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Child Neglect Research Paper

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Introduction The scope of child abuse and neglect in our society is an epidemic of vast proportions in that all children are at risk. Children are abused by their loved ones, friends, friends of the family, those whom they place their trust in, and those bound to care for them. Children of all ages are at risk and vulnerable to abuse and neglect, whether in their homes, their community or even on the internet. This paper will cover the impact that child abuse and neglect have on their development, challenges in identifying abusive home environments, intervention and treatment strategies that are used with this population and key research issues as they relate to child abuse and neglect.

What impact does abuse have on a child's physical, …show more content…

Medical & Physiological Consequences Cognitive & Intellectual Consequences Psychosocial
Consequences Behavioral Consequences

Childhood Can lead to brain dysfunction, sometimes death, nonorganic failure to thrive seen in infants, neuromotor handicaps, physical defect, growth and mental retardation, risk of sexually transmitted diseases, signs of genital manipulation Delayed intellectual development, reduced cognitive functioning, show deviant patterns of processing social information, acquisition of biased and deficient patterns of social provocation information

Severe neglect may lead to developmental delays, attention deficits, poorer social skills and less emotional stability, higher risk of suicide attempts and self-mutilation, inappropriate sexual behaviors Physical aggression, antisocial behavior, withdrawal or avoidance or fear, anger, and aggression

Adolescents Depressive symptoms, schizoid/psychotic symptoms Violent delinquents, attempted or succeeded in killing their parents, becoming a runaway, teen pregnancy, increased risk for arrest, sexual and intimacy problems, alcohol and drug problems
Table 1 Summary of Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect (National Research Council Staff, …show more content…

Emotional abuse refers to the persistent emotional ill-treatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child emotional development (Meadow, Rosenberg, & Mok, 2009). The main difference between physical and sexual abuse and emotional abuse is that there is no physical contact with the child. The following are categories of emotional abuse: unavailability, unresponsiveness, and neglect; negative attribution to and interaction with the child, developmentally inappropriate or inconsistent interactions with the child; and failure to recognize or acknowledge the child’s individuality and psychological boundary (Meadow et al, 2009). An example of criticism and rejection is when the child is treated as the scapegoat by the caretaker whereas an example of developmentally inappropriate includes when the child is given responsibility that they are developmentally unable to fulfill (2009). Consequences of emotional abuse include, but are not limited to the following: lack of response or extreme response to separation from parents, attention seeking, isolated from peer relationships or is aggressive in those relationships, educational underachievement, poor growth, physically neglected or unkempt, and very disturbed sleep (Meadows et al,

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