EFFECTS OF CHILD ABUSE

Child abuse can affect all aspects of a childs life and can spill over in there adults life
as well. The effects of child abuse can be divided to many aspects such as psychiatric,
physical, psychological, behavioral, effect on academic performance, sexuality, interpersonal
consequences, self perception, and spiritual consequences.
Physical Problems
Victims of childhood abuse, it is claimed, also suffer from different types of physical health
problem later in life such as suffer from some type of chronic head, abdominal, muscular, or
pelvic pain with no identifiable reason. Children who are physically abused are likely to
receive bone fractures, particularly rib fractures, and may have a higher risk of developing
cancer. The immediate effects of child abuse on physical is bite marks, fear of adults, and
unexplained burns, cuts, bruises, or welts in the shape of an obect. Children, who are
physically abused or shaken in the case of very young children, may suffer permanent
neurological damage and dramatically affecting their future development. Children also have
weight problems which often emerging as eating disorders. !ther than that, children who are
abused will also effected in serious sleeps disturbance and bouts of di""iness when awake.
Psychological Effects
Children who are abused will psychologically effected such as anxiety, extreme and repetitive
nightmares, unusually high levels of anger and aggression, and sudden phobias such as a fear
of darkness or water. !ther than that, child abuse will make distorted cognition, such as
choronic perceptions of danger and confusion, illogical thinking, inaccurate images of the
world, and difficulty determining what is real. Child abuse also can mae !e"ressi#e
symptoms, social withdrawal, and long bouts of sadness
Psychiatric Problems
Children with history of neglect or physical abuse are risk of developing psychiatric problem
or a disorgani"ed attachment style. #isorgani"ed attachment is associated with a number of
developmental problems, including dissociative symptoms, as well as depressive, anxiety, and
acting out symptoms. $hen some of these children become parents, especially if they suffer
from dissociative symptoms, and other squeals of child abuse, they may encounter difficulty
when faced with their infant and young childrens needs and normative distress, which may in
turn lead to adverse consequences for their childs social%emotional development.
Beha#ioral Effects
&bused children are known to display the behavioral problems such as developmental delays,
poor school adustment and disruptive classroom behavior, school age pregnancy, truancy and
running away behavior, suicide and suicide attempts, and early use of drugs or alcohol and
substance abuse and dependence. !ther than that the abused children will display the problem
such as troubled sociali"ation with peers which constant fighting or socially undesirable
behaviors like not sharing, teasing or bullying. Eating !isor!ers s$ch as obesity% anore&ia%
an! b$limia 'hich an effect "rimarily among female #ictims also affects to'ar!s chil!
ab$se #ictims( 'any of these behavioral problems continue into adulthood and become
ingrained patterns of behavior. (n order to deal with the trauma of being neglected and abused,
children and youth develop such behaviors as coping strategies.
Effects on Se&$ality
&buse adversely affects a childs concept of sexuality reduces his or her ability to set
appropriate boundaries and often instills a fear or negative perception of sex. The immediate
effects of child abuse on sexuality is inappropriate interest or knowledge of sexual act,
nightmare and bed wetting, over compliance or excessive aggression, fear of a particular
person or family member, and drastic changes in appetite. These problems or effects are often
the result of introducing a sexual component into a parent%child relationship, which affected
the childs sense of sexuality and intimacy. (n essence, a child who has suffered sexual abused
can, as a result, have difficulty distinguishing between a sexual and non%sexual relationship
and therefore introduce a sexual element into all relationships.
Effects On Aca!emic Performance
)esearch indicates that abused children demonstrate reduced intellectual functioning and
perform very poorly in school. *oor school performance can have serious long%term
consequences. &cademic failure has been associated with quitting school and antisocial
behavior. These behaviors in turn increase the risk of long%term economic dependence, long%
term decreased productivity, and generally lower levels of satisfaction with life as adults.
Children who are abused may effects on academic performance such as lower overall schools
performance test scores and lower language, reading, and math scores. Child abuse may also
display to the grade retentions, disciplinary referrals, and a high number of suspensions. The
victims not only face the obvious complications associated with a violent home life, but
neglectful and abusive parents are less likely to provide an intellectually stimulating
environment for the child, supervise homework, read to the child, and generally become
involved in their childs academic life.
Effects on Self Perce"tion
*arental abuse undoubtedly affects the self%esteem of a child. Children who are abused may
typically view themselves as bad, worthless or unlovable. They also may develop the
problems such as feelings of being +out of control,, extremely low levels of self%esteem, self%
hatred, self%disgust, and self% denigration. !ther than that, children who are abused may
inaccurate body images which often lead to eating disorders and overwhelming sense of guilt
or self%blame for the abuse.
Inter"ersonal Conse)$ences
&bused and neglected children are consistently rated by their peers as demonstrating socially
undesirable behavior. Children displaying multiple psychological and behavioral problems
often have a difficult time both developing and maintaining healthy relationships.
Victimi"ation reduces social competence and limits empathic ability, both of which are
necessary to establish satisfying relationships with others. &bused children may display the
interpersonal problems such as difficult in trusting others, insecure attachments to parents and
caregivers, and a loss of close friends. &bused children also may have relationship problems,
such as overly sexuali"ed or overly conflicted relationships. !ther than that, abused children
also may display chronic dissatisfaction with adult relationships and feral of intimacy.
S"irit$al Conse)$ences
Children who have been abused and neglected can be lost their sense of faith, not ust a
religious belief in a divine being, but also their faith in themselves, other people and the world
around them. -exual abuse, emotional attacks, systematic battering, or the long%term neglect
of a child is likely to destroy his or her spirit or enthusiasm for life.
*efferences
Child &buse ./0102. 3ated on &ugust /0, /010 from
http455en.wikipedia.org5wiki5Child6abuse
(mmediate 7ffects of Child &buse ./0102. 3ated on &ugust /0, /010 from
http455www.childhelp.org5pages5immediate%effects%of%child%abuse
7ffects of Child &buse ./0102. 3ated on &ugust /0, /010 from
http455www.flashpapers.com5main5research%papers5effects%of%child%abuse.html