Research paper on child abuse and neglect

Introduction

Child abuse or neglect is defined as the maltreatment of children or adolescents where children are neglected and mistreated in different ways such as physical abuse, child labor, mental harassment and emotional abuse. Child abuse results in very devastating effects on children such as poor mental and physical health. Child abuse and neglect is results into various known characteristics in children and adolescents which affect their self compassion. Self compassion is the sense of self worth, positivity and happiness.

Characteristics of abused children

Abused children and adolescents usually have a very low self compassion which is characterized by several aspects which can be measured to establish a relationship between child abuse and self compassion. Usually, affected children have emotional pain when they try to be positive about themselves. Their attitudes are destroyed by their past experiences where they felt disapproved and judged hence they do not seem to be confident in themselves. Such children have emotional imbalances and view themselves as failures which are very bad for their mental and physical health.

The children are traumatized by their childhood experiences. These young people faced sexual, Physical, mental and emotional abuse at an early stage in their life. Their mind frames were still not strong enough to handle such situations hence their minds become traumatized often. They feel no self-worth and grow up with a negative mind framework or attitude.

The children who have gone through any form abuse usually have general physical health problems. This is could be because of the physical abuses that resulted in physical injuries and other forms of physical defects which were caused in their earlier life experiences. General body health can also be negatively affected by the mental and emotional trauma. Generally, most of the affected children have health problems resulting from malnutrition due to poor diet, heart problems in their later lives and other health problems caused by physical abuse, mental and emotional trauma and self denial.

Impact of child abuse

Children and adolescents who have experienced any form of abuse will usually have strange social behavior, such children resent being involved in social activities and if they do, they tend to have negative attitude when interacting with their peers. Such children are also more likely to be involved in abusing drugs, such as alcohol and substance abuse. This is because these individuals seek things that will help them forget about their past experiences. The victims of child abuse usually engage in drugs because of their low self compassion and lack of self belief and confidence. Statistics also show that children who have faced child abuse in the past are more likely to attempt suicide. This is because these children or adolescents do not have self compassion and at times feel rejected.

Children who have faced been brought up under conditions of child abuse will mostly have aggressive characters. They are anti social and at times hostile when approached. These children should be handled by specialists such as psychologists who will advice and encourage them to get over their past traumatizing experiences of child or adolescent abuse.

Conclusion

Therefore, the knowledge about adolescents and children who have faced child abuse in their early life stages can be used to help these children develop into normal individuals. Children and adolescents who develop through abusive environments end up with low self compassion, trauma, and poor health and are prone to drugs and suicide attempts.

References

Heyman, R. E., & Snarra, J. D. (2011). Child emotional aggression and abuse: Definitions and prevalence. Ontario.

Tanaka, M., Wekerle, C., & Schmuck, M. L. (2011). Child Abuse & Neglect. Ontario.