Child abuse and neglect - the emotional effects:
information for parents, carers and anyone who works with
young people
About this factsheet
This is one in a series of factsheets for parents, teachers and
young people entitled Mental Health and Growing Up. The
aims of these factsheets are to provide practical, up-to-date
information about mental health problems (emotional, behavioural
and psychiatric disorders) that can affect children and young
people. This factsheet looks at what child abuse is and the harm it
can cause, and offers practical help about how to detect it and
where to get help.
Introduction
What is child abuse?
All parents upset their children sometimes. Saying `no' and
managing difficult behaviour is an essential part of parenting.
Tired or stressed parents can lose control and can do or say
something they regret, and may even hurt the child. If this happens
often enough, it can seriously harm the child.
That is why abuse is defined in law. The Children
Act 1989 states that abuse should be considered to have happened
when someone's actions have caused a child to suffer
significant harm to their health or
development.
Significant harm means that someone is:
- punishing a child too much
- hitting or shaking a child
- constantly criticising, threatening or rejecting a child
- sexually interfering with or assaulting a child
- not looking after a child - not giving them enough to eat,
ignoring them, not playing or talking with them or not making sure
that they are safe.
Who abuses children?
Children are usually abused by someone in their immediate
family circle. This can include parents, brothers or sisters,
babysitters or other familiar adults. It is quite unusual for
strangers to be involved.
How can you tell if a child is being
abused?
Physically abused children may be:
- watchful, cautious or wary of adults
- unable to play and be spontaneous
- aggressive or abusive
- bullying other children or being bullied themselves
- unable to concentrate, underachieving at school and avoiding
activities that involve removal of clothes, e.g. sports
- having temper tantrums and behaving thoughtlessly
- lying, stealing, truanting from school and getting into trouble
with the police
- finding it difficult to trust other people and make
friends.
Sexually abused children may:
- suddenly behave differently when the abuse starts
- think badly of themselves
- not look after themselves
- use sexual talk or ideas in their play that you would usually
see only in someone much older
- withdraw into themselves or be secretive
- under-achieve at school
- start wetting or soiling themselves
- be unable to sleep
- behave in an inappropriately seductive or flirtatious way
- be fearful, frightened of physical contact
- become depressed and take an overdose or harm themselves
- run away, become promiscuous or take to prostitution
- drink too much or start using drugs
- develop an eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia.
Emotionally abused or
neglected children may:
- be slow to learn to walk and talk
- be very passive and unable to be spontaneous
- have feeding problems and grow slowly
- find it hard to develop close relationships
- be over-friendly with strangers
- get on badly with other children of the same age
- be unable to play imaginatively
- think badly of themselves
- be easily distracted and do badly at school.
It can be hard to detect long-standing abuse
by an adult the child is close to. It is often very difficult for
the child to tell anyone about it, as the abuser may have
threatened to hurt them if they tell anybody. A child may not say
anything because they think it is their fault, that no one will
believe them or that they will be teased or punished. The child may
even love the abusing adult, they want the abuse to stop, but they
don't want the adult to go to prison or for the family to break
up.
If you suspect that a child is being abused, you may be able
to help them to talk about it. Your local Social Services Child
Protection Adviser will be able to offer more detailed
advice.
Where can I get help?
First and foremost, the child must be protected from further
abuse. Social Services will need to be involved to find out:
- what has happened
- if it is likely to happen again
- what steps are needed to protect the child.
Child Protection
After investigation, Social Services may be satisfied that the
problems have been sorted out, and that the parents can now care
for and protect the child properly. If so, they will remain
involved only if the family wants their help. If Social Services
are concerned that a child is being harmed, they will arrange a
child protection case conference. The parents and professionals who
know the child will be invited. A plan will be made to help the
child and family and ensure that there is no further harm.
Help to look after the child
When a child has been abused within the family, the person
involved is sometimes able to own up to what they have done and
wants help. They can then be helped to look after their child
better. Occasionally, the child may have to be taken away from the
abusing adult because the risks of physical and emotional harm are
too great. This can be for a short time, until things become safer,
or may be permanent.
Specialist treatment
Many children need specialist treatment because of the abuse
they have endured. Some receive help from family centres run by
social services. If they are worried, depressed or being very
difficult, the child and family might need help from the local
child and adolescent mental health service. These specialists may
work with the whole family, or with children and adolescents alone.
Sometimes they work with teenagers in groups. Individual therapy
can be especially helpful for children who have been sexually
abused, or who have experienced severe trauma. Children who have
suffered serious abuse or neglect can be difficult to care for, and
the service can offer help and advice to parents and carers.
References
- Carr, A. (ed) (2000) 'What Works with Children and
Adolescents?' - A Critical Review of Psychological Interventions
with Children, Adolescents and their Families. London:
Brunner-Routledge.
- Jones, D. & Ramchandani, P. (1999) 'Child Sexual Abuse
- Informing Practice from Research'. Oxford: Radcliffe Medical
Press.
- Monck, E. & New, M. (1996) 'Sexually Abused Children
and Adolescents who are Treated in Voluntary Community
Services'. London: HMSO. Out of print.
Recommended reading
Sources of further information
- ChildLine provides a
free and confidential service for children. Helpline 0800
1111.
- The NSPCC (National Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Children) has a number of
useful publications. Child Protection Helpline 0800 800 500; Welsh
textphone 0808 100 12524 (alternatively, the NSPCC run Asian
helplines in five languages)
- The Mental Health and Growing Up series contains 36
factsheets on a range of common mental health problems. To order
the pack, contact Book Sales at the Royal College of Psychiatrists,
17 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PG; tel. 020 7235 2351, ext. 146;
fax 020 7245 1231; e-mail: booksales@rcpsych.ac.uk, or
you can download them from this website.
©
Updated January 2010. Due for review: January
2012. Royal College of Psychiatrists. This factsheet may
be downloaded, printed out, photocopied and distributed free of
charge as long as the Royal College of Psychiatrists is properly
credited and no profit is gained from its use. Permission to
reproduce it in any other way must be obtained from the Head of Publications. The College
does not allow reposting of its factsheets on other sites, but
allows them to be linked to directly.
Please note that we are unable to offer advice on individual cases. Please see our FAQ for advice on getting help.
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