Description
Labels Child Abuse
Child abuse was called battered child syndrome when it was first identified
in the 1950s because repeated physical injuries to children could be
documented by x rays and photographs of external injuries. The definition
of abuse was expanded over the years to include neglect, emotional
abuse, and sexual abuse. The maltreatment of children and teenagers is
more widespread than many people realize; while at least 900,000 children
are reported to child protective services in an average year as victims
of abuse, researchers think that one out of every seven children between
the ages of two and seventeen (eight to nine million children) in the
United States is coping with some type of abuse or neglect.
The consequences of abuse depend partly on the type of abuse or
neglect, the number of perpetrators involved and their relationship to the
child, the child’s age at the time of abuse, and whether and when
the child or family gets help. Children physically abused in infancy are at high
risk of permanent brain damage from shaken baby syndrome, including
vision disorders, learning difficulties, and cerebral palsy.
Children abused emotionally at any age are at risk of depression,
panic disorder, memory problems, sleep disorders, eating disorders, anxiety
disorders, and suicide attempts. One study reported that 80 percent of
a sample of young adults who had been emotionally abused as
children had developed one or more psychiatric disorders by age twenty.
Childhood abuse also has significant longterm effects on a person’s behavior
in adult life. Such adults are 1.5 times more likely to abuse
drugs or alcohol than those from healthier families. Adults who were
abused as children are more likely to be sexually promiscuous, drop out
of school, and have problems getting and keeping a job. A National Institute
of Justice study done in 2001 indicated that being abused or neglected as
a child increased the likelihood of adult criminal behavior by 28 percent and
violent crime by 30 percent. Last, the experience of childhood abuse makes
it difficult for adult survivors to form lasting and healthy
relationships.
in the 1950s because repeated physical injuries to children could be
documented by x rays and photographs of external injuries. The definition
of abuse was expanded over the years to include neglect, emotional
abuse, and sexual abuse. The maltreatment of children and teenagers is
more widespread than many people realize; while at least 900,000 children
are reported to child protective services in an average year as victims
of abuse, researchers think that one out of every seven children between
the ages of two and seventeen (eight to nine million children) in the
United States is coping with some type of abuse or neglect.
The consequences of abuse depend partly on the type of abuse or
neglect, the number of perpetrators involved and their relationship to the
child, the child’s age at the time of abuse, and whether and when
the child or family gets help. Children physically abused in infancy are at high
risk of permanent brain damage from shaken baby syndrome, including
vision disorders, learning difficulties, and cerebral palsy.
Children abused emotionally at any age are at risk of depression,
panic disorder, memory problems, sleep disorders, eating disorders, anxiety
disorders, and suicide attempts. One study reported that 80 percent of
a sample of young adults who had been emotionally abused as
children had developed one or more psychiatric disorders by age twenty.
Childhood abuse also has significant longterm effects on a person’s behavior
in adult life. Such adults are 1.5 times more likely to abuse
drugs or alcohol than those from healthier families. Adults who were
abused as children are more likely to be sexually promiscuous, drop out
of school, and have problems getting and keeping a job. A National Institute
of Justice study done in 2001 indicated that being abused or neglected as
a child increased the likelihood of adult criminal behavior by 28 percent and
violent crime by 30 percent. Last, the experience of childhood abuse makes
it difficult for adult survivors to form lasting and healthy
relationships.
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