. In addition to being susceptible to abuse, children may not be aware of or understand child abuse depending on their age. It is possible that child abuse will go undetected and neglected as a result. To prevent this from happening, it is up to the community members, neighbors, clinicians, and other society members to intervene as early as possible to prevent it from getting out of hand.

Healthcare professionals routinely overlook a considerable number of incidents of child abuse. A strong index of suspicion must exist before child abuse may be diagnosed. If abuse is suspected, trained specialists may look into the matter and link the kid with the proper resources. After that, they may start the recovery process, which includes diagnosis, treatment, and continuous care.

Nonetheless, it's vital to learn how to spot the warning signs of child abuse, such as when a youngster behaves suspiciously or otherwise. Keeping the kid away from the alleged abuser and seek out professional assistance if you have suspicions of abuse; it is a great way to keep them away from harm and prevent further damage to their emotional and physical state. Child abuse's long-term consequences can be lessened with proper physical and mental health treatment.

References:

Morin, A. (2017). Signs That a Child May Be Neglected. [online] Verywell Family. Available at: https://www.verywellfamily.com/what-is-child-neglect-4151259 [Accessed: 16 Jun. 2023].

Zeanah, C.H. and Humphreys, K.L. (2018). Child Abuse and Neglect. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, [online] 57(9), pp.637–644. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2018.06.007.

Gonzalez, D., Bethencourt Mirabal, A. and McCall, J.D. (2021). Child Abuse and Neglect. [online] PubMed. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29083602/ [Accessed: 16 Jun. 2023].

Sheppard, S. (2021). What are the Most Common Types of Child Abuse? [online] Verywell Mind. Available at: https://www.verywellmind.com/the-most-common-types-of-child-abuse-5206304 [Accessed: 16 Jun. 2023].

Cleveland Clinic (2020). Child Abuse: Definition, Signs, Child Neglect, Emotional Abuse. [online] Cleveland Clinic. Available at: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/4018-child-abuse [Accessed: 16 Jun. 2023].