What is Child Abuse?
The main forms of child abuse are:
- emotional abuse,
- neglect,
- physical injury and
- sexual abuse
Emotional Abuse
Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional ill-treatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child’s emotional development. It may involve conveying to children that they are worthless, unloved, inadequate or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person. It may feature inappropriate age and developmental expectations being imposed on children. It could involve frequently causing a child to feel frightened or in danger and it can lead to the exploitation or corruption of children.
Behaviours which are emotionally abusive include the following:
- Fear inducing/terrorising
- Fear inducing/creation of insecurity
- Tormenting
- Humiliating
- Denigrating
- Corrupting
- Scapegoating
- Inappropriate roles/responsibilities
- Isolating/Rejecting
- Ignoring/marginalising
The effects of such abuse are not always immediate and children even in the same household are likely to respond in very different ways. Many of the responses to emotional abuse are included in the section entitled "Symptoms of Sexual Abuse".
Neglect
Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child's basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of a child's health or development. It may involve a parent or carer failing to provide adequate food, shelter, clothing or appropriate medical care. It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child's basic emotional needs.
Child neglect is a serious condition that can result in very poor physical and emotional development. Together with physical abuse it can have fatal consequences.
Physical Neglect
This may be the result of lack of concern and/or poverty. Children who receive an inadequate diet, lack clean hygienic conditions and severe infestations are examples of physical neglect. Children allowed to live in dangerous conditions and who are left to harm themselves or left alone, depending on their age, would be considered victims of physical neglect.
Medical Neglect
This is when a parent or carer does not take reasonable steps to prevent injury or disease and/or don’t to seek medical/psychological treatment or advice within a reasonable length of time when it is clear that medical intervention is necessary. Failure to identify injury, disease or to follow essential medical advice may also be neglectful.
Non-Organic 'Failure to Thrive'
This is when infants or children fail to develop adequately, drop away from expected their growth centile or grow erratically for reasons that have no medical or organic basis.
Physical Abuse
Physical abuse may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating or otherwise causing physical harm to a child. Physical harm may be also caused when a parent or carer feigns the symptoms of or deliberately causes ill health to a child whom they are looking after.
Bruises
Falls and accidents often produce only a single bruise usually located on a bony part of the body. All children get bruises once they are able to move around but bruising on the less mobile child should always be a cause for concern and bruising in a young baby or a child with severe learning or physical disability should be viewed with deep suspicion.
Other Indicators of Physical Abuse
- Delay in seeking medical attention
- No explanation or inadequate explanation of injuries
- Child/ parent/ witness reports abuse
- Changing explanation of injuries
- Recurrent injuries - particularly if forming a pattern (e.g. always on a particular day or in the care of the same person)
- Inadequate parental concern
- Multiple injuries that occurred at different dates
Sexual Abuse
Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including penetrative (e.g., rape or buggery) or non-penetrative acts. They may include non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, pornographic material or watching sexual activities or encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways.
Less than half of victims of sexual abuse will present any forensic or medical evidence or any sign of neglect or physical abuse. Nevertheless, many commonly exhibit behavioural or emotional symptoms which will give some clue to their private suffering and confusion.
It is important to note that these symptoms are not specific to sexually abused children and can have a number of causes.
Symptoms of Sexual Abuse
These effects present singly or in clusters of behaviours, depending on each child's environment and specific situation.
For the pre-school child, the effects may show in:
- Sexually explicit play and behaviour;
- Wetting and soiling;
- Delayed language and development;
- Eating and sleeping problems;
- Dysfunctional attachment behaviour;
- Withdrawn or over-active states
- Aggressive behaviours (to self and others);
- Clinging behaviour and becoming mute.
In children between the ages of 6 and 12 years, the above effects may be recognisable with further elaborations:
- Poor learning and concentration;
- Heightened sexual behaviour and arousal;
- Truanting and self-neglecting;
- Depression and anxiety;
- Psychosomatic illnesses;
- Physical risk-taking;
- Poor social skills;
- As if out of control at times;
- Avoidance of men or women (depending on gender of abuser).
For the older child, the effects may include any of the above-mentioned patterns with further escalations:
- Sexually precocious behaviour and prostitution;
- Solvent/alcohol/drug abuse;
- Anorexia and bulimia;
- Self harming and suicide attempts;
- Changes in school performance;
- Isolation from peers;
- Sexual abuse of other children.
If a child is showing signs of emotional or behavioural stress, then the possibility of sexual abuse must be considered, particularly where there are sudden changes with no apparent explanation.
