Rant -- Child Abuse

Child abuse can take many forms. Sometimes it’s really not easy to see, and sometimes it’s painfully obvious. The thing is, sometimes people just don’t want to have to see it and acknowledge the ugly truth. So because they can’t deal with that knowledge, some kid has to keep dealing with the abuse instead. Not only is that awful in the short-term – a kid is hurt and in danger – but it is also really terrible in the long-term. Despite this, child abuse is extremely under-reported.

The legal definition of child abuse is: “any act (or failure to act) that: results in imminent risk or serious harm to a child’s health and welfare due to physical, emotional, or sexual abuse; affect’s a child (under 18); by a parent or caregiver who is responsible for the child’s welfare.”1 This includes physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and various forms of neglect. Neglect generally falls into one of four categories: physical, medical, education, or emotional and moral. In very basic terms, abuse is the act of harming someone, whereas neglect is not preventing the harmful action2. So, an example of physical abuse would be punching, but an example of physical neglect is the failure to provide adequate food. They’re both really awful for children, and have horrible results.

There are many warning signs of abuse and neglect. Some of them are fairly obvious, such as hand-shaped bruises, but others are not generally thought to be a warning of potential abuse, such as trouble regulating emotions. The warning signs for any kind of abuse or neglect are generally things such as unexplained injuries, avoiding a specific person for no apparent reason, frequent absences from school, running away, and extreme behaviours3. Unfortunately, these signs are not always noticed or thought to be proof of maltreatment, so child abuse and neglect is extremely under-reported. Even though many cases aren’t reported, there were still an estimated 235 842 child maltreatment-related investigations conducted in Canada in 20084.

Victims of child abuse have to deal with the repercussions of it for the rest of their lives. Often, they have at least one emotional or psychological disorder, such as anxiety disorders. If the abuse was extreme, they may even develop post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder5. Extreme cases of abuse could even cause someone to develop a personality disorder, such as borderline personality disorder, which is a mental illness marked by unstable moods, behaviour and relationships6, or dissociative identity disorder, more commonly known as multiple personality disorder. Even the less extreme forms of abuse can have some awful results, such as poor self-esteem or substance abuse issues7. A study by Palmer, Brown, Rae-Grant, and Loughin with 384 survivors of childhood abuse found that survivors tended to be depressed, have low self-esteem, and to have problems with family functioning. Victims of child abuse are also more likely to commit crimes as juveniles or adults.

There have been some pretty extreme, and publicised, cases of child maltreatment. In 1970, a social worker noticed a “small withered girl” with a “halting gait” and “hands held up as though resting on an invisible rail.” Though she was thirteen years old, she looked approximately six or seven. The girl, Genie, had been in solitary confinement since she was two years old. She was extremely neglected, and abused physically by her father. When she was first discovered, Genie was hospitalised, then lived in a variety of rehabilitation homes. However, she never fully recovered8. Genie’s case was one of the first well-known one of its kind, but it wasn’t the last. In 1997, Texan authorities discovered a 9-year old girl who couldn’t speak or make eye contact. She hated wearing clothes and feared cars, doorways and toilets. In 2008, a 6-year old girl was discovered in Florida. Nobody even knew she existed, and she weighed only 43 pounds9. Some of the parents in cases such as these are just awful people, but many of them are mentally unhealthy in some way or another.

Dr. Bruce Perry, a child psychiatrist, was one of the first people to use MRIs to look at the impact of inadequate nurturing and touch or lack of touch on the brain of a small child. He compared an MRI of the brain of a healthy three year old with an MRI of the brain of a three year old who had been severely neglected. Dr. Perry found that the neglected child’s brain was actually smaller, because it didn’t grow properly. He also noticed dark spaces in the neglected child’s brain, which would impact sleep, regulation of anxiety, regulation of mood, and whether or not you’re happy or sad. Because the developing human brain is like a sponge, the brain of a child who is not being held, touched, talked to, interacted with, and loved won’t grow properly. “Literally neurons do not make those connections,” Dr. Perry said. “And many of them will actually die.”9

Considering the whole “children are the future” philosophy, you would think that people would be trying to make sure that said children actually developed and grew up properly. I don’t just mean making sure that kids’ brains develop properly, I also mean making sure that they grow up in the sort of environment that raises them to be good people. It’s extremely unfair that children, who can’t properly protect themselves, are stuck in bad situations, and people aren’t even willing or able to help them. If everybody turns a blind eye to child abuse, it never ends.

1. criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/child-abuse-overview.html

2. http://www.differencebetween.net/science/difference-between-abuse-and-neglect

3. http://www.helpguide.org/articles/abuse/child-abuse-and-neglect.htm

4. http://cwrp.ca/publications/2117

5. https://www.mentalhelp.net/articles/effects-of-abuse/

6. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/borderline-personality-disorder/index.shtml

7. http://www.asca.org.au/WHAT-WE-DO/Resources/General-Information/Impact-of-child-abuse

8. https://highschoolbioethics.georgetown.edu/units/cases/unit3_4.html

9. http://www.oprah.com/relationships/Extreme-Cases-of-Child-Neglect-Danielles-Story