types of child abuse
Child abuse and neglect occurs in a range of situations, for a range of
reasons. In this section, we outline the different forms of child abuse most
commonly identified by research, and some of the consequences of this abuse for
victimised children and adults.
In abusive homes, children are rarely subject to one form of abuse. They
often endure multiple forms of abuse at once. The most severe effects of child
abuse often do not become apparent until the abused child grows to adulthood, at
which point the adult may experience a range of psychological, emotional and
social problems related to childhood abuse.
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Emotional abuse
Emotional abuse refers to the psychological and social aspects of child
abuse, and it is one of the main causes of harm to abused children.
Many parents are emotionally abusive without being violent or sexually
abusive, However, emotional abuse invariably accompanies physical and sexual
abuse. 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.
Parents may also emotionally abuse their children by "mis-socialising" them,
which means that they may encourage their children to act in inappropriate or
criminal ways with direct encouragement and/or by surrounding the child with
adults for whom such behaviour is normative.
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 experience emotional abuse by other children, and one of the
most common experiences of child-to-child emotional abuse is trivialised in
Australia under the rubric of "bullying". Chronic emotional abuse in schools is
a serious cause of harm to victimised children; however, it is only recently
that such abuse has been taken seriously within the Australian school system.
Over the last five years, a number of former students have bought successful law
suits against Australian schools who failed to protect them against
victimisation by other children.
- How many children are emotionally abused or neglected? One American
survey found that a quarter of the sample of undergraduate students reported
some form of emotional abuse by their parents. Another quarter reported other
forms of emotional abuse outside the home, such as bullying (Doyle 1997).
- Who is most likely to be emotionally abused?Boys and girls are
equally likely to be victims of emotional abuse by their parents, and emotional
maltreatment has been reported to peak in the 6- to 8- year old range and to
remain at a similar level throughout adolescence (Kaplan and Labruna 1998).
- What are the 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
that 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 (Iwaneic and Herbert 1999).
Signs in childhood
From infancy to adulthood, emotionally abused people are often more withdrawn
and emotionally disengaged than their peers, and find it difficult to predict
other people's behaviour, understand why they behave in the manner that they do,
and respond appropriately.
Emotionally abused children exhibit a range of specific signs. 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 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 (Glaser 2002).
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 (Berenson and Anderson 2006).
Neglect
Complaints of neglect constitute a significant proportion of notifications
and referrals to child protection services, However, there is no single
definition of child neglect in Australia. It is generally understood that
"neglect" refers to a range of circumstances in which a parent or caregiver
fails to adequately provide for a child's needs:
- through the provision of food, shelter and clothing
- by ensuring their access to medical care when necessary
- by providing them with care, love and support
- by exercising adequate supervision and control of the child
- by showing appropriate moral and legal guidance
- by ensuring that the child regularly attends school
One of the contentious aspects of "neglect", as a category of child abuse, is
that it is closely related to socioeconomic status. Many parents lack the money
and support to meet the standards outlined above. Parents in financial need are
also more likely to be in contact with welfare services, which in turn are more
likely to scrutinise their parenting practices, and therefore more likely to
make a report of abuse or neglect. As a result of these factors, poor
communities and poor families have often been stigmatised as epicentres of child
abuse and neglect. In fact, when adults in the community are asked to make
retrospective reports, emotional abuse and neglect occurs in all families, rich
or poor.
Physical abuse
Physical abuse has been a normal aspect of domestic life in Australia 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 within the Australian community 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, Australian 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, Australia is one
of a number of countries that has failed to prohibit violence against children,
and has 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 (Straus
and Gelles 1990).
- What are the characteristics of parents who physically abuse
children? Characteristics of physical child abusers include emotional
impairment, substance abuse, lack of social support, presence of domestic
violence and a history of childhood abuse (English, Marshall et al. 1999).
- What are the 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 (Kaplan and Labruna 1998).
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 (Berenson and Anderson 2006). 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, and physically abused men are over-represented
amongst violent and sexual offenders (Malinosky-Rummell and Hansen 1993).
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 perogative ("I'm a guy, I can't
control myself"), or that his victims are responsible for his behaviour ("You
bought 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.
- How many children witness domestic violence?The only Australian
population-based survey on domestic violence found that 2.6% of women who
currently had partners had experienced an incident of violence in the previous
12 months, and 8.0% had experienced violence at some stage in their
relationship.*From these figures, we can surmise that a significant minority of
Australian children witness family violence.
- 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 (Edleson 1999).
Sexual abuse
Sexual abuse describes any incident in 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 they child bought the abuse upon themself. Sexual abuse involves
contact and non-contact offences.
- How many children are sexually abused? Approximately one third of
women surveyed in Australia have reported sexual abuse in childhood (Flemming
1997; Glaser 1997; Mazza, Dennerstein et al. 2001). Approximately 10% of
Australian men report sexual abuse in childhood (Goldman and Goldman 1988).
- 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 (Briggs 2006).
- How often is sexual abuse reported to the authorities? In one study
of Australian women, only 10% of child sexual abuse experiences were ever
reported to the police, a doctor, or a health agency (Flemming 1997).
- Who sexually abuses children? Across all community-based studies,
most abusers are male and related to the child (Flemming 1997). 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 (Silverman, Reinherz et al.
1996).
Organised sexual abuse
Organised sexual abuse 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 (Cleaver and Freeman 1996). 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 with female sexual abusers has found that
they have often grown up in environments, such as organised abuse, where sexual
abuse is normative, and, as adults, they may sexually abuse in organised
contexts alongside male offenders (Faller 1995).
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 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.
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